Targeted Therapy: 297 Real Stories
297 stories match targeted therapy. 183 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV ALK Lung Adenocarcinoma: Amanda’s Survivor Story
At 38, a healthy and active mother of two was diagnosed with Stage IV lung adenocarcinoma in September 2016. The first warning signs were chest pressure and unusual shortness of breath while jogging. An initial hospital visit left uncertainty about the cause…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Jane’s Survivor Story
Jane Dennington was living in Haiti with her husband, Bud, doing missionary work when she noticed a growing lump in her breast. Local X-ray equipment malfunctioned, and she was told everything looked fine, but Jane knew the lump was getting bigger. She…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Molly’s Patient Story
Molly Golbon was 39, a working mother and wife, when she learned that what seemed like bronchitis or pneumonia was actually Stage IV lung cancer. The diagnosis was especially shocking because she had never smoked and did not fit the stereotype she associated…
Read this storyStage I Breast Cancer: Yanzi’s Patient Story
At age 45, Yanzi received a text notification offering a free mammogram and decided to schedule the screening. She had no symptoms, but the mammogram was abnormal. Further evaluation at a nearby hospital led to a diagnosis of Stage I breast cancer. The…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Lindsey’s Patient Story
Lindsey Ballas was balancing work, family and cancer care after being diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. She owned a hair salon and wanted treatment to disrupt her life as little as possible. Her main goal was to keep life close to normal while…
Read this storyFinding Happiness Despite Stage IV Lung Cancer
At age 50, this patient was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer on August 5, 2015, only about 6 weeks after a persistent cough began. She had never smoked and had worked as a radiation therapist for more than 20 years, so she pushed for further…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Trish’s Patient Story
Trish Vickery learned in 2013 that she had inflammatory breast cancer, a diagnosis that carried particular weight because her mother had died from the same disease. At age 58, Trish described coming to Dana-Farber as one of the luckiest decisions of her life…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Michelle’s Survivor Story
Michelle Hines was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2015 and received 6 rounds of chemotherapy followed by 17 rounds of targeted therapy. Treatment could be difficult even with strong anti-nausea medication, and some days she felt too sick to move…
Read this storyAdvanced metastatic lung cancer with bone metastases, pneumonia, and worsening pain
About 3 years after learning he had lung cancer, this Spanish blogger wrote a farewell post from a much harder point in the illness. Recent months had brought bone metastases, pneumonia, severe pain, feverish evenings, night sweats, low-oxygen episodes, and…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Sarah’s Patient Story
Sarah was 37 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer had affected several women in her family: her grandmother was a 40-year survivor, her aunt a 20-year survivor, and her mother had also been diagnosed. Sarah said her family did not…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Debora’s Patient Story
Debora, 65, lives in the United Kingdom and was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2017 after noticing a dimple across her left breast. The diagnosis brought anger, fear, sadness, numbness, and vulnerability. Her initial treatment plan included…
Read this storyBRCA1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Nadine’s Survivor Story
Nadine Beech was 27, healthy and a non-smoker when she was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in 1997. After she started spitting up blood following a water-skiing accident, the problem was first treated as a bruised lung. Several doctors later, an 8…
Read this storyMetastatic lung cancer controlled on AZD9291 clinical trial with tracheal narrowing under review
This Noxte update captured the uncertainty of living scan to scan with metastatic lung cancer. At the oncology visit, the patient’s doctor had preliminary CT information but was still waiting for the final radiology report. She had spoken with radiology about…
Read this storyLiving with lung cancer: AZD9291 toxicity check, pain control, and social isolation story
This Noxte entry centered on the emotional and social burden of living with lung cancer, not only the physical disease. The patient described “social death,” meaning the isolation and stigma that can slowly separate a person with cancer from ordinary life. At…
Read this storyMetastatic lung cancer on AZD9291 with a left iliac bone lesion
This Noxte update centered on a new worry during ongoing lung cancer treatment. A CT had raised concern for a bone lesion, and MRI confirmed a single focal lytic lesion in the left iliac bone. The report described it as suspicious for metastasis in the…
Read this storyLung cancer on AZD9291 with tumor shrinkage and new suspected iliac bone metastasis
This Noxte entry captured the mixed emotions of a scan that brought both relief and fear. The patient had a CT on 22 August and reviewed the result with oncology on 26 August. Some findings were encouraging: a paratracheal lymph node was stable, small right…
Read this storyEGFR-mutated lung cancer on AZD9291 clinical trial with improved symptoms
This Noxte post was written from Asturias, where the patient had gone after an oncology visit in Majadahonda. The visit on 15 July focused on toxicity monitoring for AZD9291, the study drug he was receiving through a clinical trial. The checks were…
Read this storyLung cancer progression with T790M-positive tissue result and AZD9291 trial start
This Noxte entry described a rapid change in treatment after a difficult scan. Oncology moved the patient’s planned June CT earlier to 25 May and also scheduled him to see his oncologist the same day. The reason became clear: the laboratory accepted an…
Read this storyLung adenocarcinoma with squamous-cell component on afatinib while awaiting June CT
This Noxte post focused on pathology details that complicated the patient’s understanding of his lung cancer. A bronchoscopy performed on 5 February had produced a biopsy report from Hospital Puerta de Hierro. The tumor had first been understood as…
Read this storyT790M-negative lung cancer on afatinib after AZD9291 trial ineligibility
This Noxte entry followed a disappointing oncology update on 19 April. The patient learned that the blood sample sent to the laboratory was negative for T790M resistance, so he could not enter the AZD9291/osimertinib clinical trial. He found that frustrating…
Read this storyLung cancer progression on afatinib with T790M testing for AZD9291 trial eligibility
This Noxte entry reported a clear setback. On 12 April, the patient received CT results showing that the lung tumor was still growing. The right upper-lobe mass had increased from 4.9 by 5 cm to 5.7 by 6.5 cm. It was causing more narrowing of the apical…
Read this storyLung cancer on afatinib with liquid-biopsy monitoring and CT pending
This Noxte entry was about uncertainty, one of the hardest parts of living with lung cancer. The patient had just had an oncology visit, but the blood result from the latest liquid biopsy was not available. He understood that the test was still part of a…
Read this storyLung cancer on afatinib after liquid biopsy showed T790M resistance no longer detected
This Noxte post explained how liquid biopsy was beginning to affect the patient’s lung cancer care. He had been participating in blood-based monitoring to track treatment effects and possible resistance. At an oncology visit, his doctors had the latest blood…
Read this storyLung cancer with acquired T790M resistance: erlotinib switched to afatinib while AZD9291/TAGRISSO trial was considered
By January 2016, this Spanish lung cancer blogger was marking 2 years of survival while facing a new treatment setback. Recent bronchoscopy and blood testing confirmed that the cancer had developed resistance, including the T790M mutation. That finding…
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