Jennifer Matthews: Seventy-something Sue Ruley is getting over eye surgery. She is taking it easy, just playing with Nino.
Four years ago, Sue was treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Eventually, chemo stopped working. Doctors told her she would need more serious treatment.
Sue Ruley: You never want to hear it. At least I can't imagine anybody would want to hear it.
Jennifer Matthews: Sue was one of the first patients to test a newly approved drug called Zevalin. Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Roger Macklis said it works like a smart bomb and targets cancer.
Dr. Roger Macklis: It puts not one, but two kinds of tumor-killing power right on the surface of the tumor and limits the collateral cell damage.
Jennifer Matthews: This can shows six days after the treatment, the drug had traveled to where Sue's cancer settled.
Dr. Roger Macklis: You see one in her neck, one in her right armpit. We see a lot in the chain of lymph nodes right along her spine and going down into the pelvis.
Jennifer Matthews: Dr. Macklis says traditionally these patients have about a 50 percent success rate with treatment. With Zevalin, it's around 80 percent.
Dr. Roger Macklis: It's not 100 percent, but it's significantly better than that 50 percent and that's what made the FDA sit up and take notice.
Sue Ruley: I think it was just an opportunity for me to look at myself, look at my life again, and get on with it. Because I'm not dead yet.
Jennifer Matthews: Now she spends more time brushing up on what she loves in life. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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