Creator Profile Avatar for Mel Mann
Mel Mann
Creator Profile Avatar for Mel Mann

Mel Mann

@mel_mann_leukemia480K total followers
World’s Longest-Living Gleevec & TKI Survivor 🎗️ 31 years of defying the odds and making medical history. My mission is to turn "terminal" into "treatable" through patient advocacy, clinical trial education, and the power of hope. ✨ Keynote Speaker | Patient Advocate | Living Proof Sharing my journey to empower yours. Because a diagnosis isn’t the end—it’s a new chapter of resilience. Follow along for inspiration and the latest in leukemia advocacy. Beating the odds, one day at a time. 🙏

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19:59

Today, on World #CML Day (9/22), I pause to reflect on a journey that began more than 30 years ago with a life-changing diagnosis of chronic myeloid #leukemia. At that time, the future was uncertain and long-term survival was rare. By the grace of God, the dedication of researchers, and the breakthrough that came with clinical trials for Gleevec (imatinib), I stand here today as the longest-living #Gleevec survivor — part of a community of over a million survivors worldwide, and blessed to have lived more than 30 years beyond my diagnosis. This milestone is not mine alone. It belongs to every patient who entered a trial, every doctor who pushed science forward, every caregiver who offered strength, and every advocate who refused to give up hope. I’ve captured some of my journey, along with three decades of patient advocacy, in this 20-minute video. My hope is that it inspires patients and families to see that survival, progress, and purpose are possible. Together, let’s continue to shi

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Instagram
11 mths
8:18

1990's World Record Bone Marrow Drive with 10,675 people

YouTube
YouTube
12 yrs

Gleevec’s 25th Anniversary I’m honored to be part of the story. This drug changed cancer treatment – and medical research – forever : Short Wave Listen on Apple, Spotify, or NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/05/11/nx-s1-5812534/gleevec-cancer-medicine-drug-treatment-research

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Instagram
3 mths

IF I HAD ONLY 3 MINUTES TO TELL A CANCER PATIENT EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LIVING WITH CANCER, THIS LETTER IS WHAT I WOULD SAY. Breathe. And it’s okay to be scared. Fear doesn’t make you weak; it means you understand the stakes. Speak up. Ask for second opinions. Ask about clinical trials early — not as a last resort. Be a partner with your medical team, not a passenger. Hope is not denial. Hope is a strategy. It’s showing up for the next appointment. It’s taking a pill, even when you’re tired of pills. Stay in the fight longer than you think you can. Sometimes the next option, the one that works, is closer than it looks. You can be realistic and hopeful at the same time. You are more than your diagnosis. You are still a parent, a spouse, a friend, a child of someone, a dreamer, a human being. Help someone when you can. Even a small act like answering a question that another patient has, or sharing your story can give your suffering a purpose. And if you forget any of this — t

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Instagram
8 mths
21:08

I WAS BLESSED TO BE A PARTICIPANT IN THE GREATEST CANCER BREAKTHROUGH OF THE 21st CENTURY #GLEEVEC In this video, Dr. Brian Druker, MD, the researcher-physician behind the lifesaving drug #Gleevec, which works for 11 different cancers, discusses the origin of the drug with three of the original phase one clinical trial patients as he successfully prepared to run the 2025 Boston Marathon along with his daughter Julia. He and Julia also raised a significant amount of money for cancer research as past of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training. Over 1 million CML patients alone have benefited from the Gleevec (Imatinib) breakthrough. Gleevec saved me from terminal leukemia 27 years ago. It was the first Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI). There are now over 60 FDA-approved TKIs, which have helped millions of people. Watch the whole video here: https://lnkd.in/emZ6y3qt #TyrosineKinaseInhibitor #TKI #CML #leukemia #ClinicalResearch #clinicaltrials #LLS

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Instagram
1 yr

1995 Marrow Drive (Three Years to Live)

This is a video used back in 1995 at one of my first Bone Marrow Drives when I had terminal leukemia and less than three years to live. This particular drive took place in Michigan. Blood is no longer required to be drawn at marrow drives. A cheek swab is all that is needed. I never found a donor. My healing came in a different way. This video gives a pretty good overview of the marrow donation process. Please consider being a donor, as there is still a great need for donors. Unlike twenty years ago, all that is needed initially is a cheek swab which you can do at home and mail in the kit. It's very easy. Check out how at http://Join.bethematch.org/MelMann Read my updated story at http://www.curetoday.com/community/mel-mann/2015/10/leukemias-lionheart-the-fight-of-a-lifetime Thanks, Mel. Also, check out the video Three Months to Live at http://youtu.be/UWX8xf8OibM Follow me on twitter at https://Twitter.com/MelDMann Hit that subscribe button for future updates.
YouTube
YouTube
12 yrs

