In 2019, Lenora Johnson faced one of the most difficult decisions of her life. She had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma at age 75, and her situation was so serious that her local physicians in Jackson, Miss., recommended that she enroll in an out-of-town clinical trial.

Then it just dawned on me that if the trial doesn’t help me, it might help the younger generations after me

Lenora Johnson

Johnson wasn’t necessarily excited about the concept, and the closest place conducting the type of trial she needed was nearly 250 miles away at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. Facing so much uncertainty, Johnson did what she often does in such situations – she prayed about it.

“Then it just dawned on me that if the trial doesn’t help me, it might help the younger generations after me,” Johnson said. “I’ve always been the type of person who wants to help in whatever way I can. This was that opportunity, for me to use the body I’ve been given for a very positive reason.”

Johnson says many prayers have been answered since then, as her cancer situation is steadily improving, though it hasn’t been easy. In addition to numerous eight-hour, roundtrip car rides between Jackson and Birmingham – sometimes as often as once a week – Johnson has had to endure some intensive treatment sessions.

“Despite her age, she knew that with her good health she could tolerate a more ambitious therapy,” said hematologist-oncologist Luciano Costa, M.D., Ph.D., a scientist at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. “She participated in a UAB-led trial with intense combination therapy and autologous stem cell transplant, a treatment often reserved for much younger patients.”

“She did very well, but she had minute amounts of myeloma that evolved over time and needed more therapy,” Dr. Costa continued. “So, she came back to UAB and joined another clinical trial with an experimental new T-cell engager. She made the decision to pursue this novel therapy despite the inconvenience of traveling. She had an excellent response and tolerance to treatment and is doing very well.”

Johnson admits that there were moments during the long car rides when she wondered if it was all worth it. “You’re just kind of floating around,” Johnson said. “You’re thinking, ‘Oh well, this is another week, let’s see what’s going to happen.’ But then I got to UAB, and everybody treated me so well from the beginning. The encouragement of everyone I met at UAB helped me and allowed me to look at things a little bit differently – like I needed to keep pressing, to keep going. You need people in your life who can encourage you.”

Though Johnson is not completely in remission, she says all of her numbers are trending in the right direction and that things are “looking much better.” Regardless of the outcome, she says taking part in the clinical trial was the correct decision for her.

“My hope and prayer is that no matter what happens to me, doing this trial will help somebody else go into remission,” Johnson said. “I don’t know what the end result is going to be, but I trust God, who does. I do know that it’s been an adventure.”