How Immunotherapy Saved Laurie’s Life

“I would run as fast as I can to get immunotherapy, because the results are so much better.” 

CRI ImmunoAdvocate Laurie Adami

Immunotherapy has made significant inroads with cancer treatment over the past couple decades. Laurie Adami, a former president of a California software company, spoke with CRI recently about her firsthand knowledge of the potential for immunotherapy to improve patients’ lives. She has now been living cancer-free since 2018 and credits chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, which equips a patient’s T cells with a synthetic sensor before reintroducing those same cells to the immune system, with saving her life. 

“During my 12-year journey to stay alive, I had seven different lines of therapy,” Laurie said. The Los Angeles resident was diagnosed with stage IV incurable follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2006. “I first learned about CAR T cell immunotherapy in 2012, I was fortunate to receive it, and now I am six years out.” 

After receiving a monoclonal antibody immunotherapy treatment in combination with chemotherapy, she experienced cancer remission. However, a post-treatment scan revealed Laurie’s cancer had returned. At that point, Laurie sought out her first of three clinical trials. In 2012, she discovered that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) had been making important strides during initial studies with CAR T therapy.

Laurie was impressed with its precision, which was a welcome change for Laurie after her previous treatments were unsuccessful in thwarting her cancer. 

“I was determined to live long enough to get CAR T to finally get rid of my disease,” she recalled. “CAR T therapy is targeted to something on your cancer cells, so only the cancer dies,” she stated. “I was determined to live long enough to get CAR T to finally get rid of my disease. In 30 days, I got my CAR T cells back, and my images were clean.” 

Laurie is an emphatic proponent of immunotherapy treatment. For current cancer patients who might consider a treatment like hers, she stressed the importance of acting quickly and speaking with an expert. 

“Looking at the numbers and the overall response rates and complete remissions, there has been nothing ever like it,” Laurie emphasized about immunotherapy. “It is using the patient’s own cells, it is highly effective, and it is not just coming off a factory line where everybody is going to get the same drug.”

Today, she is a CRI ImmunoAdvocate – one of many cancer survivors that make themselves available to engage with current patients and graciously share their experiences. Patient advocates like Laurie continue to play a significant role in our mission to create a world immune to cancer.