Immunotherapy: 111 Real Stories
111 stories match immunotherapy. 87 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Lung Cancer: Joanne’s Patient Story
Joanne Sabol was 65 when a lump in her neck led to imaging and a biopsy in July 2005. She was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and was initially told that palliative care was her only option. Joanne sought a second opinion at Memorial Sloan Kettering…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sonia’s Survivor Story
Sonia first noticed burning pain in her breast and a lump that gradually became larger and harder. She went to a general medicine clinic, where a mammogram was ordered. She later had a breast ultrasound that identified the tumor. Because she felt the first…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Nathalie’s Patient Story
Nathalie, a homemaker and mother of two from Colombia, had been living with stage 4 breast cancer for more than three years. A strong family history prompted her to seek evaluation after noticing changes in breast shape and areas of thickening. Several…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Manisha’s Patient Story
Manisha’s initial doctors recommended lumpectomy and mastectomy, but she felt the first approach was not effective and wanted to hear more options. She sought a second opinion and changed hospitals. At the new hospital, she chose lumpectomy, immunotherapy…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Michael’s Patient Story
Michael O’Donnell is a Vietnam War veteran who receives his lung-cancer testing and treatment through the Dallas VA, with access to a lung-cancer specialist from UT Southwestern when needed. His cancer was Stage IV at diagnosis. He had smoked until two weeks…
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: Mary’s Patient Story
Mary Lynn Moser lived through 15 years of cancer, including 5 years with breast cancer and nearly 10 years with lung cancer. A radiologist noticed a lung spot while reading a mammogram, allowing the lung cancer to be detected at Stage III rather than after…
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 storyStage II BRCA1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stephanie’s Patient Story
Stephanie Hargis was 25 when she found a painful lump in her right breast in March 2022. With no family history and her young age, she and her clinicians first thought it might be an inflamed lymph node. Ultrasound and biopsy instead showed Stage II…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Séverine’s Survivor Story
Séverine was diagnosed with breast cancer when her daughter was only 8 months old, just 7 months after her own mother had died of cancer. The diagnosis made her think immediately about survival and about being present for her child. She responded by taking…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Danielle’s Survivor Story
Danielle was 68 when she faced Stage II breast cancer. Her treatment path was intensive and included a mastectomy, chemotherapy, 5 weeks of radiation therapy, and immunotherapy described as a way to lower the chance of recurrence. The physical side of…
Read this storyStage IV Small Cell Lung Cancer: Sylvane’s Patient Story
Sylvane was 71 when a persistent dry cough in May 2020 led to a new cancer diagnosis. She had survived breast cancer 27 years earlier, in 1993, after chemotherapy, radiation, removal of the left breast, and removal of the lymph-node chain. This time, COVID…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer Patient Story
This story was shared by the sister of a woman with aggressive lung cancer and bone metastases. The cancer involved the skull and spine and had caused a clavicle fracture. Around the same time, doctors also found a localized 4 cm breast cancer. She received…
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 storyLung Cancer: Sandra’s Patient Story
Sandra was 42 and living in Colombes when lung cancer entered her life shortly after a stroke. She had the stroke at the beginning of 2018 and was officially diagnosed with lung cancer on April 16, 2018. She nicknamed the cancer “baby dragon,” choosing a name…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Claritza’s Patient Story
Claritza, 51, is from Colombia and has been living with Stage III breast cancer for more than 3 years. Her early symptoms included frequent fevers, constant headaches, and significant weight loss. After diagnosis, she was told her estimated 5-year survival…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Emilcen’s Patient Story
Emilcen, 58, is from Colombia and was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer after finding a lump in her left breast. She went through mammogram, biopsy, and histochemistry testing before receiving the diagnosis. The news brought fear and worry, and she…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Usha’s Patient Story
Usha Jain, a retired UC Berkeley professor, was diagnosed in July 2018 with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer despite having no smoking history. Her daughter, Amita Jain, was both a physician and caregiver, yet still found the lung cancer decision-making…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy was diagnosed with Stage IV squamous non-small cell lung cancer on her birthday. About 2 weeks after a flu shot, a lymph node appeared in her neck. At first, she thought it might be a vaccine reaction or infection, but after another 2 weeks she saw her…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rhonda’s Patient Story
Rhonda Martin was diagnosed in March 2018 with Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer. At diagnosis, the cancer had already spread to her brain, spine, hip bone, and lymph nodes. Her first treatment was whole brain radiation. While biopsy results…
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 storyColorectal Cancer: Hatta’s Survivor Story
Hatta, from Indonesia, developed sudden bloody stool during the 2007 Spring Festival. CT imaging showed a large ulcerated area in the rectum and swollen lymph nodes, and biopsy diagnosed moderately differentiated rectal cancer. A local doctor recommended…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Antonio’s Patient Story
Antonio, a 48-year-old man from Manila, began noticing small amounts of blood in his stool in March 2012. At first, he thought it might be constipation because he had no other major symptoms, but his condition gradually worsened. Local ultrasound and CT…
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…
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