U. grad with stage 4 cancer heads to Washington to push for clinical trial access

From University Studies to a Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis in Salt Lake City

What began as discomfort in his lower back quickly unraveled the life of a university student. Joseph Mutalwa, originally from Uganda, noticed his symptoms accelerating during his final year at the University of Utah in January 2025. I was thinking that it was something that was going to go away. The next day, I had pain in my arms, Mutalwa said.

The discomfort eventually spread to his legs, accompanied by weight loss, shortness of breath, and difficulty walking. After months of medical visits, a bone marrow test delivered a devastating diagnosis. They told me news which I didn't even want to hear: 'Joseph, you have stage 4 prostate cancer,' Mutalwa said. “I broke down.”

The cancer had already spread to his bones. Mutalwa spent nine days in the hospital, forcing him to miss his college finals while managing relentless pain that left him unable to sleep. Despite ongoing medical treatments and a heavy regimen of medications, he pressed forward academically, completing his bachelor’s degree in international studies at the University of Utah before beginning a master’s degree in financial management through Boston University.

The Turn to Clinical Trials at Utah Cancer Specialists

When standard therapies failed to yield the expected results, Mutalwa and his medical team at Utah Cancer Specialists looked for alternative pathways. Mutalwa, a patient at Utah Cancer Specialists, began participating in a clinical trial.

His journey highlights broader systemic hurdles in oncology care. Geographic disparities and financial roadblocks frequently restrict patient entry into investigational studies. Academic analyses, including recent work highlighted by researchers such as Sumanta K. Pal, Vice Chair of Academic Affairs and Professor at City of Hope, and Petros Grivas, Professor at University of Washington and Fred Hutch, point to persistent regional mismatches between trial availability and localized disease burdens.

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Such disparities are the focus of ongoing investigations. A detailed analysis published in JAMA Network Open, led by co-first authors Koral Shah, Salvador Jaime-Casas, and Ruchi Agarwal alongside Sumanta K. Pal and other researchers, highlighted regional variations in bladder cancer trials in the United States. The study pointed to a misalignment between trial access and disease burden, prompting engagement from groups such as the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network and other organizations fighting for access to clinical trials for patients.

Advocating on Capitol Hill

Mutalwa is taking his advocacy to the national stage.

While uncertainties remain regarding prognoses across various experimental pipelines—such as AstraZeneca discontinuing a late-stage trial testing volrustomig plus chemotherapy in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer following a recommendation from an independent data monitoring committee—advocacy continues to shape patient access initiatives. Meanwhile, other therapeutic platforms advance; Merck and Moderna announced that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, intismeran, combined with Merck’s Keytruda in adjuvant melanoma, slowed the return of melanoma and its spread to other parts of the body in a phase 3 clinical trial.

For patients navigating aggressive diagnoses like acute myeloid leukemia, initiatives are also expanding. A newly funded national clinical trial initiative supported by $15 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) was announced on Aug. 27, 2026, in Seattle. Led by principal investigator Mohamed Sorror, MD, MSc, a professor in Fred Hutch Cancer Center’s Clinical Research Division and an associate professor of medicine at University of Washington School of Medicine, the initiative gathers critical evidence to determine the best treatment strategies for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia, addressing decisions regarding stem cell transplantation or non-transplant therapy.

Mutalwa remains resolute about utilizing his experiences to advocate for systemic health policy reforms and broader clinical trial access. I don't know how many years cancer is going to give me to stay, he said. I can't control cancer, but I can control the time which I have left to use it for others and patients like me.