Peoria man’s cancer therapy put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak

PHOENIX — Chad Snow of Peoria was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, four years ago, and has since undergone weekly chemotherapy.

He was scheduled to start a potentially life-saving therapy at Mayo Clinic in late March.

“It’s just been put on hold indefinitely,” Snow told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

“I have no idea when they’re going to reschedule it.”

Snow got the news after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order March 19 to suspend all elective surgeries. It was meant to free up medical resources and increase hospital capacity for the fight against COVID-19.

Ducey announced last week these procedures could resume May 1, but even with the governor’s order being lifted, Snow said he doubts the therapy he was supposed to start on March 24 will be rescheduled any time soon.

“The sense I got the last time I talked to my doctor is that clinical trials like these have been put on hold indefinitely,” Snow said.

“That’s kind of disappointing for people like me that were really looking forward to something that might help me get better sooner.”

The therapy, known as CAR T-cell therapy, would require him to be in the hospital for three weeks and would relieve him from undergoing chemotherapy.

Snow said many patients who’ve tried it are cancer-free a year later and don’t need additional treatments, which he said “would be wonderful for someone like me who’s going in every week for chemotherapy.”

“I think psychologically, more than anything, it’s just disappointing when you get excited for something that’s going to make you better and then it gets yanked out from under you,” he said.

Mayo Clinic said in a statement sent to KTAR News 92.3 FM it has started to reschedule medical procedures that have been deferred since early March.

“Scheduling will take into account patients’ needs and the urgency of the care being provided,” the statement reads.

“We will work quickly to meet the needs of all of our rescheduled patients, and are confident in our ability to do this.”

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