August 05, 2016 (HUFFINGTON POST) -- The day the Twin Towers came down I was working with the New York City Police Department as a Lieutenant. As the call came through about planes crashing into the World Trade Towers, I, like so many other first responders, hurried to the scene.
Chaos ensued. There were no trains running, so we helped evacuate lower Manhattan on foot. In all, I spent more than 48 hours at and around Ground Zero helping with the rescue and recovery.
In 2011, I noticed my stomach expanding, resembling a beer belly. I went to my doctor and told him something didn’t feel right. I had always been active in a variety of ways, including martial arts training, and suddenly I was finding it difficult to complete simple calisthenics.
He sent me to the emergency room at NYU where I was diagnosed with cancer of the appendix. Cancer of the appendix is one of the rarest forms of cancer, occurring in only 1,000 people each year. My bloated stomach was the result of the tumor breaking through the appendix and flowing throughout my abdomen. Eventually, this thick mucin would surround my digestive organs and cut them off from functioning properly. The five year survival rate for this cancer is 32%. I was only 48 years old.
The debris at Ground Zero included particles of asbestos, fiberglass, mercury, and benzene, as well as other known carcinogens. Despite this knowledge, the EPA declared that there was no long-term danger to the public’s health. Subsequent studies have proved them wrong.
A study published by Environmental Health Perspectives in 2013 found that 552 of the nearly 21,000 first responders who worked at Ground Zero had been diagnosed with cancer. By 2015, the number of first responders with cancer rose to 2500.
In 2011, President Obama signed into law the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to provide for the health of 9/11 first responders. The Act was reauthorized in 2015, designating another $3.5 billion for the World Trade Center Health Program, which has helped guarantee that I and 72,000 known responders and survivors will have access to treatment.
Initially, much of the focus of the World Trade Center Health Program was on respiratory issues. It was more recently, as researchers noticed the spike in cancer cases among those exposed, that they added different types of cancer to those eligible for care. Cancer of the appendix was one of the last to be added as a certifiable cancer in the World Trade Center Health Program.
I underwent three major surgeries at Mt. Sinai Hospital, followed up by chemotherapy at NYU. One of the surgeries entailed a process known as HIPEC or Hot Chemotherapy in which they fill my abdominal cavity with heated chemo to try and reach the unseen tumors.
Nothing seemed to work. Each time they removed more, and the cancer came back stronger.
The side effects from the chemo and surgeries were numerous. I developed a small bowel obstruction, and neuropathy tinging in my fingers and toes. The side effects became so pronounced that I had to stop treatment.
Finally, I heard about a new cancer treatment from a friend. Developed by Tyme Technologies, Inc., it involves an investigational new drug known as SM-88. SM-88 is an immuno-oncology drug that uses multiple mechanisms to locate and eradicate the cancer cell in the body. The process is based on a greater understanding of the metabolic nature of cancer and harnesses the body’s own immune system without impacting healthy body tissue.
Steve Hoffman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tyme, explains it this way: “We have seen a standard metabolic nature to the disease – one that is vulnerable to reactive oxygen and free radical methods than can make cancer cells vulnerable to other chemotherapies and modalities of care. This knowledge gives us a whole new pathway to targeting and eradicating cancer cells without damage to healthy tissue.”
In a phase I clinical trial conducted in 2012, patients exhibited a 90% response rate (including stable disease, partial response and full response) to the treatment. Based on these results and a recommendation from my doctor, I began treatment in June of this year. I immediately noticed a difference. Five weeks into treatment, my PET scan showed a significant reduction in cancer activity – including smaller tumors and an overall reduction in the number of tumors – the first time this has occurred without surgery.
Tyme’s treatment is one of the many new class of cancer breakthroughs that Vice President Biden is working to support with his Cancer Moonshot initiative. Tyme recently launched a Phase II trial for prostate cancer and will be launching Phase II trials for breast and pancreatic cancer shortly. Those interested can find them on ClinicalTrials.gov.
To my surprise, cancer has opened my eyes in some ways, to the compassion and friendship of those around me – my neighbors and my community. It has helped me see the connections between us and has brought me closer to so many. It has reinforced my belief in the resilience of our country – and the brilliant minds it fosters – to withstand terrorism and disease and to emerge, once again, triumphant.