One man’s brave search for a cure for cancer…

Ask most cancer patients about going on experimental drug trials, and you would probably get a blank stare.

Not so for Kok Seng, or Joey as he’s known to his friends. He owes it to these drug trials. After seven surgeries and participation in two drug clinical trials and 11 years on, 46-year-old Joey has indeed defied all odds.

Today, Joey still remembers the trauma when he was first diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST). He now suffers from leiomyosarcoma, an equally deadly cancer affecting the soft muscle tissue of his rectum.

The decision that led Joey to take the chance with the experimental drug for liver cancer wasn’t easy. At that time, he consulted 10 different doctors all of whom painted the same grim picture for him. The tumour had spread to his liver, and he had to remove a quarter of his liver. With the prospect of only months to live, he underwent the surgeries, including a colostomy, a surgical procedure to facilitate bowel movement.

The breakthrough came when Joey agreed to be put on an experimental drug. It worked and the tumour in his liver shrank. However, after three years Joey’s condition stopped responding to this drug.

Joey had to go on another clinical trial and this time with another drug that had just come on scene.

Despite the undesirable and possible deadly side effects like fatigue, mouth ulcers, yellowing of the skin and possible cardiac arrests, Joey was willing to be put on clinical trials because of the hefty costs of approved conventional drugs. With cancer, the longer you wait, the greater the odds are against you.

As the new drug will soon be put on the market, Joey knows he may soon have to pay for his medication. In fact, he may even need to go for another drug trial as a recent scan revealed 10 spots of cancer in his liver. The largest is 30mm – about the size of a golf ball.

For now, Joey is contented with trying out new drugs not only to prolong his life but for the benefit of future cancer patients. It’s people like Joey who will someday help to rewrite the story about the discovery of that elusive miracle drug for all cancers.