MSI Press Blog

  When you’re facing cancer, especially a tough diagnosis or recurrence, one of the first questions you or your loved ones might ask is: Are there any clinical trials available? Clinical trials can offer access to cutting-edge treatments, experimental therapies, or more personalized care approaches — sometimes when standard treatments have been exhausted. But clinical trials aren’t always an option for every patient. And one of the most heartbreaking examples of this is cancer of unknown primary. Where to Look for Clinical Trials If you’re considering a clinical trial, there are several reputable ways to begin your search: ClinicalTrials.gov : This is the largest and most comprehensive database of clinical trials in the U.S. and many other countries. You can search by cancer type, location, phase of trial, and eligibility criteria. National Cancer Institute (NCI) : The NCI runs its own trials and also supports trials at major cancer centers across the country. Visit cancer.go...

  Carl, whose experience launched this blog and the MSI Press's Carl's Cancer Compendium (CCC) died after a very short 5 months post-diagnosis of occult cancer, or, as the official term goes, Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP).  Carl fell February 23 and went to the local hospital where staff found advanced stage 4 metastatic cancer in five organs and subsequently transferred him to Stanford University Hospital, stating he would not likely return him. He did return home, for a brief four months--and he died at home on hospice almost a month later, having spent only 10 days in that capacity.  Stanford spent almost a month trying to determine the original cancer that had spread to these five organs (none of these organs was the original.) That is the problem with CUP. Finding the original seems out of reach and a guessing game. The doctor made his best guess, based on the spread pattern, but the cocktail he came up with for chemotherapy while doing no harm also did no good. T...

(photo from Wikipedia)   When traditional treatments are not working, cancer patients may want to participate in clinical trials. We did not have the time to arrange for something like that -- Carl was diagnosed very late and endured a very short time. When the cancer became quite out of hand after just three rounds of chemotherapy, the oncologist offered to "look for" a clinical trial, if we wanted one. Of course, that did not work out because Carl died just three weeks later.  However, the suggestion got us thinking. What would be involved in being in a clinical trial and in finding one? What would be the pros and cons? With subsequent research, which we would not have had time to do on our own, given the speed of Carl's demise, I learned some interesting things. On the positive side, clinical trials may provide access to treatments and drugs not yet in (wide) use and will almost certainly provide personalized attention. On the negative side, there is no guarantee that ...

  A recent article brought back a raw memory:  Dad died 44 days after his cancer diagnosis. He never received the chemo he was promised (msn.com) . That was pretty much what Carl experienced. He fell February 23, was diagnosed with late stage 4 cancer in five organs, and was set up for testing to determine the primary (never was found, and the diagnosis became cancer of unknown primary ). He had to wait to begin chemo until he could receive the second covid shot (remember back then?). Once all the tests and shots were over, it was the end of June. He received three rounds of chemotherapy before falling again on July 23, at which time, tests showed that chemotherapy was not working. From that point, it was only 23 days until he died. It felt like chasing after water as it was flowing over a waterfall. No way to keep up. Would those original 4-5 months have made a difference had he started receiving chemotherapy earlier? It is impossible to know. Could those early tests have be...

One of the fun things that a publisher (or at least, an acquisitions editor) gets to experience is meeting more than one member of a family -- as authors whose work we publish. In this series of presenting family authors, we take note of the Leaver writers, who have written books in various combinations and solo. Above pictured is Betty Lou Leaver and Shenan (CB) Leaver, who collaborated on Mommy Our House Guest , a fun book that has gained a number of afficionados and been serialized in a magazine.  Betty Lou, who has written dozens of books, including, for MSI Press, Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star and The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom (with Laura Dabbs) and Carl, who typeset and designed the covers of many MSI Press publications and edited Overcoming the Odds , collaborated on the book,  Intrepid.  who unfortunately passed away in 2021 from Cancer of Unknown Primary, Carl, unfortunately, passed away suddenly in 2021 from Cancer of ...

  When Carl was diagnosed with cancer of unknown primary (CUP), we didn't know yet what that meant. We had never heard of it before. Even after we learned more, we still clung to hope—because that’s what the doctors appeared to be offering. But their actions told a different story. CUP is brutal. It's rare and aggressive, and statistically, not many people survive it. The median survival rate hovers around 6 to 12 months. Fewer than 20% of patients live longer than a year. And Carl didn’t have just one form of cancer—he had five types present. They still couldn’t tell where the cancer began. Now, looking back, I understand what the oncologist must have seen in those test results. I also understand why they still tried to sound hopeful. The treatment plans were delivered with upbeat tones: targeted therapies, potential clinical trials, aggressive chemo. But there were moments—small, seemingly innocuous moments—when the mask of optimism slipped. One doctor handed Carl an advance ...