Advocates share tales of victory against lung cancer
DEPARTMENT of Health statistics show that in 2018 alone, an estimated 1.8 million people died from lung cancer, while fewer than 700,000 died from breast cancer — although the number of people diagnosed with lung cancer and the number of people diagnosed with breast cancer that year were nearly the same.
For far too long, a lung cancer diagnosis had been considered a death sentence by doctors and patients alike — and for good reason.
But today, thanks to advances in medical technology, more and more people are finding that lung cancer, even in its late stages, is not a death sentence anymore.
Early this month, lung cancer advocates and ambassadors gathered together at the Diamond Hotel in Manila to share their tales of victory against the disease.
Among these advocates are broadcast journalist Diego Castro; renowned columnist Fr. Jerry Orbos, survivor of Stage 2 lung cancer; actress Susan Africa who sent her message of encouragement and advice for cancer patient caregivers; cancer patient Tetit Melendres-Aristan, who is still undergoing treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer; and oncologist Meredith Garcia, who is also a social media activist for evidencebased cancer treatment.
Early symptoms
In a panel discussion, these ambassadors spoke about their lung cancer stories, from diagnosis, to treatment and triumph.
Garcia started off by discussing early warning signs and why, despite the availability of high-tech treatment, many people still die from the disease.
“One problem in lung cancer is that most of the time, it has an insidious onset. Most commonly, we find patients in the later stages. That’s why it’s very important for people to know the symptoms, so that the earliest that one experiences these symptoms, the patient will already consult a doctor,” the oncologist said.
Among the early symptoms she listed are a cough that doesn’t go away even after a few weeks, weight loss, loss of appetite and infections that keep coming back. For Fr. Orbos, these symptoms were familiar.
“I had a long cough and got tired easily — but I had no idea it was lung cancer,” he said. In fact, it was entirely by coincidence that he found out about his disease.
“An accident made me go for a checkup. I had a CT scan. I don’t know why I told the doctor, ‘Check my lungs as well.’ And there it was, this white spot on the left upper lobe,” the popular priest related.
Thanks to this accident, Fr. Orbos discovered his cancer when it was still just in Stage 2. Like all cancers, lung cancer is best treated as early as possible. Anything that delays treatment harms the patient’s chances of survival.
According to Garcia, this is where the greatest danger of alternative medication comes in.
“The main problem with [ alternative medicine] is the delay in seeking proper medical attention. Sometimes they have this false reassurance — ‘ Oh, I’m taking this supplement and the seller says this will do this and that’ — so they have a false sense of reassurance that they are actually getting better, only to find out later that the cancer has spread. And then that’s when they come to the medical oncologist, when it’s very difficult to treat already.”
Healthy lifestyle not a guarantee
Another thing that causes people to delay seeking medical attention is the belief that if they live a healthy lifestyle, cancer cannot get them.
Aristan, a former health buff, would be the first to attest that this is not necessarily true. In September 2018, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.
“I was not even a smoker. I often went to the gym and I only eat lean meat. So when I learned of my diagnosis, it was as if a huge rock fell on me,” she said.
In deciding for her treatment, Aristan asked her doctor about immunotherapy, because she had read about it in Fr. Orbos’ stories about his own fight with cancer.
Her doctor initially decided on a two- drug combination regimen with chemotherapy but switched to a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy later on, when the mass in her lungs had grown.
“A day after my first immunotherapy infusion, my coughing — which had started in September 2018 — stopped. Two weeks later, my swallowing was back to normal,” she said.
After her second infusion, Aristan had a CT scan. “The result read, ‘ There is a marked regression in size [ of the tumor].’ It decreased by more than two- thirds. Even the lesions in my liver were slowly resolving.”
New ambassadors
Increasing access to novel treatment options like immunotherapy and addressing other key concerns in the whole spectrum of the lung cancer patient journey had been the focus of the Hope From Within: “Voices of Hope: Winning vs Lung Cancer” advocacy launch.
By introducing new ambassadors who will espouse the objectives of the multi-stakeholder campaign, Hope From Within aims to lessen the burden of the cancer disease, renew hope, and save more lives.
Hope From Within is aligned with the “Inventing for Life” corporate anthem of MSD in the Philippines which encapsulates the vision and the company’s efforts towards invention and innovation to fight some of the world’s most life- threatening diseases like lung cancer.