Chris and I met Rose Vining at a LUNGevity Hope Summit in 2016. She is just one of many “faces of lung cancer.” Here is Rose’s story and why biomarker testing is so important:

“I’m sure it’s not cancer.”

That’s what my pulmonologist told me in 2011 as we looked at a CT scan of my lungs. I agreed with him. With no history of smoking and no breathing problems, the possibility of lung cancer wasn’t anything on my radar. I’d recently been experiencing some chronic pelvic pain, so my very conscientious gynecologist asked me to get an abdominal CT scan done.

A small part of my lung showed up in that scan. As soon as he saw the report, he asked me to return again that very day for a lung scan. I’ll always be grateful to that young GYN for his diligence in checking things out so thoroughly! My pulmonologist thought the shadow on my lung scan was perhaps old scar tissue from a severe case of pneumonia I’d had several years before. He ordered a lung biopsy just to make sure there wasn’t any infection. He sounded just as shocked as I was when he called later to tell me there was a very large malignant tumor in my left lung that needed to be removed as a soon as possible!

Lung surgery took place soon afterwards followed by several months of chemotherapy. I was told then that there was only a 15% chance that the cancer would return. Very grateful for this wonderful news, I really believed cancer was a thing of the past and I would just go back to living the very happy life I’d had before.

A little over a year later (2013), I remember sitting in my oncologist’s waiting room and noticing several patients preparing to go in for their chemotherapy treatments. My heart went out to them, and I silently said a prayer for each one. I felt relieved and grateful that my difficult cancer treatment was now just an unpleasant memory. Little did I dream that a few minutes later I would be sitting in the exam room staring at a recent CT scan of the remainder of my left lung which looked like it was filled with abnormal spots similar to a huge scattering of shotgun pellets!

My husband and I had always referred to my oncologist as “Dr. Positive” because he conveyed such positivity during my appointments with him. On that day when Dr. Positive showed me that shotgun pellet picture of my lung, he slowly turned to me with a sad expression and said: “I’m sorry.”

I realized then that the nightmare that I thought was over was only just beginning.

I’d now gone from Stage 2B to Stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. I was given a very poor prognosis for survival that day and for almost seven years afterwards. Those years were filled with CT scans with contrast dye every 3-6 months. I used to joke that I should be glowing from all the radioactive dye injected into my body.

That cancer recurrence was treated with removal of the rest of my left lung and chemotherapy with a different and much stronger drug than before. The drug was so harsh that, after only one dose, I was hospitalized, unable to eat or drink.

I still remember how I felt back then when my oncologist came into my hospital room to tell me I couldn’t tolerate any more chemo. He said my cancer would most likely return very soon, and nothing else could be medically done for me. I remember sitting there on the side of my hospital bed after the doctor left and thinking about what I wanted to do with the few months he indicated I had left to live.

During the next few months, I prepared to die, even giving a lot of my personal belongings away. But when that didn’t happen right away, I decided to focus on living instead. Skilled PT and OT therapists worked with me, and I adapted to life with just one lung. Life was different but good in a new way!

In 2016, cancer showed up again in my remaining lung. I was treated with SBRT radiation and, with the wonderful help of my therapists, I learned to function with less than one lung remaining.

Those cancer years were hard, especially since I was continually told that I most likely didn’t have long to live. After a while I would just smile when they’d tell me that. I remember during one particular office visit, the doctors explained this to me 3 different times. I guess, because I kept smiling, they didn’t think I understood my grim prognosis! In 2019, that poor prognosis officially changed though. I heard news I really didn’t think I’d ever hear:

“I consider you cured of this lung cancer!”

Words cannot express how grateful I am for this complete recovery. But I will never forget all my wonderful survivor friends that didn’t recover. Some so young that they didn’t even get a chance to become adults, and others who experienced the added heartbreak of leaving young children behind.

When I had both of my lung surgeries, tissue was saved in a “tissue bank.” I am especially grateful for this, because in 2016 with the second recurrence of cancer, my oncologist was able to request samples of my lung tissues from the tissue back and do biomarker testing.

When I had those surgeries years ago, extensive biomarker testing was only done in the larger research medical centers. So, along with many other cancer patients, I didn’t have the opportunity to know about my biomarkers.

Today, with the wonderful new advances in lung cancer research, biomarker testing is now available to every cancer patient! So, if you or loved one get diagnosed with lung cancer or any other cancer, please ask for biomarker testing and keep those test results in a safe place in case they’re ever needed!

Why is this important? Because biomarkers are changes in a cell’s genes (building blocks of a cell’s DNA) or proteins that cause the cancer to grow. These mutations are called “driver mutations” because they cause (or “drive”) cancer to grow.

It is important to know if you have any biomarkers to help decide what your treatment options might be—different treatments work better on cancers with certain biomarkers. Comprehensive biomarker testing may also find other mutations that may help form your treatment plan. New targeted therapies are being developed based on biomarker information that can specifically treat cancer without all the side effects of treatments used in the past!

If this had been available back when I was initially diagnosed with lung cancer, perhaps I wouldn’t have had 2 other cancer recurrences. And more importantly, my friends might still be alive!

Please remember about biomarker testing and share how important it is if you or a loved one get diagnosed with any kind of cancer!