Home for the Holidays

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'Home for the Holidays' has New Meaning for Breast Cancer Patient

ORLANDO, Fla., Sixty-six-year-old Stephanie Kossnar wasn't sure if she would be able to spend this holiday season with her daughter.  That's because in January, after complaining of lower back pain and undergoing a CAT scan, Stephanie was told she had Stage IV breast cancer and only had two months to live.  Kossnar had beaten the disease almost 20 years ago, but this time the cancer had already spread throughout her body to her liver, bones, and lymph nodes.  However, she began chemotherapy and enrolled in the AMG 706 clinical trial at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute (FHCI) in March.  Now, as she celebrates the holidays, Kossnar says her quality of life is better than before she found out she had cancer.  In fact, each month Kossnar flies six hours to spend time with her daughter in Seattle.  And, she recently came back from spending the holidays with her daughter, son-in-law, and grand-dog!

Kossnar enrolled in the AMG 706 clinical trial at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute (FHCI) to evaluate the effectiveness of an investigational, oral drug (motesanib diphosphate or AMG 706) in combination with chemotherapy, as first-line treatment in women with breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.  Resarchers are looking into whether the drug can control breast cancer growth in combination with chemotherapy to prolong patient survival.  The drug may help inhibit blood vessel growth by targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) - these play a critical role in tumor growth and spreading by promoting the growth of blood vessels that supply required nutrients to cancer cells and allow for tumor expansion.

Orange County ranks sixth in the number of new breast cancer cases by county (Florida Annual Cancer Report).  Florida is estimated to rank third in breast cancer deaths this year among all states (American Cancer Society).

Florida Hospital Cancer Institute Clinical Research Center is active in hundreds of clinical trials annually, studying new therapies for cancer and blood disorders in adult and pediatric patients. The center, which has the largest clinical trials program in Central Florida, has enrolled more than 1,800 patients on more than 900 clinical trials since its inception. 

The Clinical Research Center was one of twelve cancer centers in the U.S. to receive the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Clinical Trials Participation Award.

For more information, please call Florida Hospital Media Relations at 407-303-8217.