The Power of Medical Firsts
Margie Baylis
Margie Baylis, a retired photographer from Owensboro, Ky., went from feeling completely normal one day, to waking up and feeling some pain in the area where she had fractured her rib a few years prior. She went in for a CT scan that revealed a nodule on her lung. Her doctor referred her to UofL Health – Brown Cancer, wanting her to have access to doctors who were not only experts, but who could offer Margie the most up-to-date, innovative treatments.
Upon arrival at the Brown Cancer Center in February 2019, Margie was able to confirm that she had lung cancer, prompting a lobectomy within the next two weeks. Unfortunately, this did not remove all of the cancer, and it came back in her lymph nodes.
With Stage 2b cancer, Margie went through four rounds of intense chemotherapy. This was effective for six months, until the cancer came back in her spleen, esophagus, liver and intestines.
From there, Margie began an oral chemo treatment that was effective for the next 18 months, until her body stopped responding.
In January of 2022, scans revealed that the cancer had returned and was progressing. Jason Chesney, M.D., Ph.D., Margie’s oncologist, presented her with two options, her first being chemotherapy. Her other option was tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) therapy, an experimental clinical trial.
TILs therapy was showing effective for metastatic melanoma, but had not yet been used to treat lung cancer. What they did know, however, was that TILs therapy is a difficult process. Margie, though, wanted to give it a try.
During the one-time TILs therapy treatment, tumors are harvested to extract lymphocytes, which are expanded in a lab before being infused back into to the body to fight cancer cells. During the surgery, complications arose, but Margie kept pushing, because she knew this was her last chance.
When the lymphocytes were ready to be infused back into her body, Margie herself was not quite ready. Elton John was in town, and she wanted to make sure she could go to his concert. So, she made the doctors put off her treatment so that she wouldn’t have to miss it. She enjoyed every minute of that concert!
Finally, Margie was admitted to the bone marrow transplant unit at UofL Hospital, where her immune system was wiped clean before the cells were infused back into Margie’s body. She had many side effects, due to the intense treatments, but after several weeks in the hospital, she was able to go home.
Though it was a long process of healing even after she left the hospital, Margie’s TILs treatment was successful. Cancer has since been found in her brain, but the rest of her cancer is gone.
Lung cancer patient saved through clinical trial for TILs therapy
Margie Baylis was one of the first patients to ever receive TILs (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) therapy for lung cancer, thanks to the clinical trials available through UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center. The Brown Cancer Center was among the first cancer centers in the U.S. to offer TILs and is now one of the most experienced, with clinical trials leading to the FDA approval of TILs for metastatic melanoma this past February. Trials are currently underway at Brown Cancer Center for other cancer types including lung, cervical, and head and neck cancers.
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Here I am and it's all worth it.
“To me it was like having a baby. It was a hard, long, messy process, but the outcome is unbelievable. Here I am and it’s all worth it.”
Margie knew she was taking a big chance, being 1 of 5 patients to try TILs treatment for lung cancer at that point in its experimental stage, but she proved that it could be successful, potentially saving the lives of many more lung cancer patients to come.
“I am here for a reason. It’s not because Owensboro didn’t have what they had to offer me,” Margie explained. “The doctor down there knew that I needed the doctors here and that the doctors here needed me, too.”
Margie continues to make the two-hour trip to Brown Cancer Center for immunotherapy treatment every 21 days. In the past five years, Margie has come a long way and now is able to live her life to the fullest.
The people here at Brown Cancer Center have been like family.
“The people here at the Brown Cancer Center have been like family,” she said. “They’ve really helped me come a long way in the past five years and guided me on this journey.”
Because of the clinical trials offered at Brown Cancer Center, Margie has been given extra years to spend with her family. She has traveled to Egypt, the Bahamas, New York City for a Broadway show and taken many trips to the beach since her TILs treatment.
Previously a gymnast, Margie also enjoys showing her grandkids the tricks that she is still able to do. Plus, she and her husband, Richard, bought a motorcycle, a lifelong dream of theirs!
“I tribute the ability to do all those things to Dr. Chesney and his staff and the wonderful people here at the Brown Cancer Center,” Margie said. “He (Dr. Chesney) truly wants to have success rates like this all the time. He wants everyone to come out like me – successful, happy and smiling.”
Margie’s favorite thing about the Brown Cancer Center is that she is not a patient, she is a person. She is not cancer, she is Margie Baylis and she has cancer.
When she was first diagnosed, the statistics were scary, but now, Margie reminds those in similar situations that there are so many new treatments that save lives, just like TILs saved her life.
Cancer treatment is complex. Finding HOPE is easy.
Cancer treatment is complex, and you and your family will have many questions throughout your course of treatment. At UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center, we welcome your questions and strive to connect you with someone who can address them promptly.
