Every breakthrough begins with a brave decision. At Sylvester, patients like Robin Anezin and Jessica Firdman Moore, M.D., are proving that clinical trials are more than research, they’re lifelines. By enrolling, they not only advanced science but also transformed their own cancer journeys.
From Uncertainty to Cure
At first, Robin Anezin was hesitant to join a clinical trial for stage four melanoma that had metastasized to his liver. “You want the best chance to get cured, but at the same time, you think you might put yourself in more danger and not help yourself,” he said.
During a long conversation with his oncology team at Sylvester, Anezin asked countless questions. He told the team he’d sleep on it.
“It was a difficult decision,” he said. “But I told them, ‘Let’s do it!’”
Now, two years later, his latest scan showed no evidence of disease. “We can say I’m cured!” he says.
Anezin, a patient of melanoma expert Jose Lutzky, M.D., director of Cutaneous Oncology Services and Cutaneous and Ocular Oncology Site Disease Group lead at Sylvester, is among the thousands of Sylvester patients enrolled in clinical trials who are helping not only their prognosis but that of many others with various types of cancer.
When a Doctor Becomes a Patient
Dr. Moore was a medical resident with a passion for reproductive health advocacy and an interest in oncology when she was diagnosed with stage 2B high-grade serous ovarian cancer. When she received a phone call after her first clinic visit about enrolling in the Trial of Exercise and Lifestyle in Women With Ovarian Cancer (TEAL) clinical trial with principal investigator Tracy Crane, Ph.D., RDN, co-leader of Sylvester’s Cancer Control Program and director of lifestyle medicine, prevention and digital health, she didn’t have to think long.
"There was no potential harm to me by participating so it was an easy decision for me to help science along. There are a lot of different ways patients can get involved in research, and it’s definitely empowering.”
