Mel Mann, 31-year terminal Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) Survivor, Clinical Trial Pioneer, and Patient Advocate, shared on X:
“In January 1995 I was told I had three years to live. I never found a marrow donor. In August 1998 I entered a Phase 1 clinical trial at MD Anderson for what became Gleevec. Thirty-one years later I’m still here.
Reading the history of how women were systematically left out of clinical trials for decades is a reminder that progress in research has never been automatic. Representation matters. Sex differences in how drugs work matter. Who gets invited into the trial can decide who gets the benefit later.
We’ve come a long way since the old exclusion policies, but the work of making trials truly inclusive is still unfinished. Every patient who gets the chance to participate – and every group that used to be left out – moves the science forward for the next person.
Clinical trials don’t just advance science – they give patients a second chance at life. Read more about why equitable access to trials matters.”
Title: Equitable Access to Clinical Trials: How Do We Achieve It?
Authors: Ana Acuña-Villaorduña, Joaquina Celebre Baranda, Jessica Boehmer, Lola Fashoyin-Aje, Steven D. Gore
Sanam Loghavi, Associate Professor of Pathology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, shared this story, adding:
“What a story! Congrats Mel!
Stories like yours are why we do what we do! Behind every therapy is an army of scientists and decades of research and behind every breakthrough are the patients who volunteer and the investigators who persist. Clinical trials save lives.”
A Breakthrough Changed the Future of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia – CancerWorld