ALK Positive: 48 Real Stories
48 stories match ALK positive. 44 of them mention targeted therapy.
Stage IV ALK Lung Cancer Patient Story
This unnamed man had a medical and pharmaceutical background before becoming a patient himself. At 44, he previously faced cancer, and years later he developed another serious cancer diagnosis. The lung cancer story began with severe bone pain that he first…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
Laura, from Camden, South Carolina, was in her late 30s when she was diagnosed in May 2023 with Stage IV ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. The earliest warning sign was a cough that lasted almost a year. It was mild and mostly in the morning, so it did…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Shauna’s Patient Story
Shauna had just turned 51 when a cough lingered for months after a respiratory illness. During a lunch break, she went to urgent care, where an X-ray showed a mass in her right lung. A needle biopsy and scans followed, including brain MRI, PET, chest CT, and…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Steven’s Patient Story
Steven Huff was 29, newly engaged, and starting a teaching career when shortness of breath, a daily cough, and a lump near his collarbone led to a lung cancer diagnosis. Doctors told him he had Stage IV non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma, with cancer in both…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Allison’s Patient Story
Allison was an active 45-year-old mother of 2 when back pain that seemed muscular turned into a much larger warning sign. A CT report mentioned possible metastatic lesions in her spine. More testing followed, including chest imaging, MRI, brain imaging, PET…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Kathrin’s Patient Story
Kathrin was a fitness professional living in Munich when fatigue and foot pain began to interrupt an active life. At first, the foot pain seemed like a sports injury from yoga or exercise. Imaging of the left foot showed a tumor, and biopsy revealed that it…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Alisa’s Patient Story
Alisa Secaida was 35 when cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest tightness and shoulder pain were dismissed as asthma or long COVID. She paid for her own CT scan, which showed a mass in the upper left lung, and later biopsy confirmed Stage IVB non-small…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Sydney’s Patient Story
Sydney Barned was 33 and completing her internal medicine residency when she was diagnosed with Stage IV ALK-positive lung cancer in 2017. She had always been active, including ballet, track, swimming, and 5K runs, so the first sign was subtle but…
Read this storyStage II ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie’s lung cancer story began with a mild cough in spring 2021. She thought it might be allergies or weather-related, but when it persisted, she mentioned it during a routine check-up. A chest X-ray showed a lung mass, and a CT scan showed a spiculated…
Read this storyStage II ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Stephanie’s Patient Story
Stephanie Williams developed a mild but persistent cough in spring 2021. At a yearly primary care visit, she asked for a chest X-ray. The image showed a cloudy area on her right side, and a same-day CT scan described a large spiculated mass that was highly…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Shirley’s Patient Story
Shirley was 34, working as a translator in Southern California, when a persistent cough during the COVID-19 pandemic became something much more serious. She went through multiple rounds of antibiotics and testing, but the cough continued and severe back pain…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient Story
This anonymized patient reflected on more than 10.5 years of living with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. She was diagnosed in 2014 after a local clinic completed about 2 weeks of testing and told her she had Stage IV cancer. At first, her local doctor…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Shirley’s Patient Story
Shirley was 34 when a cough and severe back pain were first treated as possible long COVID or pneumonia. Two bronchoscopies did not give answers. A wedge resection was then done to obtain tissue, and pathology showed adenocarcinoma. PET and MRI scans did not…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Amanda’s Patient Story
Amanda was diagnosed with Stage IV ALK-positive lung cancer 10 days after giving birth to twins. During pregnancy, she had a high heart rate, low energy and a cough that doctors attributed to pregnancy. After delivery, the cough did not go away. She went to…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lindsay’s Patient Story
Lindsay Wagner was 42 when side pain, chest discomfort, and a year-long cough led her to the ER. Doctors first suspected gallbladder disease, pneumonia, or ovarian cancer because a CA-125 test was elevated and imaging showed liver lesions. A liver biopsy…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Niko’s Patient Story
Niko was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma about 2 years before the May 2024 interview. The first sign was frequent coughing during the COVID period. A doctor listened to her chest, suspected pleural effusion, ordered a chest X-ray, and sent her to the…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Keegan’s Survivor Story
Keegan Murphy, a retired firefighter and combat veteran, was 41 when a lingering dry cough after a cold led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in September 2022. Testing showed adenocarcinoma with an ALK fusion mutation. By then, cancer was present in his…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Matt’s Survivor Story
Matt Hiznay was 24 and in his second year of medical school when a persistent dry cough led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in August 2011. He was a lifelong nonsmoker, making the diagnosis especially hard to process. Testing showed the cancer was driven…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Christine’s Patient Story
Christine was 57, active, and previously healthy when shortness of breath, clavicle pain, and shoulder pain led to imaging. X-ray, CT, MRI, and PET scans showed pleural and cardiac effusions and Stage IV adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer. She had…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Dan’s Patient Story
Dan was a young father with 2 daughters when symptoms that seemed like a stubborn cold began in November 2018. The cold did not go away. Instead, he developed shortness of breath, chest tightness, and lost his voice. Steroids and inhalers did not help, and no…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Shyreece’s Patient Story
Shyreece’s fourth video focuses on the lessons she learned as a Black woman living with Stage IV lung cancer and on the advocacy that grew from her experience. She described a frightening beginning: within about 2 weeks, she went from symptoms and hospital…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Shyreece’s Patient Story
Shyreece Pompey had been teaching for 17 years when her first lung cancer symptoms appeared during a school day. While dancing with students during a brain break, her arms suddenly felt heavy, she became deeply fatigued, felt a throb or skipped beat in her…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: James’s Patient Story
James “Rocky” Lagno developed a persistent dry cough around Thanksgiving 2010. As his breathing worsened and he began coughing up blood, lung cancer became a concern. He was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer and went to Boston for intravenous…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Amanda’s Survivor Story
At 38, a healthy and active mother of two was diagnosed with Stage IV lung adenocarcinoma in September 2016. The first warning signs were chest pressure and unusual shortness of breath while jogging. An initial hospital visit left uncertainty about the cause…
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