One Patient’s Journey Through Surgeries, Immunotherapies, and Targeted Therapies

I was 54 when I finally heeded my doctor’s advice and took an at-home stool-based screening test for colon cancer. Positive results prompted a colonoscopy, which revealed a tumor in my sigmoid colon. Follow-up scans then showed that the cancer had spread to my liver, putting me at a stage IV diagnosis. This came as a shock—especially since, as a health care professional, I understood the importance of screening at 50 but had postponed it nonetheless.

With my medical team and family, we devised a plan. After a colon resection to remove the primary tumor, I underwent chemotherapy and then had a liver resection. More chemo followed, and scans soon indicated a remission. Unfortunately, another lesion appeared in my liver a year later.

That’s when I enrolled in my first clinical trial, combining two immune checkpoint inhibitors and a targeted therapy. The cancer responded well initially, but once I stopped treatment, it returned. Since then, I’ve tried multiple treatments, including immunotherapies and other agents. My latest therapy involves a trial for HER2-positive colorectal cancers (a rare subtype), taking two HER2-targeted drugs—tucatinib and trastuzumab. Amazingly, the FDA approved this combination just two weeks after I started the trial.

Today, I’m still working full time, feeling relatively well, and hoping for a strong, lasting response. One of my missions is to stress the importance of timely screenings. If you’re debating whether to get screened, please don’t wait—it could save your life as it did mine. I also advocate for continued research funding. Every therapy I’ve had was born from dedicated scientific studies, and future breakthroughs will only happen if our elected leaders make research a priority.