Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Angie Olson

Nurses Always Know Best
Angeline “Angie” Olson, RN, was diagnosed in February 2000, with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) – the fast growing type.

At the time, Angie was an oncology nurse at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. As the mother of two young children, she found herself confronting some tough decisions. Angie knew many doctors, many oncologists, but she chose to make an appointment to see Robert Nagourney, MD.

While insurance did not cover the cost of the EVA-PCD® assay functional profiling test Dr. Nagourney recommended, Angie did not hesitate to pay the cost – she knew it would make all the difference to her survival.

The standard protocol treatment for NHL is a combination of chemotherapies known as CHOP. But the assay, done at Rational Therapeutics, revealed that she was only moderately sensitive to these drugs. Instead, based upon this test – a true functional profile of her tumor –Angie underwent a regimen of drugs known as Hyper-CVAD.

Seven months after beginning treatment, Angie was back at work with a complete remission.

“Every time I go to see patients, I let them know that I’ve gone through the same experience they are now having. When they ask, ‘what did you do, you look so good?’ I tell them that with all my knowledge of doctors, I chose Dr. Nagourney because of the assay and the way he decides what treatment to use.

It not only makes more sense to use the data about what drugs kill a patient’s cancer, but I see everyday the difference it makes. I believe that every person is an individual. My patients are all different from each other, so why isn’t their treatment designed just for them?

I was cancer-free for seven years. Then, I was once again diagnosed with Lymphoma. This time it was the slow-growing type. There was no doubt that my treatment would be determined by the results of the assay.

It is now two years since my second diagnosis and treatment. And as my patients will tell you – I look (and feel) great. Being cancer free and believing in this method of treatment allows me to offer hope to my patients. And that isn’t something most physicians offer.

But hope is what you get from the Rational Therapeutics assay and from Dr. Nagourney.