Latest posts

2:08

Watch this. This was me 31 years ago, AUGUST 1995. I had terminal leukemia, given 3 years to live, and was searching for a marrow donor. I was married and had a five-year daughter. As a Black patient, I had about a 1% chance of finding an unrelated donor. I never found one, despite numerous marrow drives nationwide, and the addition of many thousands of people to the marrow registry. I was also part of the 1990s World’s Largest Marrow Drive with 10,672 people joining the registry. For every 430 people who join the registry, a lifesaving donor is found. 3 and a half years after diagnosis, In AUGUST 1998, this month 28 years ago, I entered the phase one #Gleevec (Imatinib) clinical trial. That decision changed everything. Barely able to walk before the trial, I ran a 26.2 mile marathon in Alaska ten months later. Today, AUGUST 2026, 31 years later, I can watch this old news footage and remember just how uncertain my future was. Clinical research didn’t just give me a

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1 day

Thirty-one years ago I was told I had three years to live. Today I’m still here — and I just had a conversation with the scientist whose work made that possible. @BloodCancerUtd published a conversation hosted by Dr. E. Anders Kolb with Dr. Brian Druker and me. Dr. Druker is the researcher behind #Gleevec, the first targeted therapy that changed CML from a death sentence into a chronic, manageable disease. I was the second patient at MD Anderson to receive it in a clinical trial in 1998. I’ve been in remission ever since. My daughter was five when I was diagnosed. I got to watch her grow up and become a physician. Cecelia and I had been married 10 years then. We’re at 42 now. The trial gave me tomorrow’s medicine today. That’s what clinical trials can do. If you’re facing a blood cancer diagnosis, or you love someone who is, I hope you’ll read this. Science, persistence, and patients willing to take a chance can rewrite the ending. Read the conversation here: bloodc

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2 days

FDA Food Recall Alert — some of the most recently recalled products. Salmonella. E. coli. Listeria. Cyclospora. Botulism risk. Undeclared allergens. As a 31+ year cancer survivor, I don’t treat this as a “just throw it out later” situation. When your immune system has already been through hell, these pathogens can turn a grocery run into a hospital stay. Check your kitchen now: • Nara Organics powdered infant formula — Clostridium botulinum risk 
• Midwest Poultry shell eggs — Salmonella 
• Several cheeses (La Colonia, Nelson & Isa Requeson, Clover Hill, RAW FARM cheddar) — Listeria or E. coli 
• Iceberg lettuce (Mexico origin) — Cyclospora 
• GreenWise organic berries/blueberries — E. coli 
• Mixes, seasonings, noodles, kimbap, beverages, popcorn seasoning, and prepared foods from Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods — Salmonella or undeclared milk/soy/fish Also watch Wawa drinks, Pearl Milling pancake mix, and certain moringa capsules. If you have any of these,

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3 days

As a long-term cancer survivor, I watch clinical research like this closely—because every new option can mean hope for someone facing relapsed or refractory disease. Early data from the ongoing pivotal Phase 2/3 MIRACLE trial of liposomal Annamycin + cytarabine (AnnAraC) in relapsed/refractory AML continue to look encouraging. Interim results showed complete remission rates roughly three times higher than the control arm in the first analysis, with composite CR rates in the 50%+ range in the Annamycin arms vs. lower with cytarabine alone. Importantly, the drug continues to show no evidence of the cardiotoxicity that limits traditional anthracyclines—opening the door for patients who’ve already received prior anthracyclines or who need additional options after venetoclax-based therapy. The trial is still actively recruiting across U.S., European, and other international sites as it moves toward full Part A enrollment and the next unblinded readout. Precision approaches and

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1 wk

FDA just raised the egg recall to Class I — their highest risk level. Nearly 1.6 million dozen eggs (~19 million individual eggs) from Midwest Poultry Services are under recall for Salmonella Enteritidis. Sold under brands like Kroger, Simple Truth, Brookshire’s, Country Morning, and others across several Southern states. Check the carton for plant code P-1950 or 0840962 + Julian dates 157–184 (sell-by/best-by July 20 – August 17, 2026). If they match, throw them out or return them for a refund. Don’t cook them. Don’t risk it. As a long-term cancer survivor, foodborne illness isn’t just an inconvenience — it can derail recovery or worse when your immune system is already compromised. Same risk for kids, the elderly, and anyone immunocompromised. This is why food safety and transparent recalls matter so much in public health. Check your fridge today. Full details: fda.gov/food/outbreaks…

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1 wk

The new vaccine executive order puts politics ahead of evidence — and that should concern every parent and every immunocompromised patient. As a 31-year cancer survivor, I’ve lived with a compromised immune system long enough to know this: when public health decisions stop being driven by rigorous science, the most vulnerable pay the price first. Changing a proven childhood vaccine schedule without strong new evidence is not a neutral policy tweak. It risks lower vaccination rates, more preventable disease, and eroded trust in one of the most thoroughly studied tools in medicine. I didn’t survive terminal cancer by ignoring science. Our children shouldn’t have to either. Talk to your physician. Demand evidence. Protect the kids who can’t protect themselves. #VaccinesWork #PatientAdvocacy #PublicHealth #CancerSurvivor

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1 wk
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