2022 Southern Medical Research Conference
Surviving Stage 4 Lung Cancer: A Personal Story
Since then, Ed has worked closely with his care team at the Tampa Moffitt Cancer Center and together they came up with a treatment plan. His healthcare providers decided that Ed would benefit from a three-drug chemotherapy approach. This was because he didn't have an actionable biomarker and targeted therapies weren't an option.
Unfortunately, over time the chemotherapy became less effective, so Ed and his oncologist decided to try a Phase One immunotherapy trial. "Both my wife and I were scared. We had young grandchildren and so many things that we wanted to see and do with them. And I was afraid I was going to miss all of that, when chemo stopped working for me." The first clinical trial caused Ed to experience extreme side effects, so he and his oncologist decided to switch to a different Phase One immunotherapy trail, which quickly began to work. Within a year, Ed's condition stabilized and has remained so for five years after he started.
Ed shared that "There is hope. We are living long lives now, long fruitful lives where we can enjoy being with our family." He recommends getting a biomarker test, so that proper treatment can be determined and that a second opinion can be helpful.
"At my first oncologist appointment, I was told I had only 9-12 months left to live without treatment. But I wasn't ready to give up. I wanted to explore all my options," Ed said. This was nearly 10 years ago. Looking forward, in April 2022, Ed was declared to have "no evidence of disease" and remains so to this day. After surviving stage 4 Lung Cancer, Ed is determined to help others, so he has become an advocate, leading efforts to improve the lives of people diagnosed with lung cancer.
Visit Lung.Org/Liver-Mets for more information.
Support made possible by Regeneron and Sanofi Genzyme.
Metastasis: From Dissemination To Organ-specific Colonization
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