Jun 25, 2008 6:26 pm US/Mountain
Human, Animal Cancer Centers Toast Work Together
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Two cancer research facilities in Colorado toasted more than 20 years of working together. One treats people, the other animals, but each has provided cancer breakthroughs for the other.
The facilities are the University of Colorado Cancer Center and Colorado State University Animal Cancer Center. Emily Brown believes they make a dream team after their collaboration helped save her life.
Brown is an optimist, even though she's spent half of her 22 years fighting for her life. At age 11, unexplained pain turned into paralysis.
"I had absolutely no movement couldn't stand, couldn't walk," Brown said.
Doctors found a grapefruit-sized tumor on Brown's spine and ribs. It was bone cancer in the worst possible place.
"You can't cure this tumor without cutting it out and because of where her tumor was located, it's impossible to cut it out completely," said Dr. Lia Gore with the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
Brown was given less than a 10 percent chance of survival. She had chemotherapy and part of the tumor removed. She had radiation and went on an experimental drug Gore felt was her best chance of beating the odds.
The drug had been studied at the Animal Cancer Center at CSU and was successful in treating dogs with the same cancer.
"One of the biggest breakthroughs in the last 20 years for childhood bone cancer was work done in the dog, finally done in children, and now proven to significantly increase survival," said Dr. Stephen Withrow with the CSU Animal Cancer Center.
Brown was able to go to prom and graduated and now she's in college.
Lately she's been plagued with more health problems, but she credits CU and CSU for getting her this far.
"My treatment would have been completely different and I wouldn't be here, I don't think," Brown said.
Every year Brown celebrates "Glad to Be Alive Day." She lets everybody know life is good.
"Even with the bad stuff, life is good," she said.
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