Leah was a healthy 42-year-old, married mother of three, who worked a full time job when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer in December of 2013. Leah had never smoked or lived with anyone who smoked, so the news was very unexpected. Her oncologist recommended chemotherapy, but assured her that it would not defeat the cancer. Luckily, Leah’s fate changed when further testing revealed that s
he had a lung cancer variation known as the “ALK mutation”. Only about 4% of people diagnosed with Lung Cancer receive this particular diagnosis. The saving grace is that researchers have found ways to suppress this particular type of Lung Cancer. In January 2014, Leah began taking the FDA approved oral drug Crizotinib twice a day. She has never had a drop of chemo or an ounce of radiation to fight her cancer. Within four months on the drug, the marble-sized tumor in her right lung had shrunk. After about eight months on the drug, the tumor disappeared completely. The medicine is intended to merely keep the cancer from growing and spreading, so to have the tumor disappear is an extremely good response to the drug. It’s a blessing that Crizotinib was FDA approved in November 2013 (just before Leah’s diagnosis). Typically, Leah’s type of cancer will develop resistance to the drug. When this happens, the tumors will grow again. Nobody can predict when this cancer drug will stop working for her. Researchers are working fervently to create additional drugs to fight this cancer. Currently, second and third generation drugs are already FDA-approved and others are in various clinical trial phases. Leah’s future and many others like her are literally in the hands of these researchers. This is why we have chosen to actively seek funding for Lung Cancer Research by creating the Lungs4Life Foundation, Inc. We also aim to increase awareness that anyone can get lung cancer and to encourage healthy living and annual physicals. We have chosen to partner with the new Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center on the Nebraska Medicine campus in Omaha. Leah and her husband, Tim, continue to live a normal and busy life with their three children.
