“As aggressive as cancer is, you’ve got to hit it back just as aggressively,” says Carl Bittner whose melanoma came back again, again – and again – over the past twenty-one years.

Thanks to donors’ investment in cancer research, Carl is still with us today – and he is thriving.

In 2000 Carl was diagnosed with Melanoma, an aggressive form of cancer responsible for 80% of skin cancer-related deaths. Despite being told he had a 10% chance of survival, Carl never lost hope.

Carl’s 21-year journey with melanoma has had many highs and lows. Since his initial poor prognosis and with limited treatment options back in 2000, Carl has endured multiple operations, radiation, and radical treatments. At one point Carl’s T cells were removed from his body, genetically enhanced, and then reintroduced to boost his immune system, a process Carl admits was “brutal” though his body cooperated and responded very well

Treatments didn’t always keep working, however; at one point Carl’s heart monitor registered an arrhythmia and treatment had to be stopped immediately.

Just when there seemed to be no more options, donor-funded clinical research and clinical trials blew open the world of immunotherapy and gave renewed hope to stage IV cancer patients like Carl.