What happened, in summary

Renee Shine was 63 when a routine checkup on Christmas Eve 2012 led to a chest X-ray and CT scan that found a mass in her right lung. A biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer, with extensive lymph-node involvement. She was diagnosed with Stage III disease despite having felt healthy and active before the diagnosis.

Renee quickly started first-line chemotherapy. After 8 months, the tumors had shown little shrinkage and she felt increasingly run down and frustrated. With help from a former client in the pharmaceutical industry, she found a clinical trial at Yale Cancer Center testing pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda, for non-small cell lung cancer.

The change in treatment proved important for Renee. Her tumor responded to pembrolizumab, and because of that response she stayed on the therapy. The experience allowed her to return to the active life she valued and reshaped how she viewed cancer research. Renee began describing herself as a cancer “Thriver” and used her experience to advocate for clinical-trial participation and research funding, hoping that new treatments would give more people the chance to live well after a difficult diagnosis.