Read Time: 3 minutes
During a 1968 football game, 香蕉视频 of Utah defensive lineman Jerry Simonson made a standout play on special teams, recovering a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown during a win over conference rival New Mexico.
鈥淗e was the only defensive lineman on the squad last year who managed to get into the scoring column,鈥 the 1969 香蕉视频 of Utah Football Media Guide reads. 鈥淗e has proven himself to be a fierce competitor with what most coaches would call 鈥楬eart.鈥欌
Now 76, Jerry still embodies that spirit, and it is helping him stay positive through a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
After shoulder surgery in 2017 and a subsequent infection, Jerry and his wife, Tad, noticed that his ordinarily high energy levels had plummeted. 鈥淚 just felt terrible,鈥 he says. Thanks in part to Tad鈥檚 advocacy, an emergency room doctor examined Jerry鈥攁nd ultimately diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer. 鈥淢y first comment was, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 the bad one,鈥欌 he recalls. Pancreatic cancer, though rare, is the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
Jerry came to Huntsman Cancer Institute, where he began chemotherapy and had surgery to remove a tumor from his pancreas. His condition immediately improved. 鈥淚鈥檇 go to chemo and I could jump off the chair and go play basketball,鈥 he says.
In 2022, Jerry鈥檚 cancer relapsed. His care team, led by Ignacio Garrido-Laguna, MD, PhD, MBA, enrolled him in a clinical trial. When the disease progressed, Dr. Garrido-Laguna helped Jerry enroll in a different clinical trial鈥攁 first-in-human study using a drug that targets KRASG12D, the most common genetic mutation in pancreatic cancer. Huntsman Cancer Institute is one of 13 locations nationwide to offer the trial.
Now, Jerry takes four pills every morning, and it has kept his cancer at bay with no side effects. 鈥淗is is a beautiful story with a near-complete response to therapy, something we rarely see in pancreatic cancer,鈥 Dr. Garrido-Laguna says. 鈥淚t is a great example of successful precision medicine and will bring hope to a lot of patients with pancreatic cancer.鈥
Jerry鈥檚 ongoing treatment involves regular doctor visits and CT scans, but he still has plenty of time and energy to stay active and visit his three adult children and seven grandchildren. The retired teacher, administrator, and football coach plays racquetball twice a week and walks four to five miles daily. He鈥檚 grateful for Tad and his care team at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
鈥淭he thing about cancer is that it鈥檚 not like a sprained ankle. You can鈥檛 tough it out and be a hero,鈥 the former football player says. 鈥淵ou have to rely on the doctors, do what they tell you to do, and hope that they鈥檙e on the right track鈥攖hat it shows positive results. At this point, it has.鈥
He鈥檚 convinced research is the key to his stable condition.
鈥淚鈥檓 still here,鈥 says Jerry. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the bottom line. With my last CT scan, they determined it was almost a complete response鈥攁lmost no cancer. And I feel really good. You鈥檝e got to credit that to research.鈥
