Will a livestock-poison-turned-drug be affordable for cancer patients?

Kaylene Sheran was exhausted of surgery. By 19, she’d had so many skin cancers removed that she was sometimes surprised she had any skin left. That was why she was at a conference in Philadelphia last June, listening to a dermatologist pleading with patients like her to volunteer for the trial of a new drug — one that might sharply reduce the number of operations she needed. Behind such an exciting possibility was a 60-year saga involving a flock of one-eyed lambs and some of the biggest pharma companies in the world. Finally, the compound was ready for late-stage testing. Before volunteering, though, Sheran wanted some guarantee that if the drug works, she’d be able to afford it.

In "The Medicine Hunters," a sweeping two-part series starting today, STAT's Eric Boodman brings to life the strange journey of one kind of chemo — and the patients intent on getting it.

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