David Fajgenbaum, a doctor and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, shares his incredible journey of surviving idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease by finding his own cure. He discusses the flaws in current drug discovery processes and introduces his AI-driven tool that aims to connect untreatable diseases with potential treatments. The conversation highlights the challenges of navigating pharmaceuticals, the importance of personalized care, and the ethical implications of using technology in medicine, particularly in life-or-death situations.
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Near-Death Diagnosis And Remission
David Fajgenbaum suddenly fell into multiple-organ failure while in med school and was diagnosed with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease.
He cycled between near-death and recovery five times before finding rapamycin, which put him into remission for over a decade.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Blood Tests Led To Rapamycin
Lab tests revealed mTOR hyperactivity in David's immune profile and pointed to sirolimus (rapamycin) as a candidate.
He started the drug and has remained in remission for 11.5 years since.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Repurposing For A Relative's Cancer
David used the same repurposing approach for his uncle's angiosarcoma and found PD-L1 expression that led to pembrolizumab treatment.
His uncle achieved long-term remission and pembrolizumab became standard care for that cancer subtype.
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As he finished his medical school exam, David Fajgenbaum felt off. He walked down to the ER and checked himself in. Soon he was in the ICU with multiple organ failure. The only drug for his condition didn’t work. He had months to live, if that. If he was going to survive, he was going to have to find his own cure. Miraculously, he pulled it off in the nick of time. From that ordeal, he realized that our system of discovering and approving drugs is far from perfect, and that he might be able to use AI to find dozens, hundreds, even thousands of cures, hidden in plain sight, for as-yet untreatable diseases.
EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif Nasser Produced by - Maria Paz Gutiérrez with mixing help from - Jeremy S. Bloom Fact-checking by - Natalie A. Middleton
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