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>> Joan: My name is Joanie, and I'm from Wilmington, and I feel very fortunate to be standing here
today. Last fall, I went to the doctor concerned about my shortness of breath.
A CAT scan showed a mass in the upper left lobe of my lung. So I had a needle biopsy
and the dreaded results came back. Dr. Donahue called me and, in his own calm and caring
way, he let me know that it was cancer. >> Dr. Donahue: Initially, we attempted to
perform a minimally invasive resection with small incisions using cameras for what's called
a thoracoscopy or a VATS procedure. During the course of the operation it became
clear that she had a bit more locally extensive disease than the CAT scan predicted so we
had to convert to a more traditional or open operation.
>> Dr. Rosovsky: The way we treat lung cancer today is very different from when we were
doing it even a few years ago. Given her stage, we talked about the advantages
of performing or undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy and we talked about the increase in overall
survival based on several studies that have been done in the past.
We are trying to find what drives each person's tumor growth and if we can figure out what
drives somebody's tumor growth and we have an agent that can target that mutation, it's
an ideal way to treat a lung cancer. >> Lisa Fabry: Clinical trials are a great
opportunity for patients to participate and receive new drugs that may potentially help
their cancer from spreading or help keep their cancer from growing any further.
The trial we are doing in which Joan participates is looking at using this drug Tarceva, again
for patients who have this EGFR mutation, to help prevent the cancer from spreading
to other parts of the body. Having a clinical trials program here in Danvers is beneficial
to the patients we treat here in the community. Patients are offered the same new breakthrough
therapies, similar to what is offered down at Mass General in Boston without having to
travel to Boston. >> Joan: Really it's been rollercoaster ride
but thanks to the wonderful people here, I'm still along for the ride. And I Hope to be
for some time.