Immunotherapy for Stage 4 Lung Cancer: 146 Real Stories

Stage IV Lung Cancer: Joanne's Patient Story

Patient Info: Joanne Sabol, Female, 60s | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: abdomen

More than 2 years after starting pembrolizumab for recurrent Stage IV lung cancer, Joanne had an 81% tumor reduction and continued to feel well while remaining on treatment.

Memorial Sloan KetteringRead more →

Stage IV Lung Cancer: Michael's Patient Story

Patient Info: Michael O’Donnell, Male | Stage IV

More than 5 years after a Stage IV diagnosis, Michael remained on immunotherapy with disease controlled to his and his doctor’s satisfaction and scans every 3 months to watch for growth.

Stage IV Lung Cancer: Mary's Patient Story

Patient Info: Mary Lynn Moser, Female | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: brain

Mary Lynn wrote this message before her death after nearly 10 years with lung cancer and more than 5 years with brain metastases, while receiving aggressive immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Stage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Sylvane's Patient Story

Patient Info: Sylvane, Female, 70+ | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: Bone; adrenal glands

After 3 chemotherapy cycles for Stage IV SCLC, Sylvane’s lung tumor had shrunk by half and bone and adrenal metastases had completely regressed, with a final chemo-immunotherapy cycle and then immunotherapy planned.

Aggressive lung cancer with bone metastases and concurrent localized breast cancer

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: Bone: skull, spine, clavicle

The patient was still receiving carboplatin and Taxol for aggressive lung cancer with bone metastases, while her caregiver reported rapid clinical improvement, pain relief, disappearance of a visible forehead metastasis, and 1 cm reduction in a concurrent localized breast tumor.

Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Usha's Patient Story

Patient Info: Usha Jain, Female | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Tumor genetic profile available for navigation review, but specific results are not reported

Stage IV NSCLC after nearly 2 years of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, followed by watchful monitoring with routine scans; clinical trials were reviewed but not pursued.

GO2 FoundationRead more →

Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Amy's Patient Story

Patient Info: Amy, Female | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: Neck lymph node; bones — hips, femurs, foot; adrenal…

Living 5 years after Stage IV squamous NSCLC diagnosis, after Keytruda did not work and treatment included bone radiation, SBRT to the lung nodule, and adrenal cryoablation.

Lung Cancer Research FoundationRead more →

Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rhonda's Patient Story

Patient Info: Rhonda Martin, Female | Stage IV

Biomarkers: EGFR-positive mutation

Metastatic Site: Brain; spine; hip bone; lymph nodes; cerebrospinal…

Rhonda Martin passed away on January 9, 2023 from complications of Stage IV EGFR-positive lung cancer, nearly 5 years after diagnosis in March 2018.

Lung Cancer Research FoundationRead more →

Stage IV Lung Adenocarcinoma Discovered After Cancer Cells Were Found in a Stroke Clot

Patient Info: Anonymized, male, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1 high; no actionable driver alteration

Metastatic Site: brain

New frontal brain metastases developed during treatment, and he died 51 days after the stroke that led to discovery of his lung cancer.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Severe blood-clotting disorder, liver injury, and reversible kidney injury during treatment for Stage IV lung cancer

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 60s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1 about 1%; KRAS mutation

Metastatic Site: bone (right 4th and 5th ribs)

Restaging before cycle 4 showed a partial response. Cancer treatment was then interrupted as severe acquired iTTP, cholestatic liver injury, and reversible acute kidney injury required intensive management.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Long-term lung cancer control after immunotherapy-related diabetes

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1 80%; EGFR, ALK, ROS1 and BRAF negative

Metastatic Site: brain|liver

After years of disease control off pembrolizumab, a new brain lesion appeared in December 2025 and was treated with focused radiation. He remained clinically stable under oncology follow-up.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Long-term lung cancer response complicated by immune-related lung inflammation

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 40s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: KRAS mutation; PD-L1 90%

Metastatic Site: pleura|lungs|peritoneum|bone|brain

By October 2025, the lung inflammation had resolved and she remained in systemic and intracranial remission.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Complete response to pembrolizumab despite treatment-related lung inflammation

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 40s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1 70%

Metastatic Site: pleura|bone

By November 2025, serial imaging continued to show a complete response without disease progression.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IVA EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma: clonal evolution, chemoimmunotherapy response, osimertinib rechallenge, and death after progression

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 60s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Markers changed over time: started with EGFR L747S/L858R; later MET-amplified, PD-L1 TPS 80%, high TMB clone; later EGFR reappeared.

