The Personal Impact of a Cancer Immunotherapy Trial

Cindy Geoghegan is a patient advocate, advisor and activist with over 30 years of health policy and communications experience, having held senior staff and board positions with several leading cancer non-profit organizations including Susan G. Komen, Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization and others. She began her advocacy career shortly after her breast cancer diagnosis in 1995. Ms Geoghegan has provided the patient perspective on research teams and projects funded by Stand Up to Cancer, the National Cancer Institute, the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and has served on the steering committee of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI), the Duke University/FDA joint venture focused on more efficient clinical trials. Ms Geoghegan is currently a member of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center’s External Advisory Board, and on the Founding Members Council for the Digital Medicine Society, where she also serves on its research committee. Ms Geoghegan has co-authored more than a dozen publications with researchers focused on patient preferences and improving patient outcomes.

Kelly (Spill) Bonito is a 3 Year Colorectal Cancer Survivor who has been featured on: Stand Up 2 Cancer, The Washington Post, Everyday Health, and CBS News. Ms (Spill) Bonito is a colorectal cancer survivor as a result of immunotherapy treatment. She started her journey with cancer when she was 28 years old, which was finally diagnosed in January 2020. However, her symptoms arose in 2019, when she was 8 months pregnant with her son. Unfortunately, Ms (Spill) Bonito was brushed off from a handful of doctors telling her it was internal hemorrhoids caused by pregnancy. With persistence to self-advocate, she finally found a provider who listened. Ms (Spill) Bonito’s plan was to explore her options by visiting three cancer centers. She was looking to find her best fit by the feeling of comfort and best treatment option. Her first stop was Memorial Sloan Kettering and it ended up being her last stop. Her initial treatment plan was the traditional treatment approach; chemotherapy, oral chemotherapy/radiation and a surgical resection. This treatment option would lead her to never being able to carry another baby again, as well as, forever having a colostomy bag. This led her and her husband to freeze embryos prior to treatment in hopes to be able to bring another baby into this world. She arrived at her appointment to schedule her first day of chemotherapy and left that appointment with a new treatment plan. Ms (Spill) Bonito’s tumor tested positive for a genetic mutation called Mismatch Repair Deficient (MMRd), which allowed her to be a candidate for a clinical trial immunotherapy treatment that now carries that name of Dostarlimab. Ms (Spill) Bonito made a brave decision being the fourth patient in the USA to undergo this treatment. Ms (Spill) Bonito is a wife, now a mother of two, runs her own health and wellness business and is a patient advocate for Colorectal Cancer and clinical trials. She continues to advocate to bring hope and awareness for this cancer that is on the rise for individuals 50 and under. She used to be the quietest woman in the room, but now wants her voice heard on how important it is to self-advocate, persevere, and to trust your instincts regarding your body. Most recently, Ms (Spill) Bonito was invited by Stand Up 2 Cancer to appear at a corporate event held by MasterCard and to participate in a Q & A hosted by Memorial Sloan Kettering to support the need for continued research and applaud the success of this clinical trial.