On January 10th 2007 family, friends and the community lost John Scott Howland to Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma. John, at 20 years old, was diagnosed in March of 2006 and began his courageous non-stop battle with this horrific cancer. For 9 ½ months John went through numerous scans, several rounds of Cisplatine and other chemotherapy, radiation therapy, bi-frontal cranial surgery and gene therapy.

John was a patient at Syracuse University Hospital, University Hospital of Cleveland, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Burzynski Clinic located in Houston, TX and Crouse Irving Hospital in Syracuse, NY.

John grew up outside of Auburn NY, and went to school at Union Springs, and proceeded on to further his education at Alfred State. He also had attended Cayuga Community College in Auburn, New York. At the time of John’s diagnosis, he was accepted to Daemen College, St John Fisher, Utica College and University at Albany College for their Physical Therapy program.

John was an avid athlete who played numerous sports but his love was playing football. John played middle linebacker for his high school football team, Southern Springs, where he currently holds a record for the most tackles in a single season. John also played college football for Alfred State during his freshman year and started as a special teams captain. John was an avid outdoorsman as well who loved to hunt and fish in his spare time.

John will always be remembered not just for his talent and hard work ethic but also for his thoughtfulness, kindness and his ability to wear his heart on his sleeve. John was always an easy person to talk to, one who you always felt comfortable with. If everyone had John’s personality, the world would be a much more pleasant place.

Johnny’s History with Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma (SNUC) In February of 2006 Johnny had some numbness in the left side of his face, which eventually escalated into blurred vision in his left eye. He underwent numerous visits to the emergency room; a neurologist; an ears, nose and throat doctor; an eye doctor; and several prescriptions of antibiotics and steroids. In March of 2006 John was finally directed to an eye specialist in Syracuse who stated that he needed to go to the emergency room immediately. The doctors at the emergency room at University Hospital performed a biopsy in the sinus cavity. A week later when the pathology report came back, John was diagnosed with Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma. (SNUC), which is a very rare and very aggressive cancer that was located in his sinus near the back of his eye. He went through 7 weeks of chemo and radiation treatments and in July he underwent bi-frontal cranial surgery where they removed his left eye, his orbit and some facial bone. During his surgical recovery he was having pain in his shoulders and subsequently had a bone scan done which showed that the cancer had spread to both shoulders, a number of ribs, his pelvis, and legs. Johnny then received 2 more courses of chemo, which nearly killed him but only seemed to make the cancer more aggressive. He was sent home as a terminal patient with very little direction. While frantically researching options and trying to maintain John’s pain our family decided to go to Houston, TX to see if he had any options for curative treatment. During our 4-week stay we met with doctors at MD Anderson where he received more radiation treatments to control his bone pain. We also met with doctors from the Burzynski Clinic regarding gene therapy, which he started.

In mid December Johnny suffered from a seizure that was caused by a recurrent tumor that broke into his brain and stopped his breathing. Luckily his mother got him breathing again and thanks to the great people from the Union Springs Fire Department and Rural Metro he was rushed off to the hospital for care.

The following week due to Johnny’s low blood and platelet counts he was brought to the emergency room again where he received transfusions. While being admitted at Crouse Irving Hospital, he was told that the cancer had spread to his spine, which was the cause of most of his horrific pain. Some of the tumors that were causing the pain were radiated. However, Johnny’s condition was worsening due to extremely low platelet counts, his liver failing from the chemotherapy, fluid buildup around his lungs and a recurrent tumor at the base of his brain. The Doctors only gave him a few days to live. Determined to beat the odds, Johnny on day 3, 4, 5 & 6 would get up out of bed and walk around the complete hospital floor just to show everyone that he was not going to let this horrible disease take him down without a fight.

Although Johnny developed a trusting friendship with the nurses and staff, he had had enough of hospital life and requested that he be sent home under the care of Hospice. While back home Johnny would be able to be with his two dogs and family. John did get to watch some college bowl games with his brother and dad. Even when we thought he might not be paying attention we would ask him, “Hey J, who didn’t win the game last night?” and he would spit it right out, “Ohio State lost”.

Johnny past away five days after returning home from the hospital while his family tried their best to comfort him.

John S. Howland
20 Years Old
Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma

In memory of John, a high school scholarship has been set up by Jason Hoskins, a classmate and longtime friend of his. It will be given annually to a student that meets John’s attributes in sports and personality. If you would like to make a donation to this scholarship, please email Jason at jeh10@geneseo.edu.

If you are a SNUC patient or know someone who is a SNUC patient… or just want to discuss our opinions on SNUC treatments, please feel free to email us at the addresses below. We have been through a great ordeal with our son’s horrible disease and perhaps our experiences may help you.

John’s mother--- chowland@hughes.net
John’s father--- john@filtreccorp.com

Please Visit Our List or Supporters