Tomorrow's Medicine Today

How a Clinical Trial Helped One Cancer Patient Find New Hope

Mercedes Uribe

“I feel extremely fortunate—first, to have Dr. Wang as my oncologist, and second, that they found a clinical trial that works for me. I was running out of options with existing chemotherapies, and so far, this one is working for me. I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Clinical trials have the power to change lives—and to inspire new hope. Just ask Mercedes Uribe, a 59-year-old Pico Rivera resident who was running out of options in her multi-year battle with cancer

It all started in 2014 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer. After undergoing a complete hysterectomy, Mercedes started two types of chemotherapy which kept her in remission for more than a year. But in 2015, her cancer returned and new cancer nodules were discovered. Lisa Wang MD, a PIH Health hematologist/oncologist and PIH Health Cancer Program medical director, began switching up the chemotherapies because the treatments stopped working over time (an issue called drug resistance).

Meanwhile, Dr. Wang submitted Mercedes’ biopsy details to see if there was a clinical trial that might be a match for her cancer. Her tumor was found to have an AKT1 mutation therefore she was placed in an experimental clinical trial with an AKT inhibitor called Ipataserib in 2020.

As soon as Mercedes started the trial, her cancer cells started shrinking. Mercedes takes two pills a day, and more than two years later, it’s still keeping her cancer at bay.

“I feel extremely fortunate—first, to have Dr. Wang as my oncologist, and second, that they found a clinical trial that works for me,” said Mercedes. “I was running out of options with existing chemotherapies, and so far, this one is working for me. I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Knowing the tremendous value of clinical trials, PIH Health has made significant investments to expand its offerings.

“Our program has grown dramatically in the past two years,” explains Jennifer Yanovski, research director at PIH Health. “We used to only have one treatment area (oncology), but now we have more than 20 studies in oncology alone and have expanded into additional therapeutic areas, including stroke, cardiovascular, peripheral vascular, neonatal and podiatry. I’m thrilled about this growth. Without clinical research, we wouldn’t be able to offer the newest and best treatments for our patients and community. We’re making tomorrow’s medicine available today.”

To learn more, visit PIHHealth.org/ClinicalTrials.