Colorado Woman Beating Cancer With Unusual Treatment

DENVER (CBS4)- A Colorado woman is beating cancer with a very unusual treatment.

Robin Schrader was given only a 40 percent chance of survival after she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and light chain restricted amyloidosis involving her heart. Her condition made it difficult for her to walk even 50 feet without gasping for breath.

"I wasn't even planning for day to day, I was kind of getting things, my estate settled and kind of letting everybody know that it's just touch and go and today I am planning my future because there is a future now," said Schrader.

Then her doctor recommended medication, doxycycline, a common antibiotic used to treat acne, taken in combination with standard amyloidosis treatment. That's when she started to feel better.

Her survival chances have jumped to 95 percent since she started taking the medication.