Stage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Kelsey's Patient Story
This lung cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Biomarkers
- EGFR mutation; later ALK mutation after progression
- Sex
- Female
- Spread to
- Bone — pelvis and spine/L5
- Treatment
- radiation, targeted therapy, surgery, a clinical trial and chemotherapy
- Outcome
- Responding Well
Treatment course, step by step
- Received 10 rounds of radiation to the spine and pelvis at first
- Took Tagrisso targeted therapy for an EGFR mutation until September 2025
- Received more than 30 total radiation treatments over time
- November back surgery removed the L5 vertebra and replaced it with a titanium cage
- After progression, repeat biomarker testing showed an ALK mutation
- Started clinical-trial treatment; source describes it as targeting the EGFR mutation, with a good response.
What happened, in summary
Kelsey was 36, a mother of 4, and working as a SoulCycle manager when severe back pain began changing her life. At first, she blamed work, commuting, aging, or a pulled muscle. Then she collapsed while coaching baseball and later had to crawl to the bathroom because she could not stand. An X-ray was normal, but an MRI showed lesions in her pelvis and spine, including a 13 cm lesion in the pelvis and disease at L5. A CT scan on July 1 found the primary tumor in her lung, and because the cancer was already in her bones, she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Kelsey had never smoked and had not realized that anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. She first received 10 rounds of radiation to the spine and pelvis, then started Tagrisso for an EGFR mutation. She later had more than 30 total rounds of radiation. In November, surgery removed her damaged L5 vertebra and replaced it with a titanium cage, which helped her relearn movement and eventually return to walking, jogging, lifting weights, and playing with her children. After progression, repeat biomarker testing showed an ALK mutation in addition to EGFR. As of April 2026, Kelsey was on a clinical trial using chemotherapy that targets EGFR, and she described the trial as working and her quality of life as improved.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by The Patient Story. Read the original in full
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team.