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Four-year-old Mary Thompson of Sutherlin was recently diagnosed with a brain stem glioma, or a brain tumor.
SUTHERLIN — Perched on the Thompson family’s entertainment center is a fish bowl containing the fish Batman. It was Mary Thompson’s turn to bring home the beloved class pet.
“She was the chosen one,” said Mary’s mom, Sarah Thompson of Sutherlin. “Sometimes she’ll sit down on the floor and sit Batman next to her.”
A student at Sutherlin Head Start, 4-year-old Mary was recently diagnosed with a brain stem glioma, or a brain tumor.
She, her mother and her brother David, 14, are now at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, where Mary will receive a three-week therapy that the family hopes will put Mary on the road to being cured.
Mary is the youngest of Sarah and David Thompson’s seven children. Four, including Mary, are adopted. The Thompsons welcomed Mary into their family as a 10-month-old.
Sarah Thompson noticed that Mary was cross-eyed soon after the child was brought home. Immediately following surgery to correct it, she perceived that there was still something wrong.
Over time, Mary had three MRIs, and Sarah Thompson sent all three to the Burzynski Clinic, which they had learned about from a family at their church. The Burzynski Clinic is a research clinic and pharmaceutical company, said Dr. Stan Burzynski.
“They confirmed it was a brain stem glioma,” Sarah Thompson said. “They said she would be accepted as a patient.”
The clinic offers targeted therapy to destroy cancer cells, Burzynski said.
“It’s a different approach than chemotherapy,” he said. “Instead of killing everything in the body, we’re selectively killing cancer cells and leaving the rest of the body in good shape.”
Burzynski, a cancer researcher from Poland, discovered the antineoplastons — small molecular peptides — which the therapy employs.
“Antineoplastons work as molecular switches,” Burzynski said. “They turn off the genes that are causing cancer. The cancer cells will die.”
He added, “We provide molecular switches to the body, and the switches will turn off the cancer cells. It’s like turning off the cancer key.”
Additionally, antineoplastons fight cancer with little or no side effects, according to the clinic’s Web site.
“It has so many more advantages,” Sarah Thompson said.
David Thompson added, “With Burzynski, she has a chance of living a life. She’s just a beautiful child. She sings to me.”
According to the American Cancer Society Web site, thousands of patients have been treated with antineoplastons at Burzynski’s clinic, and clinical trials are under way against many types of cancer. However, the Web site states, there have been no studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals that show antineoplaston therapy is effective in treating cancer or any other disease.
Additionally, it states that Dr. Burzynski’s clinical trials have been criticized for not following approved scientific standards and for not helping to answer the question of whether the therapy is effective in treating certain cancers.
Most local medical doctors who were asked about the antineoplaston therapy at the Burzynski Clinic were either unfamiliar with it or chose not to comment.
One physician, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “Burzynski is reporting some long-term survivors, though we really don’t have statistics.”
Sarah Thompson is a stay-at-home mom and David Thompson went on disability two years ago because of a chronic inflammatory disorder. Before that, he was a construction contractor. The two met as teenagers at Sutherlin Junior High.
The couple thought hard about the alternative treatment. While chemotherapy may prolong their daughter’s life, Sarah Thompson wondered, “At what price?”
She’ll experience side effects and won’t be able to go to school, she said.
“This at least will give her some better quality while she’s on the treatment. I want her to still be able to continue school. She loves Head Start.”
Mary was receiving treatment at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Sarah Thompson said the physicians there wanted to wait eight weeks to conduct another MRI to see if there had been any change in the tumor and to determine what to do for treatment. Sarah Thompson said she didn’t feel she could wait eight more weeks.
Before leaving for Houston, Mary had an open-ended catheter implanted on the right side of her chest. She’ll carry a backpack, which will deliver the medicine through the port.
Insurance doesn’t cover the therapy because it’s controversial and considered nontraditional, Sarah Thompson said. It totals around $30,000, with medicine costing around $7,600 a month.
After the tumor’s gone, Mary will need preventive medication that’s around $2,500 a month.
Sarah Thompson said, “I don’t want to look back and think, “Why didn’t we try?”
