A Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis at 37, and a $120,000 Lifeline | Greta Wire
At 37, Alex was fit, healthy and working as a geneticist. Then he received a shocking diagnosis: stage 4 rectal cancer that had spread to his liver.In this episode of "Greta Wire," Greta Van Susteren sits down with Alex to hear how his symptoms began, why his cancer proved difficult to detect, and what it has been like undergoing radiation, chemotherapy, surgery and immunotherapy while still in his 30s.
Alex also brings a unique perspective to his diagnosis. With a background in computational biology and statistical genetics, he has spent his career studying how genes influence disease — yet extensive testing has revealed no known genetic explanation for his own colorectal cancer.
Now Alex is pursuing another option: an experimental personalized cancer vaccine, designed using mutations found specifically in his tumor.
The cost? About $120,000.
After Alex started a GoFundMe and Greta shared his story with her followers on X, strangers responded almost immediately. Alex says his fundraiser climbed from about $50,000 when he went to bed to roughly $110,000 the next morning.
Greta and Alex discuss the science behind personalized cancer vaccines, the troubling rise of colorectal cancer among some younger adults, the loneliness of fighting cancer at a young age — and what the extraordinary response from complete strangers taught Alex about human nature.
Chapters
0:35 Greta Introduces Alex and His $120,000 Cancer Fundraiser
1:47 Meeting Alex: Stage 4 Cancer at Just 37
3:13 From Cambridge and Oxford to a Career in Genetics
4:51 What a Statistical Geneticist Actually Does
5:22 Did Genetics Play a Role in Alex’s Cancer?
6:39 Why Are Younger Adults Getting Colorectal Cancer?
8:17 The Symptoms That Came Before the Diagnosis
9:19 A Cancer Test Comes Back Negative
10:34 Symptoms Worsen — and the Colonoscopy Is Delayed
11:35 Radiation, Chemotherapy and Cancer Treatment
14:21 Hiking Mountains During Chemotherapy
16:40 Alex’s Current Immunotherapy Treatment
17:48 The Emotional Toll of Fighting Cancer Alone
18:50 Greta’s Followers Rally Around Alex
19:36 $50,000 at Bedtime — $110,000 by Morning
21:13 The $120,000 Personalized Cancer Vaccine
22:05 How Alex’s Cancer Vaccine Is Designed
23:20 The Challenge of Making Personalized Vaccines Accessible
24:12 Could Multiple Cancer Vaccine Technologies Help?
25:11 Why Every Personalized Vaccine Is Different
26:34 How Alex Will Receive His Vaccine
28:10 Training the Immune System to Attack Cancer
29:08 What Do We Know About Whether Cancer Vaccines Work?
30:38 How Alex Is Feeling Today
31:36 Greta and Her Followers Keep Rooting for Alex
Today’s podcast is sponsored by :
PARAMOUNT PLUS - Don’t Miss “Lioness” - all episodes now streaming on https://www.paramountplus.com/
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