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08/2004 | Cycles of Hope: Architect Rides with Lance Armstrong to Promote Cancer Research |
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by Tracy Ostroff Thanks, he says, to drugs he received through clinical trials, leukemia survivor Michael Siegel, AIA, had the endurance twice to send his cancer into remission. This fall, he is again testing his stamina by cycling 3,500 miles cross-country to promote the importance and expansion of clinical trials and cancer research, goals near and dear to his and his family’s heart. The VOA Associates senior vice president is among the 20 riders selected from nearly 1,200 applicants to make the journey from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., with six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope.
Supporting clinical
trials But after about four and a half years the drug stopped working, and the cancer returned at “full bore.” Siegel says his doctor placed him as the first patient in a Phase II trial for Gleevec, a new drug that, to Siegel’s delight, had no side effects. Three months later, his leukemia was again in remission, and four years later he is still cancer free. Siegel is still in the clinical trial and continues to take the study drug, which has since been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. “I owe my life to cancer research,” Siegel says. “My personal experience has convinced me that research creates new drugs and treatments that save lives and improve the quality of life.” His enthusiasm and treatment success has prompted two of his family members diagnosed with cancer to seek out clinical trials. For many patients, Siegel says, clinical trials are a “safe treatment option that might be the way to go. Every cancer drug we have today went from the research lab to the clinic to be used for patients through this process of clinical trials. If we don’t increase participation in clinical trials, we won’t bring these new drugs to the world.” The drugs, he says, go from a research lab to the patient through a thorough process. “You’re not a science experiment or guinea pig.”
From fear to excitement Before his cancer treatments took a toll on his body Siegel was a triathlete, competing in Iron Man races. Once running became too difficult on his body, he turned his efforts toward his biking. “It got me out in the morning. It was kind of an act of defiance. I’d ride the lakefront in Chicago every day to work. It let me convince myself that I wasn’t going to go today.”
“My family has lived through the ‘we have to help dad survive cancer thing.’ They know how important this journey is and this message is and they’re tremendously supportive of it. It’s in a way something that I definitely owe to the cancer community to go out and support this fight now, and my family does as well. So my wife does a lot of training rides, and my older boys do a lot of training rides with us. And the little ones are always delighted to get an extra hour of cartoon watching in the morning, so they don’t seem to be bothered very much either.” He urges people to get involved in their own way. “Go to the Web site, and make that cancer promise,” which expands the commitment from 20 riders to a much larger group of cyclists across the country. “It’s a very exciting thing. It’s a lot of work, not an easy thing. Physically it’s challenging, mentally it’s been challenging, but every bit of it is worth it. It’s an important cause.” Copyright 2004 The American Institute of Architects.
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