Page 19 - Inspire Magazine
P. 19
Professor Fennell suggested I have another biopsy a rebiopsy. It might show you can have a new kind of
and this time there was good news; I was eligible for a treatment.
new targeted therapy called osimertinib (Tagrisso®).
For me, it has been a dream come true. I have few I always said I was diagnosed at the right time. It’s
side effects, and they’re only minor. amazing how fast everything is moving – we are so
lucky to be living in this age. My lung cancer may not
“Don’t be afraid to ask be curable but that doesn’t mean it isn’t treatable.
questi ons or to
challenge your doctors. It doesn’t mean it isn’t liveable. Trust me, it is.”
If your treatment stops working, Dr Doe broadly shares Kathy’s optimism.
ask for a rebiopsy.
It might show you can “There is sti ll a long way to go but I do
have a new kind of treatment.” think we are on the right road towards
much bett er treatments.”
The drug is keeping the cancer in check and, just as
importantly, it has given me my life back. He says, “For a long time, there has been a certain
degree of nihilism about managing lung cancer. Too
I have loads of energy and an incredible social life. I often people are diagnosed at a stage when it is not
have had to give up work but with a packed social curable and previous treatments have not been as
calendar, I don’t know how I’d fi t it in now anyway! effective as we’d like, or as effective as for other types
of cancer.
I know my current treatment will stop working, and
while that’s scary, I also know new treatments are Now, however, the new types of treatments are
there with even more coming. I may be able to have leading to signifi cantly better results where people
immunotherapy, or even a combination of drugs. are well and living longer. As a result, there are
occasions when it’s a good idea for us to think about
I only know this because I became my own advocate. revisiting a tumour, to consider taking a second
No one wants you to live more than you so make it biopsy.
your responsibility to know every option there is.
For instance, if someone has had a course of
Don’t be afraid to ask questions or to challenge chemotherapy and there are signs that the tumour is
your doctors. If your treatment stops working, ask for starting to grow again, we are increasingly
recommending that a further biopsy be considered.
We can then see whether there has been a change in
the nature of that tumour.
Changes may mean that different treatment should be
considered. Sometimes those changes can be along a
more traditional route, so, for instance, tumours can
go from being a more squamous type to an
adenocarcinoma type, which would require different
types of chemotherapy.
But more often, we’re now looking for different,
newly-discovered genetic changes in the tumours that
mean that some treatments targeted at that genetic
change are more likely to be benefi cial.
INSPIRE 2018
There is still a long way to go but I do think we are
on the right road towards much better treatments.”
19
