Lung Cancer Patient Stories and Expert Interviews
Unsure of what to do after a lung cancer diagnosis? Explore in-depth lung cancer patient stories from our community members who share everything from first symptoms to navigating life with cancer.
Also hear from lung cancer experts, like an oncologist who specializes specifically in all lung cancer cases and talk about developments in targeted therapies that have helped decrease the number of NSCLC deaths in recent years. There is a lot of development in understanding biomarkers that have led to new treatment options.
The White Ribbon Project Series
The White Ribbon Project is a grassroots organization is powered by lung cancer patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, researchers – anyone who wants to help raise lung cancer awareness. The group creates and distributes wooden white ribbons as a symbol of its powerful movement to shift the narrative on lung cancer and break stigmas.
Anne LaPorte
Background: Spent 35 years as nurse, then caregiver to father & daughter both diagnosed with cancer, before diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, herself (EGFR+)
Focus: Encouraging patient and caregiver advocacy, biomarker testing for more treatment options, early detection
Bonnie Ulrich
Background: Focused on family and being the "fun grandma," 3x lung cancer survivor with a smoking history
Focus: Building empathy for all patients, regardless of smoking history, and encouraging early detection for everyone to save lives
Rhonda & Jeff Meckstroth
Background: Jeff was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and given months to live, but his wife, Rhonda, fought for a specialist that led to biomarker testing and better treatment options
Focus: Education of biomarker testing for driver mutations, patient and caregiver self-advocacy
Pierre Onda
Background: Primary care physician whose wife, Heidi, diagnosed with stage 3A lung cancer. Built first white ribbon for The White Ribbon Project.
Focus: Building empathy for all patients, regardless of smoking history.
Chris Draft
Background: Chris' wife Keasha passed away from stage 4 lung cancer one month after they married. He's been a passionate lung cancer advocate ever since.
Focus: Leading with love, making connections to grow lung cancer community, NFL liaison
Lung Cancer Stories
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Stories
Non-small cell lung cancer makes up about 85- to 95-percent of all lung cancer cases. Explore non-small cell lung cancer stories below.
“Under the umbrella of non-small cell lung cancer, there are now sub-categories based on molecular changes,” Dr. Camidge explains. “That means it’s not just based on what it looks like down the microscope, but if you suck DNA out of the cancer, you can find different mutations that act differently. “
Lindsay W., Lung Cancer (adenocarcinoma, ALK+), Stage 4
Symptom: Severe pain in her side
Treatments: Chemotherapy (targeted therapy), radiation
Payton G., Lung Cancer, Stage 3A
Symptoms: Chronic phlegm in the chest; acid reflux; pain in the left side of her chest and back
Treatments: Surgery, chemotherapy
Leah P., Non-Small Cell, EGFR 19del, Stage 4
Symptoms: Persistent dry cough, shortness of breath, heaviness in the chest, coughing up blood, weight loss, right rib pain, right shoulder pain
Treatments: Targeted therapy, chemotherapy, radiation (SBRT)
Shyreece Pompey, Non-Small Cell, ALK+, Stage 4 - Update
Symptoms: Shortness of breath
Treatment: Chemotherapy (carboplatin, pemetrexed & bevacizumab), targeted therapy (crizotinib & alectinib), AT13387 (HSP90 inhibitor)
Tiffany J., Non-Small Cell, EGFR+, Stage 4 (Metastatic)
Symptoms: Pain in right side, breathlessness
Treatment: Clinical trial (osimertinib & ramucirumab)
Small Cell Lung Cancer Stories
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is only about 12-percent of lung cancer cases according to Dr. Camidge. Explore small cell lung cancer stories below.
Montessa L., Small Cell Lung Cancer
Symptoms: Chest pain, lingering cough
Treatments: Chemotherapy (cisplatin switched to carboplatin, etoposide), chest radiation, brain radiation (prophylactic)
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Brian M., Small Cell Lung Cancer, Limited Stage
Symptoms: Persistent heartburn (suspected GERD), shoulder/armpit pain
Treatments: Chemotherapy, radiation therapy
...
EGFR Lung Cancer Stories
Jeff S., Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with EGFR exon 19 Deletion, Stage 4
Symptom: Slight cough
Treatments: Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy
Jill F., Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with EGFR Exon 19 Deletion, Stage 1A
Symptom: Nodule found during periodic scan
Treatments: Surgery, targeted therapy, radiation
Filipe P., Non-Small Cell, EGFR 19del, Stage 4 (Metastatic)
Symptom: Headache
Treatments: Surgery (to remove brain metastasis), cryoablation (to remove kidney metastasis), targeted therapy, SBRT, bispecific antibody
Leah P., Non-Small Cell, EGFR 19del, Stage 4
Symptoms: Persistent dry cough, shortness of breath, heaviness in the chest, coughing up blood, weight loss, right rib pain, right shoulder pain
Treatments: Targeted therapy, chemotherapy, radiation (SBRT)
Tiffany J., Non-Small Cell, EGFR+, Stage 4 (Metastatic)
Symptoms: Pain in right side, breathlessness
Treatment: Clinical trial (osimertinib & ramucirumab)
Lung Cancer Oncologists Interviews
Learn from the stories and interviews of lung cancer oncologists.
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Lung Cancer Background
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and includes two main types: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which make up about 75- to 75-percent of lung cancer cases, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), at about 12- to 13-percent.
Lung Cancer Treatments
There are new treatment breakthroughs happening for different lung cancer types.
The 12-percent (small cell) is desperately in need of a breakthrough. They’ve been using the same chemotherapy for about 30 years. The first real breakthrough happened in October 2018 when they started adding immunotherapy.
Dr. D. Ross Camidge
Smoking and Stigma
It’s important to note that people with a wide range of smoking backgrounds – no history, some history, history of heavy-smoking, can all develop lung cancer.
More recently, there have been a growing number of campaigns to raise awareness about lung cancer and how anyone can be impacted. One popular message is, “If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer.”
“It becomes incredibly frustrating as an oncologist when people assume all my patients are smokers. My youngest patient was 14 when she was diagnosed, and people went, ‘Was she a smoker?’ Of course she wasn’t a smoker,” shares Dr. Ross Camidge, a lung cancer oncologist.
That prejudice is a way of removing empathy. We should educate people that that’s actually a very rude question to ask.