Lung Cancer Was a Death Sentence. Now Drugs Are Saving Lives

Anecdotally, my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer (despite never smoking in her life). It had already metastasized to her brain by the time they caught it. I read the clinical literature, and she probably had about 3 months to live.

BUT: her cancer had a druggable mutation. She took Tarceva, then Tagrisso. She lived 7 years, before an aggressive lymphoma finally ended things.

The side effects were not pleasant. Her hair and skin got weird, and she had extensive digestive problems. But I am immensely grateful to the researchers who developed these drugs and allowed her to live long enough to see her first grandchild make it to kindergarten.

Recent and related:

Trial results for new lung cancer drug are 'off the charts' - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40537026 - May 2024 (49 comments)

Works where archive.ph is blocked:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/lung-cancer-was-a-dea...

Text-only:

https://assets.msn.com/content/view/v2/Detail/en-in/BB1ntKbB