Cancer Drug Trial Gave Hope to Iraq Veteran, Until It Ended

Cancellation of drug trial brings heartbreak to Anderson Township family
Cincinnati.com
Anne Saker
December 24, 2015

For 18 months, Brad Giesting of Anderson Township has been fighting a rare cancer with an experimental drug. But last week, the drug manufacturer stopped the clinical trial and withdrew the drug, giving Giesting and his family a hard lesson at the holidays about cancer medicine.

Brad Giesting (left) and his wife Annie on a recent

visit with Santa Claus with their daughters, Hailey 5,

and Lucy, who turns 4 on Dec. 27. (Photo: Provided)

“To me, it doesn’t make sense,” said Giesting’s wife, Annie. “I’m sure it happens all the time. But from my perception, it’s not right. I’m just confused by the whole thing.”

Annie Giesting, 29, said that three years ago, Brad, 30, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the 101st Airborne, was diagnosed with liposarcoma, an uncommon cancer that can kill quickly. The couple have two young daughters.

Brad underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. He got a brief reprieve, but the cancer returned. Brad then enrolled in a clinical trial at Ohio State University run by Morphotek Inc., an Exton, Pennsylvania, company. The drug, morab, showed promise in earlier testing in treating liposarcoma.

Annie Giesting said that for a year and a half, her husband went to Columbus every week for treatment with the new drug and for related testing.

“On Brad's last scan, we were given the unbelievable news that all except one tumor have disappeared," Annie Giesting wrote in an email. “We headed into the holiday season with hearts full of joy and so thankful for the blessings that we had received.”
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