Imagine you if you thought you had a perfect combination of medication to fight cancer -- and that drug was suddenly taken away. FOX 47's Lora Painter has one Mid-Michigan family's journey on battling melanoma, one of the deadliest cancers out there.
Josh Oleksiak is focusing on college studying business management. But this college student doesn't just get to hit the books. He also has to focus on fighting skin cancer.
Oleksiak found a mole on his head when he was 16. Now, just 20 years old, he has stage four melanoma. He has been through multiple surgeries and treatments with extremely difficult side effects.
Oleksiak takes two drugs that are FDA approved and a third one that's investigational. Nine people in this trial have experienced tumors that did not grow under treatment. Researchers don't know for sure if its that investigational drug or the combination of all three.
Unfortunately, Oleksiak will have to stop the clinical trial. Novartis, the company who makes the drug will no longer offer it because they have not seen enough evidence that it works. The company says the other two FDA approved drugs can still be used.
