Burhan Azeem disclosed Sunday that his father-in-law has a Stage IV cancer that has spread to his brain but did not originate there.
Azeem, Cambridge’s vice mayor and a candidate for state Senate, shared the news in an emailed campaign update whose subject line read “Town Hall reminder and some personal news.”
Azeem has organized a virtual town hall on the affordable housing crisis scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. He said that town hall will happen and he will continue to campaign for state Senate while also carrying out his duties on the Cambridge City Council, where he is vice mayor. His wife, Vijeta Saini, has taken a leave from her work to help care for her father. The two have postponed their honeymoon indefinitely. Azeem said they were having to pay for procedures out of pocket.
His father-in-law had symptoms at Azeem’s wedding to Vijeta Saini May 2, but had not been diagnosed. He had surgery to remove a tumor from his cerebellum July 13. But the primary source of the cancer is not yet known, the email said. His father-in-law is starting radiation therapy but “Treatment depends on knowing (where the cancer started.”
Azeem and Saini today posted a Substack with more details, including that in early July her father began experiencing strong headaches that led to the cancer diagnosis and surgery.
In his campaign email he appealed for help in the following ways:
- The family has three tissue samples from the surgery. A lab has analyzed one sample in a way that was not specifically described in the email. A different lab is running a full genomic sequence. Azeem said the third sample is reserved in hopes of a reference to a lab “that can run something those two won’t.”
- Contact from people who have seen someone with metastatic brain cancer that originated elsewhere in the body.
- Introductions to doctors, researchers, laboratories, clinical trials or others working on cancers that don’t have known primary causes.
- Access to a frontier AI model for use in analysis.
- Sharing on social or directly to individuals who might be able to help.
The email asked for people with information to contact them at vijetaandburhan.cancertreatment@gmail.com.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.