My sister is in the fight of her life, and it is not against her cancer.
Becca's Right to Try exists for one reason: to petition AstraZeneca to release the trial drug AZD1775 that could save her life.
Rebecca is 35..
On the morning of her wedding rehearsal dinner, sitting just blocks from the wedding venue, Becca completed her first round of chemotherapy for stage IV high grade serous carcinoma at the age of 31. Since then, she has completed over 40 rounds of chemotherapy, undergone major surgery, and participated in two clinical trials. She also has become a wife, an aunt, and a nurse, passing the licensure exam and completing a second bachelor's degree after numerous 12-hour training shifts—all while enduring the horrific side effects of chemotherapy.
One of the trial drugs Becca was on, AZD1775, targeted her specific cell mutation and resulted in her tumors being rendered completely non-detectable. However, she was removed from the drug trial due to the dangerous side effects of the high, pre-set trial doses.
It has been 9 months since then. The cancer has spread so quickly in that time that it is now in her intestines and has rendered her unable to eat or drink, causing suffering from severe pain all day, every day.
Becca weighs 85 pounds. She has a tube in her chest that supplies nutrients directly to her bloodstream. She has a tube down her nose that pulls bile from her stomach. She had a tube in her side to drain fluid from her abdomen, but it was recently removed because it became infected. After 4 years, after treatment cycles at 3 world-renowned cancer centers, after consultations with teams of oncologists from across the country, after chemo and surgery and clinical trials, Becca knows her best chance at the life she dreams of is access to this drug at a dose that she can handle, the drug that originally disappeared her cancer.
AND THEY WON'T LET HER HAVE IT.
After volunteering to personally develop and run her treatment plan while complying with the "Policy on Early Access to Investigational Medicine," Becca's doctor petitioned AstraZeneca for early release of the drug. AstraZeneca responded that the trial was still too early in development to have a program for compassionate use at this time.
Thousands of Americans are faced with this situation – there might be a drug out there that can save my life, but it is 10-15 years away from FDA approval.
Becca is dying. For her, this is her last chance. There is no method by which the government can force a pharmaceutical company to release the drug that can save her. We have to force them. Help us. Help Becca. Please support us in asking AstraZeneca to release AZD1775 by signing and sharing the petition.
Becca knows this is a long shot. She knows it isn't a sure thing. She knows her current chemo regimen will not cure her.
She has to try. She has a right to try.
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