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Photo by Reed Hutchinson UCLA
Photographic Services
Lorena Iniguez guides those who call the Jonsson Cancer
Center’s clinical trials referral service.
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lifeline to clinical trials
She gives hope to cancer patients
BY MARY HARDIN
UCLA Today
Lorena Iniguez often hears desperation in the voices of the people
who call her on the phone.
That’s understandable, she knows. The callers are urgently
searching for critical information that may save a life —
perhaps their own. Sometimes what they really want is someone to
listen to their woes — even if it’s a person at the
end of the line whom they have never met before.
“At times I feel I can help a patient best simply by listening,”
said Iniguez, who takes calls at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center’s
clinical trials referral service. Every day she talks to patients,
doctors and family members seeking for information about the more
than 200 leading-edge clinical trials available at the center.
Most callers are searching for hope in the fight against colon,
breast, lung, ovary or prostate cancers. “It can be frustrating
and emotionally wrenching to speak with desperate callers. They
don’t want to hang up,” said Iniguez, who has been the
voice of the referral service since 2000.
There was no centralized location for patients to call for up-to-date
information about ongoing cancer studies before Iniguez came, so
she helped establish the referral service. Before coming to UCLA,
she worked at the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information
Service in Los Angeles and had earned a degree in sociology from
UCLA. But even with that background, Iniguez found there was much
more to learn about clinical trials.
A clinical trial is a study conducted with cancer patients, usually
to evaluate a new treatment. “When patients call, I first
attempt to evaluate their treatment history to make sure they qualify
for a clinical trial before referring them to a study coordinator,”
Iniguez said. “Usually I call a patient within four to six
weeks to follow up on their clinical trial referral process.”
Recently, Iniguez received a call from a woman whose mother, a
Kaiser Permanente patient, had undergone four separate chemotherapy
regimens for advanced colorectal cancer.
“The daughter heard of a study with [Associate Clinical
Professor] J. Randolph Hecht,” Iniguez said. “At that
time, the study was within two weeks of closing. Only a couple of
slots were left.”
In order to obtain authorization for her mother to come to UCLA,
the woman set up a review hearing with Kaiser. “I suggested
she set up an appointment with Dr. Hecht as soon as possible to
save time, rather than wait until after the review hearing,”
Iniguez said. “I referred her to the new-patient liaison,
who continued to work with her throughout the process.”
The daughter has since contacted Iniguez to thank her for her
help.
When news of a cancer breakthrough hits, such as when the leukemia
pill Gleevec was approved, Iniguez’s calls, typically 15 a
day, grow exponentially.
And that’s fine with her. “My greatest satisfaction
is when I am able to instill hope in callers who have been previously
told there is nothing more that can be done for their condition.”
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