Stage IV Lung Cancer: Deborah's Patient Story

What happened, in summary

Deborah Persinger was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 after bronchitis-like symptoms would not go away and early X-rays and tests did not explain the problem. A local thoracic surgeon gave her a poor 5-year survival estimate, and she asked to be treated at Cleveland Clinic. Her original lung cancer stage and tumor subtype were not shared. Deborah had surgery to remove cancerous parts of her lung, and over the years she also had radiation and chemotherapy multiple times when the cancer returned. Regular MRI monitoring later became critical. In 2015, an MRI found 8 brain lesions, also called brain metastases, driven by her lung cancer. Deborah’s brain metastases were treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery, a targeted high-energy radiation procedure that aims at lesions while sparing healthy brain tissue. Although it is called surgery, it is noninvasive. By November 2023, she had undergone Gamma Knife treatment for 24 metastases across 2016, 2020, 2021 and 2023. She continued regular MRIs and checkups to catch new lesions early, and she described Gamma Knife as painless and free of side effects for her. As of January 2024, Deborah was thriving despite recurrent brain metastases, spending time with family, traveling between Ohio and Florida, and continuing long-term surveillance with her Cleveland Clinic team.