... Leiomyosarcoma is an aggressive small cell muscle tissue cancer only found in women that usually starts in the area of the uterus.
“My doctor said it was treatable, but not curable,” Lader said, “which means I will have periods of remission and recurrence.”
She tried four kinds of chemotherapy, but none worked. Through the connections of her oncologist at McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, she entered into a trial for Yondelis, an anti-tumor drug that has been used in Europe and Russia for over 25 years but hasn’t met FDA approval in the U.S. One good thing about the treatments is that they have no side effects, she said.
Every three weeks, she drives to Louisville, Ky., for treatments on Friday, then comes back to work on Monday morning.
And, she said, being able to live a normal life has been crucial to keeping an optimistic outlook.
“I’ve been extremely blessed,” she said. “That’s all I can say.”