Cancer came crashing into Maria Pascale’s life like a high-speed car — literally.

During a CT scan after a traumatic car accident in February 2018, Pascale was dealt another blow when doctors noticed a mass in her neck, in between the esophagus and thyroid gland. A biopsy later confirmed it was squamous cell carcinoma, snaking around her vocal cords.

“I was really nervous,” said Pascale, who lives in Philadelphia.

Over the next seven years, she tried all of the conventional treatment options, but the cancer kept returning. Pascale assumed she would be sick forever. That is, until a new treatment developed at Rutgers Cancer Institute, New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and RWJBarnabas Health changed her life.

“I didn’t know if I was going

See Full Page