Charlotte Wolter

Charlotte Wolter had B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or cancer of the lymph nodes. The disease is usually fatal. But Charlotte is cancer-free five years after participating in a clinical trial of a drug at Mayo Clinic.

Things didn't always look so positive for Charlotte. After she was diagnosed, she had seven months of chemotherapy, followed by a relapse of the cancer. Then she received a different drug in a clinical trial, after which her cancer returned again.

"I was so depressed," says Charlotte. "I could tell it was hard for my physician to tell me my cancer was back. I think he wanted to cry with me."

Charlotte's hematologist at Mayo Clinic told her about a clinical trial for a new medication, Zevalin, a laboratory-engineered radioimmunotherapy drug developed specifically to kill non-Hodgkin's lymphoma B-cells.

Zevalin is administered intravenously in two doses. It contains a targeting agent that travels through the bloodstream, looking for tumor cells. When it finds them, it delivers radiation in a 5 millimeter area around the tumor, sparing normal surrounding tissue and organs from the effects of radiation.

"Lymphoma is generally widespread, and we can't radiate the entire body," says Thomas Witzig, M.D., Charlotte's hematologist who was involved in the clinical trial that led the FDA to approve Zevalin for treatment of relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. "Chemotherapy also goes throughout the entire body and sometimes causes severe side effects, requiring patients to be hospitalized. Zevalin is ideal for treatment of lymphoma because it carries the radiation payload directly to the tumor and doesn't have severe side effects."

Charlotte is glad Zevalin successfully treated her cancer and glad to have been in a clinical trial. "I know I'm not only doing something for myself but for the people who come after me too," she says.

Charlotte's experiences with cancer, Mayo Clinic and clinical trials inspired her youngest son to go to medical school. "In his application for medical school, he wrote that one of the reasons he wanted to become a doctor is because his family felt so helpful the day I was diagnosed with cancer. That's a really positive outcome from a potentially negative situation. I'm happy to be cancer-free, even if it's just for now. Having had cancer made me focus on enjoying myself and my loved ones while I can."