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Julia Pitts knew something was wrong when, at age 62, she started bleeding and cramping.

¡°I thought when my menopause ended years earlier, my bleeding was over, too,¡± says the retired high school teacher.

A biopsy solved the mystery. Julia had uterine cancer. The condition occurs when cells in the endometrium ¨C the inner lining of the uterus ¨C start to grow out of control.

After undergoing a hysterectomy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Julia hoped her days of confronting cancer were over. But a year later, a CT scan showed the uterine cancer had spread to her lungs.

At her doctor¡¯s suggestion, she joined a clinical trial of two immunotherapy drugs that stimulated her immune system to recognize and fight off the cancer. But the drugs produced unpleasant side effects, and eventually stopped working.

¡°I worried I might be running out of options,¡± she says.

Tumor profiling uncovers genetic mutation for targeted therapy

It was time to try something different.

Julia¡¯s doctor took a sample of her tumor tissue and sent it to a lab for genetic testing ¨C a procedure known as tumor profiling. The results showed her cancer was caused by a mutation in the KRAS gene. A healthy KRAS gene prevents cells from growing out of control and causing cancer. But Julia¡¯s mutation, named G12C, makes it impossible for the KRAS gene to do its job.

¡°It may sound counterintuitive,¡± Julia says, ¡°but discovering I had this mutation was good news.¡±

The mutation meant she was eligible to enroll in a clinical trial at MD Anderson, where a targeted therapy drug named AMG-510, or sotorasib, is being tested in patients with G12C-induced cancers like Julia¡¯s. The drug is designed to ¡°home in¡± on and ¡°target¡± the mutation, and permanently lock it into an inactive state.

Clinical trials offer new hope

Since starting the clinical trial a year ago, Julia has seen her tumors shrink, then stop growing.

¡°I¡¯m thrilled this is working, after so many other therapies didn¡¯t,¡± she says. ¡°And I¡¯m amazed that I¡¯ve had zero side effects.¡±

She¡¯s grateful her doctor referred her to MD Anderson¡¯s clinical trial, led by

¡°That¡¯s the wonderful thing about clinical trials,¡± she says. ¡°When other treatments fail, a clinical trial can offer new hope.¡±

Today, she¡¯s back to gardening and taking long, leisurely walks through her hometown in the Ozark Mountains of north-central Arkansas.

¡°I feel great,¡± she says. ¡°My energy is back, and I find joy in things I used to take for granted. Some days I forget I have cancer.¡±

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