ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Follicular lymphoma has long been considered incurable, but a study led by Wilmot Cancer Institute director Dr. Jonathan Friedberg has found that it can be cured. The cure is achieved using standard combinations of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
The study examined long-term data from a clinical trial that began in 2001. That trial showed that 70 percent of patients survived at least 15 years after completing chemo-immunotherapy. Additionally, 42 percent of those patients were functionally cured, meaning there was no chance of the disease recurring during their expected lifespan.
A 65-year-old man from Campbell went through those trials and has been cancer-free for 20 years. Robert Oman was diagnosed with the disease at 40 years old, finished the treatment in 2006, and is still cancer-free. Mr. Oman was an example of a patient who enrolled in the clinical trial…