What happened, in summary

Duane Steiner was 50 when 2 nighttime fainting spells led to an emergency-room visit and a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in 2019. He had never smoked, so lung cancer was not something he expected. Molecular and genomic testing on the tumor later showed ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer, meaning an ALK gene mutation was helping drive the cancer. The testing took about 6 weeks, and because his symptoms were severe, Duane started an oral targeted therapy at Moffitt Cancer Center while waiting for results. Once the ALK mutation was confirmed, he looked for a treatment option aimed at that specific mutation and was accepted into a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. The trial treatment was designed to be given with standard treatment, so he continued his initial therapy while participating. Hope Lodge made the repeated Baltimore visits possible, including a 4-week stay early in the trial and later monitoring trips. Duane has now lived more than 6 years with Stage IV metastatic ALK-positive lung cancer. He knows the cancer is not curable, but research and clinical trials have given him more time, better quality of life, and a reason to advocate for other patients.