Patient Stories Annie Smith - Cancer Survivor

Annie Smith is currently enrolled in a new drug trial conducted by Dr. Amit Oza (left) and is also seen here with her surgical oncologist Dr. Barry Rosen(right).   When Annie Smith talks about her cancer treatment, she uses the pronoun “we.” She says things like “we operated on the liver,” or "we decided to start chemotherapy.” She speaks this way quite naturally, because she feels very much included in her care team at Princess Margaret Hospital where she is taking part in the trial of a promising new drug. “I never shied away from wanting to participate and to know, and my doctors and nurses knew that. We always did it together, ”Annie says, adding that her doctors at PMH “have been exceptional in their willingness to spend time with a patient.” A doctor of philosophy and professor of art history, Annie, now in her sixties, began her long struggle with cancer 20 years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In the late 1990s, she developed ovarian cancer. Tumours were later discovered in her liver, and more recently in her lungs and abdomen. Annie has had every available cancer treatment. Now—defying the odds yet again—she is being treated with an experimental drug that her surgical oncologist Dr. Barry Rosen was pleased to tell her is shrinking the tumours in her lungs. The drug trial is being conducted by a team headed by Dr. Amit Oza, Co-Director of the Robert & Maggie Bras Family New Drug Development Program at PMH. The program is providing new hope to patients who have not responded to standard drug treatments. A woman of courage, warmth and infectious optimism, Annie is a sailor, a tennis player, and the author of “Bearing Up with Cancer” a book in which she shares her remarkable story, using an imaginary white bear from her childhood. Proceeds from the book support the National Ovarian Cancer Association. Drug trials such as the one Annie is part of are made possible by PMH's new drug development team which currently has about 1,000 patients enrolled in more than 70 phase I and phase II clinical studies of new drugs. Each year, more than 50 new compounds are tested to determine which ones will join the arsenal of anti-cancer agents. In addition, researchers in the Drug Discovery Program are looking to find new cancer targets and to expand the range of drugs available to treat them.To facilitate this important work, renovations are almost completed on the fifth floor of Princess Margaret Hospital where 5,400 square feet of space is being turned into a state-of-the art new drug development centre this year. For more information on the drug development program at PMH, visit www.cancertrials.ca.