Hearing the diagnosis of cancer can be devastating, but patient Ken Schlosser wants to instill hope and remind people that there is cutting-edge treatment right at our fingertips in Western New York.

“I’m a beneficiary of Roswell’s modern testing equipment that they have,” says Schlosser.

Despite having lived a very healthy lifestyle, Schlosser was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer. Now, he is an advocate for research and treatment.

“First and foremost, would be the doctors and technicians. Their caring and dedicated and they have a lot of specialized care,” adds Schlosser.

At Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, experts aren’t only working with patients like Schlosser who have been diagnosed with the illness, but they’re taking preventative measures. Dr. Mary Reid, chief of Cancer Screening and Survivorship explains about CIMAvax. It is for people who are at risk of lung cancer and individuals who have survived treatment and no longer have tumors.

“One of the important things about a trial like this is that our goal is to identify an agent that will prevent progression of lung cancer. We are looking to recruit people who have a 30 year pack history, meaning one pack a day for thirty years. They’re 50-years-old and can have another risk factor. We know this is the group who are most likely to develop lung cancer and we want to test this drug to prevent that progression,” says Reid.

CIMAvax is one of the agents from Cuba. According to Reid, it has very low toxicity.

“The other group is the people who have been treated for lung cancer and they no longer have tumors. We have to prevent recurrence of lung cancer in that group,” explains Reid.

Being in this trial involves coming into Roswell every two weeks for four doses over an eight-week period with injections.

Participants can live in any state. For more details call 1-800-ROSWELL.