"I have developed certain skills in finding difficult-to-get information. I do sometimes wonder if that is because of my limited formal education, but as a result I’ve read thousands of books. And now, I’ve developed skills in the use of AI. And I’ve interviewed hundreds of people for books, publications and for corporate acquirers. Interviews helped me survive terminal cancer.
"That's my real skill. Survival. I am a survivor. Survival is based on resourcefulness, internal equilibrium, and an ability to keep one’s mind, despite the surrounding upheaval and adverse circumstances, firmly focused on a positive eventual outcome."
- Roderick MacIver, founder of Emerging Cures
I am a medical research analyst and two-time cancer survivor. I help clients dealing with life-threatening diseases find their way through the maze of options including clinical trials, conventional standard-of-care therapies, alternative medicine and other possibilities.
Much of my research involves finding physicians who are highly respected in their particular disease niche and whose theories and approach are considered innovative by their colleagues. My primary research method is interviews. I also use AI to research clinical trials, their potentials and results.
I’ve been diagnosed with cancer twice. Stage 4a non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and prostate cancer, Gleason score of 7 (3+4). The lymphoma, at the time, before the advent of Rituxan, was considered incurable. Stage 4a means the disease had migrated to my bone marrow. I had 52 tumors throughout my body including one in my mesentery that measured 15 x 22 cm. I was told by my oncologist that of the thousands of people diagnosed every year with the form of lymphoma I had, there was only one documented case of long term survival that he was aware of. And seven years or so ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
When addressing my two cancer diagnoses, I used the same research and interview techniques I developed years in my consulting business that did pre-offer due diligence for corporate acquirers. In the case of surviving cancer, I found out who was doing groundbreaking research and asked them for an interview. Few responded but those who did provided valuable information. Sometimes they would point me towards others they particularly respected and who were engaged in innovative research. These interviews led me to enroll in three trials — one at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, and another at the Dana Farber, both for lymphoma, neither of which helped, and one at the Brigham and Women's in Boston (for prostate cancer) that did.
Ultimately, in the case of lymphoma, I found a drug in Germany developed by the chemist who headed the Red Cross there. It was originally developed to treat physicians who returned from Chernobyl with sublethal radiation exposure. Leukemia is a common side affect of sublethal radiation. That drug — WF10 — had a dramatic, positive impact on my health. It allowed me to survive until Rituxan became available. Before that, I had been enrolled in an experimental autologous bone marrow transplant program at the Dana Farber. I was removed from that program when my blood counts deteriorated as a result of chemo. I was anemic, a borderline hemophiliac and was told that as a result, I couldn’t get any more chemo. I was out of options. The combination of Rituxan and WF10 saved my life, I now believe.
In the case of prostate cancer, I enrolled in a trial at the Women and Brigham’s hospital in Boston. Once a month, they injected a genetically modified virus developed in Japan into my prostate that created antibodies that fought the cancer. After three of these injections, an MRI indicated I was cancer free. A biopsy several months later showed, however, that it had returned. I do believe though that that virus therapy prevented the disease from spreading to nearby tissue, as is common in patients with my Gleason score. Because it had not migrated, I was able to get radio implants. That was several years ago. So far, no sign of recurrence.
There is more on me and my background on my website, Emerging Cures LLC, here.
