Immunotherapy: How many lung cancer patients are 5 yrs post diagnosis?

Wow, it's great that she's had such success!

She shared that she was stage 4.

Hi @denzie, I hope the conference was informational and inspirational. I love to hear stories like these! Did she happen to mention what stage she was when she was diagnosed? We're seeing more studies of earlier stage patients with success from a targeted therapy for a limited amount of time. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

I'm just returning home from a LiveLung Wellness Retreat. Last night at dinner I was seated next to a lovely, ageless woman who shared that she was on Keytruda as a monotherapy for two year, and now 5.5 years off of it she is still NED.

It can happen.

@koermer5, it sounds like you've had a rough time. Ouch! Sometimes it can be best to move on from one doctor/health system, with the hope of finding care that's a better fit for you and your situation. The idea of dealing with official complaints and legal action when you are not feeling like your pre-surgery-self has to be overwhelming.
How long ago was your original lung surgery? Have you been able to find a new doctor? Has a pulmonologist looked at your August CT, are they suggesting any action?

Hi I have not wanted to do too much with my adenocarcinom a stage 1. I experienced what I call a a botched surgery having been no part of the decision to do a partially . I could have suffered less with a lobe removal . During the 4 hour surgery a rib had to be broken disintegration a compression fracture which was dormant and giving me a t9 fracture. Due to the trauma of it and because I complained the Hospital excommunicated me. My jdoctor really never explained in a confident detailed rwhat went on and possible next steps. In addition I last August I developed E. coli and an er in doing a cat scan found a nodule in that lobe. I appreciate any support. I was instructed to do an official complaint to the state which led to the excommunication.. in addition it is my understanding I did not receive enough oxygen and became brain injured.

@abob, I'm glad to hear that your husband is doing better, and that the immunotherapy is effective for him.
Targeted therapies are generally designed to treat specific cancer mutations (ALK, EGFR, RET...). They leave healthy cells alone while blocking the growth of cancerous cells. Targeted therapies are limited in the types of cancer that they can treat and are generally taken as oral pills.
Just like there are many types of lung cancer, there are many types of treatments. Thankfully we have options now. Without those options, many of us wouldn't be here. We, of course, need more research to continue this trend of advancements, but I'm happy to be here today!

@bob, chemo doesn't know anything about cancer. One characteristic of cancer cells is that cancer cells reproduce quickly, so chemo attacks all quickly reproducing cells in the body. That's why some people lose their hair: hair follicles reproduce quickly.

Targeted therapy, on the other hand, only attacks its target. For example, Osimertinib (Tagrisso) is a small molecule targeted therapy that attacks cancer cells with an EGFR mutation. As a result, targeted therapy has far fewer side effects (collateral damage) than chemo and is widely regarded as the future of lung cancer treatment.

Thx for your post. What is different btwn targeted therapy and chemo? Thanks

Husband had Lobectomy, was cancer free during chemo but a mass developed on adrenal gland which was obliterated by chemo. He is now doing immunotherapy, and recent pet ct lit up a tiny area at back of lung. So we’re glad he’s doing immunotherapy. Cancer is tricky.