• You can reach reporter Jennifer Mathis at 957-4208 or via e-mail at jmathis@newsreview.info.
“She was the chosen one,” said Mary’s mom, Sarah Thompson of Sutherlin. “Sometimes she’ll sit down on the floor and sit Batman next to her.”
A student at Sutherlin Head Start, 4-year-old Mary was recently diagnosed with a brain stem glioma, or a brain tumor.
She, her mother and her brother David, 14, are now at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, where Mary will receive a three-week therapy that the family hopes will put Mary on the road to being cured.
Mary is the youngest of Sarah and David Thompson’s seven children. Four, including Mary, are adopted. The Thompsons welcomed Mary into their family as a 10-month-old.
Sarah Thompson noticed that Mary was cross-eyed soon after the child was brought home. Immediately following surgery to correct it, she perceived that there was still something wrong.
Over time, Mary had three MRIs, and Sarah Thompson sent all three to the Burzynski Clinic, which they had learned about from a family at their church. The Burzynski Clinic is a research clinic and pharmaceutical company, said Dr. Stan Burzynski.
“They confirmed it was a brain stem glioma,” Sarah Thompson said. “They said she would be accepted as a patient.”
The clinic offers targeted therapy to destroy cancer cells, Burzynski said.
“It’s a different approach than chemotherapy,” he said. “Instead of killing everything in the body, we’re selectively killing cancer cells and leaving the rest of the body in good shape.”
Burzynski, a cancer researcher from Poland, discovered the antineoplastons — small molecular peptides — which the therapy employs.
“Antineoplastons work as molecular switches,” Burzynski said. “They turn off the genes that are causing cancer. The cancer cells will die.”
He added, “We provide molecular switches to the body, and the switches will turn off the cancer cells. It’s like turning off the cancer key.”
Additionally, antineoplastons fight cancer with little or no side effects, according to the clinic’s Web site.
“It has so many more advantages,” Sarah Thompson said.
David Thompson added, “With Burzynski, she has a chance of living a life. She’s just a beautiful child. She sings to me.”
According to the American Cancer Society Web site, thousands of patients have been treated with antineoplastons at Burzynski’s clinic, and clinical trials are under way against many types of cancer. However, the Web site states, there have been no studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals that show antineoplaston therapy is effective in treating cancer or any other disease.
Additionally, it states that Dr. Burzynski’s clinical trials have been criticized for not following approved scientific standards and for not helping to answer the question of whether the therapy is effective in treating certain cancers.
Most local medical doctors who were asked about the antineoplaston therapy at the Burzynski Clinic were either unfamiliar with it or chose not to comment.
One physician, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “Burzynski is reporting some long-term survivors, though we really don’t have statistics.”
Sarah Thompson is a stay-at-home mom and David Thompson went on disability two years ago because of a chronic inflammatory disorder. Before that, he was a construction contractor. The two met as teenagers at Sutherlin Junior High.
The couple thought hard about the alternative treatment. While chemotherapy may prolong their daughter’s life, Sarah Thompson wondered, “At what price?”
She’ll experience side effects and won’t be able to go to school, she said.
“This at least will give her some better quality while she’s on the treatment. I want her to still be able to continue school. She loves Head Start.”
Mary was receiving treatment at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Sarah Thompson said the physicians there wanted to wait eight weeks to conduct another MRI to see if there had been any change in the tumor and to determine what to do for treatment. Sarah Thompson said she didn’t feel she could wait eight more weeks.
Before leaving for Houston, Mary had an open-ended catheter implanted on the right side of her chest. She’ll carry a backpack, which will deliver the medicine through the port.
Insurance doesn’t cover the therapy because it’s controversial and considered nontraditional, Sarah Thompson said. It totals around $30,000, with medicine costing around $7,600 a month.
After the tumor’s gone, Mary will need preventive medication that’s around $2,500 a month.
Sarah Thompson said, “I don’t want to look back and think, “Why didn’t we try?”
• You can reach reporter Jennifer Mathis at 957-4208 or via e-mail at jmathis@newsreview.info.
