Targeted Therapy: 297 Real Stories
297 stories match targeted therapy. 183 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage II HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Frédérique’s Survivor Story
Frédérique was 40 when she was listed with Stage II HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2-positive disease can feel especially alarming because it is biologically distinct and requires treatment that targets that pathway. Her record centers on Herceptin, also…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sarah’s Patient Story
Sarah was 53 when she was diagnosed in April 2019 with hormone-dependent, grade 1 infiltrating breast carcinoma. Several nodules measured 3 to 8 mm. After MRI, 3 oncologists recommended breast removal, followed by radiation and possibly chemotherapy. Sarah…
Read this storyStage IV breast cancer with brain metastasis responding to chemotherapy, Gamma Knife, and targeted therapy story
A woman who had always been active, healthy, and busy with work and family noticed a lump in the lower inner part of her left breast. For a long time, she tried to convince herself it was a benign breast condition. A doctor's exam changed everything. Testing…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie was 56 and living south of London when she shared her experience with invasive lobular carcinoma. Her primary breast cancer had been diagnosed at 50 after mild pain in her right breast. A mammogram did not show the cancer, and the diagnosis was…
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 IV ALK Lung Cancer: Elizabeth’s Patient Story
Elizabeth Moir was 29 and in the third trimester of her second pregnancy when severe chest pain sent her to the emergency room. She was first told the spot on her lung was a calcified granuloma, a small noncancerous area of inflammation. Two months later…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Donna’s Patient Story
Donna Preston was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in January 2015. Her only symptom had been a cough that would not go away. At diagnosis, her 5 children were between 9 and 18 years old, and she wanted to keep family life as normal as possible while still…
Read this storyEGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Joanne’s Patient Story
Joanne’s lung cancer was found by chance in February 2021. She had gone to the emergency room because of what seemed like an abdominal hernia or aneurysm, and an angio CT scan instead showed a mass in the upper lobe of her right lung. She had not had classic…
Read this storyStage I EGFR Lung Adenocarcinoma: Julie’s Patient Story
Julie was 42 when a routine mammogram indirectly led to a lung cancer diagnosis. The mammogram showed a calcified blood vessel, so her doctor ordered a calcium score CT scan. That scan found a 3 cm mass in her left lung. A chest CT confirmed it was still…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Gerri’s Patient Story
Gerri first noticed a slight cough that would not go away and a drop in stamina on the StairMaster. Before a planned hiking trip to Patagonia, she saw her doctor to check whether she was well enough for travel vaccinations. Her lungs sounded clear, but the…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
Laura Greco’s lung cancer record needs a major subtype correction: this was lung cancer, not colon cancer. Her initial diagnosis in 2015 was Stage IIIA non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer driven by an ALK translocation. Initial treatment included 2…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Duncan’s Patient Story
Duncan Edmonstone was 55 when a seizure led to a sudden Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. He had not had the symptoms people often associate with lung cancer, such as a persistent cough or chest pain. After scans and tests, doctors found advanced lung cancer…
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 Colorectal Cancer: Sydney’s Patient Story
Sydney Stoner had digestive issues for years before lower abdominal pain became debilitating. The pain shifted from occasional constipation to frequent heavy pain with constipation and diarrhea. She tried elimination diets and holistic doctors, but she knew…
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 III ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle Bos-Lun, a Vermont state representative, was hospitalized after returning from Nepal with what turned out to be scrub typhus. During that workup, doctors ordered a chest X-ray and saw something they could not explain. About 3 weeks of additional…
Read this storyEGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Donna’s Patient Story
Donna Thompson was 45 when an emergency-room visit for high blood sugar unexpectedly revealed a lung mass. She had no smoking history, so lung cancer seemed unlikely to everyone around her, but scans and biopsy confirmed Stage II non-small cell lung cancer…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Glenna’s Survivor Story
Glenna’s lung cancer story began in December 2022 with a nagging cough. She was not especially worried at first because she already had a silent reflux diagnosis, but by March the cough had worsened. Medication changes and a reflux referral did not solve the…
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 ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Suzanne’s Patient Story
Suzanne was a regular runner who usually covered 5 to 7 miles a day, so feeling sluggish during a morning run in October 2019 seemed like bronchitis at first. She saw her doctor before an upcoming race, and a chest X-ray quickly led to more scans. Within…
Read this storyHow Learning To Ask For Help Can Make Life With MBC Easier
An unnamed mother of 4 was 37 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer in December 2010. Her initial treatment included A/C followed by T/Herceptin, then a bilateral mastectomy and 36 radiation treatments. She stayed on Herceptin for about 8…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Genevieve’s Survivor Story
Genevieve first found breast cancer in 1987, at age 40, after noticing a small hard lump in her right breast. Surgery removed the tumor and lymph nodes while preserving the breast, and pathology showed an aggressive non-hormone-receptive cancer. She received…
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