Carolyn Graham has been living with carcinosarcoma for six years. Today, it’s more like the cancer is living with her, thanks to treatment she received through a clinical trial at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“My cancer has not grown in over two years,” Graham said. “It’s just sitting there like, ‘Here I am. I’m just going to stay here.’ If it’s not growing, that’s good.”

I don’t sit around and grieve about it and moan, ‘Oh, I got cancer.’ I’ve got a bucket list, and I still want to do it

Carolyn Graham

This definitely is an improvement from the early years of Graham’s cancer struggle. A CT scan in 2017 revealed that a carcinosarcoma had spread and a mass had attached to her intestines. UAB Medicine surgeon Sushanth Reddy, M.D., removed the mass, then Graham began seeing Rebecca Arend, M.D., an associate scientist at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-director of the Experimental Therapeutics Research Program, for further treatment.

Six cycles of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation shrunk the tumor but did not eliminate it. So, Dr. Arend conducted molecular testing and discovered that the mutation was in a Wnt signaling pathway, which just happened to be a focus of study in Dr. Arend’s lab.

Dr. Arend suggested that Graham take part in a Wnt modulator clinical trial she is leading as the national principal investigator. It required Graham to travel every other week to Birmingham from Talladega, Ala. – where she’s worked for 38 years at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind – for a 30-minute session to receive the treatment provided through the clinical trial.

“Within two months, I could tell it was helping me,” Graham said. “It doesn’t knock me down like that strong stuff did. I can take care of myself, do housework, get around. My body’s not breaking down with it. It doesn’t make me sick, and my hair doesn’t fall out. It’s really kept my body going.”

In fact, the clinical trial might have done much more than that. Dr. Arend says it probably helped keep Graham alive.

“This is a type of aggressive cancer that she likely would have died from several years ago,” Dr. Arend said. “Instead, everything has been completely stable for the last few years. This is an example of personalized medicine for a rare type of tumor. It’s the culmination of several things that came together in a very well-tolerated drug.”

Since the carcinosarcoma has not gone into remission, Graham still must make the regular trip to UAB Medicine for treatment. Following the death of her husband last year, Graham says she has turned to her younger sister and a few good friends to drive her to Birmingham.

Other than that, Graham says she continues to take care of herself and has plenty of living left to do. If the cancer wants to tag along, then that’s OK.

“I don’t sit around and grieve about it and moan, ‘Oh, I got cancer.’ I’ve got a bucket list, and I still want to do it,” Graham said. “I want to take the train that runs through the Tennessee mountains. That’s always been a dream of mine. I’m going to keep myself going.”