In 2004, at age 40, Annie Ellis was diagnosed with stage IIC ovarian cancer. In the first four years after her diagnosis, she navigated two recurrences, received three surgeries and five different chemotherapy regimens, and joined a phase I clinical trial.
Each time Ellis’s treatment for ovarian cancer failed, it was an anxious time for her. Making decisions about treatment is difficult. For patients like Ellis, who go through multiple lines of treatment for their recurrent cancer, it can be even harder.
Today Ellis, a research advocate living in White Plains, New York, has been in remission for more than 10 years. She is collaborating with gynecologic oncologist Stephanie Blank at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and other researchers to study how to help other patients with recurrent cancer have better conversations with their doctors as they choose among treatment options.
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