Metastatic Site: pleura, peritoneal nodule, retroperitoneal lymph nodes

The patient died on 30 April 2025 after progression through multiple lines and infection related to treatment-associated myelosuppression.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV PD-L1-high lung adenocarcinoma: remission on chemotherapy after tislelizumab-associated KLHL11-IgG cerebellitis

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 50s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1-high lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR/ALK/ROS1 wild type and TTF-1 positive. KLHL11-IgG was linked to cerebellitis.

Metastatic Site: M1a disease; specific metastatic site not otherwise…

At 1-year neurologic follow-up, the cerebellitis had markedly improved, serum KLHL11-IgG was negative, brain MRI lesions had resolved, and lung adenocarcinoma remained in remission on cisplatin plus pemetrexed.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IVA lung squamous cell carcinoma with immune-checkpoint-inhibitor-associated Graves thyroid storm

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Cancer biomarkers not reported. Thyroid storm workup had TSAb/TRAb positivity consistent with Graves disease.

Metastatic Site: not specified in extracted case text

After thyroid storm improved with antithyroid therapy and supportive care, the patient was transferred for further lung-cancer treatment but died of progressive lung cancer about 2 months later.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV squamous NSCLC: durable pembrolizumab response followed by invasive aspergillosis, marrow failure, and death

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 50s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1 20%

Metastatic Site: bilateral lungs

After durable partial response to pembrolizumab-based therapy, he developed severe pulmonary infection, invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, progressive AA-like bone marrow failure with severe cytopenias, declined further treatment, and died at home in early 2025.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV squamous lung cancer with steroid-refractory immune-related gastritis after pembrolizumab

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Gastric biopsy during immune gastritis showed CD8-positive lymphocyte inflammation, no cancer

After about 2 years of carboplatin, pemetrexed, and pembrolizumab, lung cancer treatment was stopped because of tumor growth; the later immune-related gastritis improved after escalation to infliximab, while the cancer course remained a setback/progression story.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV lung cancer response followed by immune-related lung inflammation

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: EGFR-negative; ALK-negative; ROS1-negative

Metastatic Site: pleura

After the lung inflammation improved, he did not resume tumor-directed chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation and remained generally well.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV small-cell lung cancer with hepatic metastases: serplulimab stopped after VKH-like uveitis

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: No molecular biomarkers reported

Metastatic Site: liver

Serplulimab was discontinued after VKH-like uveitis; oral prednisone improved vision, but the case did not report a definitive cancer-response outcome after immunotherapy interruption.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Clara's Patient Story

Patient Info: Clara, Female, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: ALK-positive / ALK-rearranged after repeat Tempus testing

Metastatic Site: Pelvis; spleen

As of February 2026, ALK-targeted therapy had improved Clara’s symptoms enough that she no longer needed a walker or cane, and upcoming scans would determine whether pelvic tumor surgery remained an option.

The Patient StoryRead more →

Stage IVB lung adenocarcinoma with severe immune-related complications

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: PD-L1 TPS 20%; BRAF mutation

Metastatic Site: left supraclavicular fossa, left axilla, right hilum,…

The patient had an initial partial response to ipilimumab/nivolumab but developed severe immune-related pneumonitis, thrombocytopenia, and aplastic anemia. Cytopenias recovered with eltrombopag, but lung cancer later relapsed with carcinomatous meningitis, and he died 20 months after diagnosis.

PubMed CentralRead more →

Stage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jennifer's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Jennifer Robertson, Female, 40s | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: Collar bones; shoulder blades; femur; pancreas;…

As of February 2026, Jennifer had shown no evidence of disease since August 2025 after tarlatamab-dlle and whole-brain radiation, while continuing tarlatamab infusions every other Monday and scans every 3 months.

MD AndersonRead more →

BRAF-mutant stage IV lung adenocarcinoma complicated by immunotherapy-induced diabetes

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 60s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: BRAF mutation; GADA-positive during immune-related diabetes evaluation

Metastatic Site: left lower lung, pleural

The patient had Stage IV BRAF V600E-mutant lung adenocarcinoma treated with targeted therapy and later tislelizumab. Immunotherapy was suspended after hypoadrenocorticism and diabetic ketosis; she required ongoing insulin therapy, with persistently low C-peptide at 6-month follow-up.

PubMed CentralRead more →