Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer: 140 Real Stories
140 stories match lung cancer and targeted therapy. 49 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff had already survived an unusual cancer experience before his lung cancer diagnosis. In 2017, a painful cervical spine mass was first treated as a likely non-cancerous schwannoma, but surgery showed cancer and could not remove everything safely because of…
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 storyLung Cancer: Jill’s Patient Story
Jill Feldman’s story is part patient experience and part education about lung cancer biomarkers. She was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009, when biomarker testing was still much more limited than it is today. Her cancer was initially Stage I, and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips never smoked, so a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in December 2019 felt impossible. She was 43, with children ages 14, 13, and 9, and had been dealing with a persistent cough, unintentional weight loss, chest heaviness, and coughing up blood…
Read this storyStage IV ROS1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Survivor Story
Ashley was 35, active and raising 2 young children when she was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma with a ROS1 mutation. Her first major symptoms were sharp pain in her right abdomen and shoulder, severe shortness of breath and low…
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 EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Filipe’s Patient Story
Filipe was 36 when a headache and blurred vision led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. A brain MRI showed 7 brain metastases, including a 4 cm lesion at the back of his head. CT imaging and biopsy confirmed lung cancer as the primary. Liver lesions were…
Read this storyEGFR Lung Cancer: Jill’s Survivor Story
Jill Feldman was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 at age 39 after years of watching the disease affect her family. She lost 2 grandparents to lung cancer within weeks of each other, then her father died 3 months after his diagnosis at age 41. In her 20s…
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 EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Leah’s Patient Story
Leah Phillips was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer at age 43 in December 2019. Her first symptoms were a persistent dry cough, chest heaviness, shortness of breath, fatigue, weight loss, and later coughing up blood. Several visits were…
Read this storyStage II EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Daniel’s Survivor Story
Daniel West’s lung nodules were found unexpectedly in 2022 when he used a workplace opportunity to have cardiac testing after his father’s death from a heart attack. CT and PET imaging showed a concerning nodule in the middle lobe of his right lung, and…
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 EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff had previously undergone extensive surgery and radiosurgery for a rare cancer involving his cervical spine in 2017. During follow-up in March 2021, a slight cough prompted a chest X-ray that showed a large mass in the lower right lung. Further testing…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne Laporte, a nurse for about 35 years and an endurance athlete, had a lung nodule followed years earlier and then dismissed because she was a lifelong nonsmoker. Years later, progressive back pain was treated as a sports injury through multiple doctor and…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ashley’s Patient Story
Ashley had no symptoms when lung cancer was found by chance. She went to the hospital for a gynecologic issue, and CT imaging showed lung nodules. Pathology was sent to Mayo Clinic, and about 1 week later she learned it was non-small cell lung cancer. Both…
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 EGFR Lung Cancer: Ivy’s Survivor Story
Ivy E. was 47 when neck pain and trouble straightening her elbow led to an unexpected Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. Doctors first thought the symptoms might be an overuse injury. Imaging of the elbow showed a mass involving the joint and bone. After…
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…
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