Edward Cutler is Changing the Face of Lung cancer

In 2013 , Edward Cutler saw an ad from AARP that suggested all men over age 50 get an abdominal aortic aneurism test. He was over 65 and it was covered by Medicare, so he figured he’d get checked out. It turns out he didn’t have an abdominal aortic aneurism, but during that test doctors found a mass in his liver. He had a few more tests and physicians believed it may be cancer and advised him to get a biopsy or a PET scan. He opted for the PET scan, but was told his insurance wouldn’t cover a PET scan unless he had cancer, so he had a biopsied, which revealed he had cancer. The doctors determined the cancer had metastasized from his lung and he was told he had about 9-12 months left to live. He underwent chemotherapy and after 16 months doctors found a new mass in his liver and told him he was chemo-resistant and there was nothing else they could do for him. There weren’t any clinical trials open to him at that point in time. Several months later, Cutler received a phone call saying there was an immunotherapy clinical trial available at Moffitt and he chose to participate in the hopes it would give him a good quality of life. After being on the clinical trial for seven months, he began to experience gastrointestinal issues and ended up in the hospital. After he was hospitalized a second time, he was no longer permitted to participate in that particular clinical trial. At the beginning of 2016, he began a new clinical trial at Moffitt. Cutler’s tumor shrank and he gets scans every 12 weeks. Cutler says he is happy as long as the tumor doesn’t grow. He is an advocate for Moffitt and travels to Tallahassee every year to participate in Moffitt Day at the Capital.