Marlin Salgado noticed her younger brother William Cardona’s skin was changing colors. As the family’s caregiver, she made an appointment for him to get checked out. William, the youngest of their seven siblings, was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer.
The siblings decided William would join a clinical trial after meeting UI Health oncologist Frank Weinberg, MD, PhD, who is part of the University of Illinois Cancer Center, and a clinical research coordinator in the Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office.
“She took like three hours with me just to explain everything because I was so scared that even if it doesn’t work, he’s my younger brother, and I was afraid I was going to lose him within a year,” Marlin recalled.
William has been stable for almost a year. Both Marlin and William praise his care at UI Health.
“Well, I figure if it can help me, it can help others. And that’s why I’m really doing it. So, later on down the road, it helps somebody else. So, I’m hoping for that,” said William about why he joined a clinical trial.
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