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Adrian Clark, Stage 4 Prostate Cancer

Comprehensive Cancer Centers is committed to offering groundbreaking research to its patients. In this Research Spotlight, learn how research at Comprehensive has kept Adrian enjoying the things he loves like going hunting, sporting events and most importantly, spending time with his family.

Six months after Terri and Adrian Clark lost their middle son, Cody, to osteosarcoma cancer, their world was rocked again. Adrian was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer.

In January of 2012, Dr. Rupesh Parikh, medical oncologist, helped coordinate Cody’s care with the Sarcoma Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Terri and Adrian credit Dr. Parikh for giving them three more wonderful years with their son before he lost his battle in January 2015.

“He made such a big difference in people’s lives because he never let anything get him down. He had chemo one day and the next day was on an elk hunt,” said Terri of Cody.

Before cancer changed their lives forever, the Clarks enjoyed baseball as a family. They would go to a park near their house to play catch and hit balls. That park now has a bench dedicated in Cody’s memory, with a memorial plaque that has a quote from him, “I want to know that I didn’t just inspire people, but that I inspired them to do something.”

Six short months after Cody’s passing, Adrian went in for a regular checkup and was told he had elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels which can be a sign of prostate cancer. In 2015, he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. With everything he had already persevered through that year, Cody’s memory indeed inspired him to do something: Fight.

According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 2,090 Nevadans will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and an estimated 300 Nevadans will lose their lives to the disease.

At age 54, Adrian received the news of his diagnosis, so he began seeing Dr. Parikh at Comprehensive Cancer Centers (Comprehensive) and they immediately started chemotherapy with the hope that he would be able to enjoy more time with Terri and his other two sons.

Adrian was then placed on a clinical trial and received positive results for six to nine months. He then participated in two additional clinical studies that also had tremendous results with no side effects.

“Cancer has now become a chronic disease because we have so many clinical trials available at Comprehensive,” said Dr. Parikh. “We are essentially buying people more time that they didn’t have.”

Today, Adrian thanks Dr. Parikh and clinical research at Comprehensive for allowing him to enjoy the things he loves like going hunting, sporting events and most importantly, spending time with his family. When asked how he feels about the care he’s received, Adrian responds with, “I trust him [Dr. Parikh] with my life.”

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