Patient Success Stories

The 'Kozloff Cocktail'

Seventy-eight year-old Edward Pacholski of Orland Park admits a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer in 1995 was a shock at first.

"But I decided that it was in God's hands and I wasn't going to let it affect me," he explains. "I was going to continue to live my life."

And for four years, he did just that. Radiation treatments and injections of Lupron at Ingalls held the cancer at bay. Then, in 1999, his PSA level began climbing.

Over the next several months, several different drugs meant to boost the effects of his initial treatment faltered. So Pacholski was referred to Mark Kozloff, M.D., hematologist/oncologist at Ingalls, who recommended a clinical trial of his own design. Pacholski agreed, and in early 2001, he began taking the "Kozloff Cocktail," a powerful combination of chemotherapy drugs targeting metastatic prostate cancer.

Despite the earlier spread of Pacholski's cancer to nearby lymph nodes and bones, the treatment is working. Pacholski's PSA level, which had spiked at 62 in March 2001, plummeted to 6.3 in July. The bone lesions have remained stable, and recent CAT scans have shown no further spread of the cancer.

"This particular treatment – a combination of mitoxantrone and ketoconazole – has shown very positive results in treating metastatic prostate cancer," Dr. Kozloff explained. In fact, it is so well received that results of the trial have been published twice, and it is now being adopted by cancer specialists at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who have experienced similar success.

As for Pacholski, he's thrilled with the results. "There will never really be a cure for me, but the cancer can be contained, and the quality of my life is good," he said.

For more information on Ingalls Clinical Trials or Cancer Care, call
708-915-6193.

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