‘I’m a believer’: Suburban woman hopeful after undergoing groundbreaking cancer treatment

Alla Pinzour has lived with skin cancer for 15 years.

The Hawthorn Woods resident was diagnosed with melanoma in 2009 after finding a small mole on her leg. She’s tried every possible treatment — injections, surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy. But nothing has managed to keep the disease at bay.

Last year, the melanoma spread further. Tumors were found in her stomach, lungs and liver.

“It had advanced more aggressively than it ever had,” Pinzour said.

But her longtime oncologist, Dr. Bruce Brockstein at NorthShore hospital in Highland Park, learned about a new cancer treatment that would become available at University of Chicago Medical Center.

Pinzour said the treatment was brutal. At one point, she had a fever of 105.1 degrees. She felt weak and struggled to get out of bed.

But good news came two months later, during her first scan after getting the therapy. Her tumors had shrunk by half.

“I am finally able to live my life,” Pinzour said. “I have hope that I will be cancer-free. I’m a believer.”

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