A 20-year-old young man who was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 14 gained remission, suffered a recurrence, then decided after the recurrence that he would fight back in a different way: donating his blood and tumor tissue to help doctors find a cure.
Tyler Trent was 14, playing Ultimate Frisbee at a birthday party, when he found his shoulder was hurting, but it seemed to improve. Months later, the pain returned, triggering his parents to take him for an X-ray, where a tumor was spotted. But apparently the time between the X-ray and the first round of chemotherapy to reduce the tumor before surgery allowed the cancer to spread. Tyler’s mother said, “It was so aggressive that even in that short time from the original X-ray to the follow-up … It had grown into his shoulder.”
Still, after the chemotherapy it was better, until January 2017, in his senior year of high school, when Tyler pulled his groin muscle, eventually prompting another examination. In April 2017 he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his hip.
Tyler’s mother Kelly told TODAY, “We fell apart. There almost aren’t words. There was a lot of despair and disbelief. A lot of what ifs.” But this time when the cancer was found, Tyler decided he was going to fight back by helping others. He recalled, “All I was focused on was leaving a legacy that would impact the future generation. Whether it would be a legacy that would help find a cure or a legacy to raise money to find a cure.”
Meanwhile, in August 2017, Tyler underwent a 10-hour surgery, then started classes for his freshman year at Purdue. As the Journal and Courier noted, “Trent and his father, Tony, attended Purdue’s 24-15 victory at Iowa to take part of the tradition of waving to patients at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, next to Kinnick Stadium, at the end of the first quarter.”
Dr. Jamie Renbarger, a pediatric oncologist at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, was creating a tumor biobank and asked Tyler if he would donate. Renbarger told TODAY, “There was never a question. It was a no-brainer. They knew they had to do it. It was this internal drive from Tyler. He was very committed.”
Tyler said, “There was no doubt in my mind. It was an automatic yes.”
Tyler got so involved querying doctors about his tumor that they said he could name the cells. Karen Pollok, researcher at the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at Riley Children’s Health, remarked, “He has been so curious about the process so we had conversations about him being able to name the cell lines.” Trent named it TT1, aka Tyler Trent 1, explaining that his father’s nickname in college was T-squared.
In August 2018, Tyler led the Purdue football team onto the field as an honorary captain for the coin toss before Purdue’s opening game against Northwestern.
Tyler has raised over $100,000 at the Purdue Dance Marathon, the most anyone has raised. As TODAY notes, “His work helped him win the Disney Spirit Award during the College Football Awards, and the Sagamore of the Wabash award from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. Riley Hospital also created the Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment.
Tyler receives hospice care and he is still vitally interested in how his cell line is being utilized for research. He said, “That is what has kept me going and essentially kept me alive: research and genomics. Without that, I wouldn’t be here.” Renbarger commented, “He has been an amazing partner.”
Tyler said he derives his strength from two sources, acknowledging, “It would be impossible for me without my family and without my faith in Jesus Christ.”