Stage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Filipe's Patient Story
This lung cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Subtype
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Biomarkers
- EGFR exon 19 deletion
- Sex
- Male
- Spread to
- brain, bone, left lung, kidney
- Treatment
- surgery, radiation, targeted therapy, chemotherapy, local ablation and antibody therapy
- Outcome
- Living With Cancer
Treatment course, step by step
- Brain surgery removed the largest brain metastasis
- After EGFR mutation was confirmed, she started osimertinib
- Argon ablation treated a kidney metastasis
- SBRT radiation treated the lung primary tumor
- After severe progression in August 2023, treatment changed to amivantamab plus chemotherapy by infusion every 3-4 weeks
- Side effects included rash, nail/scalp irritation, and steroid skin treatment.
What happened, in summary
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 checked and found to be benign, but cancer was present in his brain, bone and left lung.
His first major treatment was brain surgery about 2 weeks after the MRI to remove the largest brain metastasis. Biomarker testing then showed an EGFR mutation, specifically exon 19, and he started osimertinib. The targeted therapy worked well at first: it cleared 4 brain metastases, cleared bone disease and reduced the lung primary. But after about 3 months, a kidney metastasis appeared. Doctors confirmed it was the same cancer, treated it with argon ablation, and also used SBRT radiation on the active lung primary.
In August 2023, Filipe had severe progression and osimertinib stopped working. He then started amivantamab with chemotherapy by infusion, usually every 3 weeks, sometimes stretched to 4 weeks because of toxicity. As of November 2024, he was living with ongoing Stage IV EGFR-mutated lung cancer, managing rash, nail and scalp side effects, and emphasizing the importance of second opinions and new research.
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.