Clinical Trial: 133 Real Stories
133 stories match clinical trial. 95 of them mention chemotherapy.
Ovarian Cancer: Kimberly’s Patient Story
Kimberly Zukerberg described how ovarian cancer abruptly changed a life that had been highly active. Before diagnosis, she taught spin and swimming, ran a summer camp and played tennis. After ovarian cancer and major surgery, she spent about a month in the…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Leslie’s Patient Story
Leslie was active and teaching fitness classes when a persistent cough and worsening shortness of breath began to interfere with daily life. After repeated visits and treatments that did not help, swollen lymph nodes and increasing breathing difficulty led…
Read this storySmall Cell Lung Cancer: Nina’s Patient Story
Nina was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in early 2014. She began standard chemotherapy and radiation and continued through about 14 months of treatment. The treatments caused side effects, including hearing loss, and eventually stopped controlling the…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Carla’s Patient Story
Carla lived with lung cancer that repeatedly developed resistance to treatment. For long periods, her symptoms were limited mainly to coughing and manageable fatigue. In January 2015, while taking third-line afatinib, she married Bud and moved to Manila to…
Read this storyStage III KRAS Lung Cancer: Bill’s Survivor Story
Bill Morris was diagnosed in 2021 with Stage IIIB KRAS G12D lung cancer after 9 months of misdiagnosis. His treatment included 10 rounds of chemotherapy, 30 rounds of radiation, and 10 months in an immunotherapy clinical trial. During the same period, his…
Read this storyLung Cancer: Mary’s Patient Story
Mary first went to her doctor in January 2021 because she was short of breath. At first, the problem seemed like it might be an infection. Her doctor still sent her for blood tests and a chest X-ray. The blood tests were clear, but the X-ray showed a shadow…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marta’s Survivor Story
Marta was 38 in 2009 when a routine checkup found a breast tumor. She had recently returned to Spain after working in Poland, and surgery confirmed the tumor was malignant. What followed was a long and frightening 5-year path that included chemotherapy…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Iria’s Survivor Story
Iria was 34 when she decided to stop avoiding breast screening. Her mother had developed breast cancer before age 40, and Iria had long lived with fear that it could happen to her too. In 2013, while working in health insurance, a conversation with a…
Read this storyStage IV Kidney/Renal Cancer: Cécile’s Patient Story
Cécile was 57, a nurse, married, and the mother of 2 adult children when bloodwork for ENT problems showed kidney abnormalities. A CT scan found that one kidney was diseased, and within a week she had surgery to remove it. Further testing then found many…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Rosemarie’s Survivor Story
Rosemarie Berthel was 74 at the time of her interview and had received her breast cancer diagnosis at 71. She was widowed, the mother of 4, and already a grandmother and great-grandmother. Mammography had shown scattered abnormal cells in 2007, but she…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Leon’s Patient Story
Leon Gerspacher was 20 when fatigue and digestive problems led to colonoscopy and CT scans that found rectal cancer. He was a science student and living with his girlfriend, and the diagnosis quickly changed his plans. Initial treatment used radiation therapy…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Linnea’s Patient Story
Linnea Olson was 45 when she was first diagnosed with lung cancer. Her initial diagnosis was Stage I, and she had surgery that removed most of her left lung, followed by chemotherapy. The first scan after chemotherapy showed something back in her lungs…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay Petri was diagnosed in 2008 and received clearer answers in fall 2009, when a good biopsy showed lung cancer with an ALK mutation. He understood that Stage IV lung cancer was probably terminal, and the diagnosis was followed by major personal loss when he…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Duane’s Patient Story
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…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Lexi’s Patient Story
Lexi was 39 when she introduced herself as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and someone living with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Her symptoms had started about 2 years earlier with left shoulder pain, weight loss, and then severe pain in her…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Bill’s Patient Story
Bill was an active Park City skier, runner, and mountain biker when back pain after shoveling snow turned out to be much more than a pulled muscle. The pain lasted for months, and physical therapy did not help. Before a scheduled MRI, he became unable to walk…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Dann’s Patient Story
Dann Wonser was 49 in 2006 when an X-ray for possible broken ribs unexpectedly revealed Stage IV lung cancer. Biomarker testing showed EGFR and T790M mutations. He lived with lung cancer for 18 years before passing away on June 30, 2024. Across those years…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kevin’s Survivor Story
Kevin was 54 when his second colonoscopy led to a colorectal cancer diagnosis. Doctors had tried to complete an earlier colonoscopy, but coughing interrupted the procedure and he was asked to return in 1 year. Because 2020 disrupted care and he had no…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Nick’s Survivor Story
Nick Cleworth, a 48-year-old train driver and father, went to his GP in late 2024 after seeing significant blood in his stool. Colonoscopy, CT, and MRI found a 4 cm rectal tumor, and the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes. His father had died from bowel…
Read this storyStage III Lung Adenocarcinoma: Becky’s Survivor Story
Becky Manning was a 47-year-old active working mother who had never smoked when months of chest pain, cough and abnormal imaging finally led to a lung cancer diagnosis. Her symptoms were first treated as pneumonia, then other causes were considered, but she…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Eutha’s Survivor Story
Eutha Prince was diagnosed with Stage II invasive ductal and lobular breast carcinoma in 2012 after a suspicious finding on her yearly mammogram led to ultrasound and biopsy. Her tumor was estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-positive and…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Nicole’s Survivor Story
Nicole Grogan was 44 when a mammogram and biopsy in September 2017 showed Stage II breast cancer. Because she had 2 tumors in the same breast, MSK surgeon Andrea Barrio recommended mastectomy. Nicole chose to remove both breasts and have reconstruction, and…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Lorie’s Patient Story
Lorie Young was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in March 2026 after a 1.2-inch tumor in the lower left lung was found by chance during a routine physical. A robotic bronchoscopy biopsy and other tests confirmed the diagnosis. Because the cancer had…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany Andrews was 35 when a lump in her right breast led to a diagnosis of Stage II breast cancer. Testing showed HER2-positive disease. She began treatment with 6 rounds of chemotherapy combined with HER2-targeted therapy, then underwent a mastectomy…
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