My name is Matt Hiznay, and I am 25 years old. I am a lung cancer survivor. I am the first child of Jim and Mandie Hiznay. I have a younger sister, Katie, and a younger brother, Patrick. I grew up in Poland, Ohio, and graduated from John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. It was there I met my girlfriend, Ally Stojkoska. We met in freshmen biology class and began dating going into our junior years. After college, I enrolled in medical school at the University of Toledo, while Ally was off to pharmacy school at Ohio State University. These people have been with me on my entire journey with lung cancer. I would not be here today without them.
I was employed in a lab in the summer of 2011. Towards the end of July 2011, I developed a persistent, dry cough. Because I was going home about 10 days later, and I knowing that I had a past history with summertime allergies, I simply swallowed some cough drops and planned to bring it up at my yearly physical at the beginning of August. My cough worsened in August, and eventually a lymph node swelled up on the left side of my neck. It was removed and biopsied. My life forever changed on Wednesday, August 17, 2011. I was told on that day that I had cancer.
I travelled to the Cleveland Clinic on August 26 to see Dr. Nathan Pennell, a thoracic oncologist. I learned my grave diagnosis: stage IV adenocarcinoma of the lung. It was decided that I would begin intravenous chemotherapy six days later. My cancer was ravaging my body. It had spread into both lungs, into all the lymph nodes in my chest, and into my breastbone. Because of my cancer’s advanced state, it caused quite a list of complications in my body. Dr. Pennell decided that I was too weak to begin chemotherapy on September 1 and admitted me to the hospital. I remained in the Cleveland Clinic for three weeks, battling for my life.
The cancer created a massive fluid buildup around my lungs and my heart. In the early morning of September 2, I fell into respiratory failure, or “coded.” Simply put, my body was losing to the cancer, and fast; I was dying. I was transferred to the intensive care unit, where quick action by the doctors there drained the fluid from around my heart and I stabilized. I was placed on a ventilator because I could not breathe on my own. Tubes were placed in my chest and around my heart to drain the built up fluid. I developed blood clots in both of my lungs. I lost 30 pounds in three weeks. Dr. Pennell later told me that I experienced all the complications a lung cancer patient experiences – but whereas they usually occur over several years, mine all occurred in a matter of five days.
My luck forever changed on September 9. Back on August 26, the day I was diagnosed with lung cancer, Dr. Pennell recommended running a test for a specific genetic mutation that was currently under extensive study. This mutation caused a gene called anaplastic lymphoma kinase, or ALK for short, to become “turned on with no off switch.” This continual state of activity causes tumors to form, survive, and spread in lung cancer patients. Dr. Pennell sent a frozen section of my previously removed lymph node to see if I had this specific genetic mutation. This test is done out west and takes 14 days for a result. After two long weeks, and my near-death, the results showed I was a match for the mutation.
The ALK mutation is so significant because on the day I was diagnosed with lung cancer, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new form of chemotherapy for ALK-positive lung cancer patients. As a matter of fact, the drug I am on won early approval by the FDA and was released six weeks earlier than the scheduled date. I thank God every day for that, because I doubt I would have survived another six weeks without it. This miracle drug, called crizotinib, blocks the mutated ALK gene in my cancer cells. Crizotinib is not your typical chemotherapy. Whereas traditional, intravenous chemotherapy attacks all fast-dividing cells, whether the cells are cancerous or not, crizotinib attacks only the cancerous cells in my body. Crizotinib saved my life.
I began crizotinib on September 10, after the drug was overnighted to Cleveland thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Taussig Cancer Institute and my mother. After I began crizotinib, the fluid around my lungs and heart began to disappear. I slowly regained my strength. My draining tubes were removed and I eventually began to walk again. Finally, I was discharged from the Cleveland Clinic on September 21 and returned home for the first time in three weeks. Dr. Rendell Ashton, the intensivist who directed my care in the ICU, later told me that I was the sickest patient he had ever seen make it out of the ICU alive. On Thursday, November 10, 2011, two months to the day since I began crizotinib, Dr. Pennell informed me that my lung cancer had had a complete response to my treatment. A complete response means that no tumors can be seen on a CT scan and that my cancer was in remission. I went from stage IV lung cancer to cancer-free in two months.
I noticed a swelling on the left side of my neck near the middle of May 2012. A needlepoint biopsy on May 11, 2012 revealed my cancer had had a recurrence. I was referred to Dr. Ross Camidge at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. Dr. Camidge is widely regarded as one of the top experts on ALK-positive non-small lung cancer in the United States. He enrolled me in a clinical trial of a drug that acts as the “second generation” of crizotinib. It is believed that some of my cancer cells have become resistant to crizotinib. It is hoped that this new drug will block the resistant cells’ ALK gene in the same previous manner. I will know for certain sometime after my PET scan on July 5, 2012. Until then, I thank everyone for their constant prayers and support.

 Inside GUMC – Georgetown University Medical Center GUMC.

Team Draft Tours Lombardi

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A radiant, smiling picture of former NFL linebacker Chris Draft’s wife Keasha was never far from sight as he toured Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center on June 21.

As Draft walked through the clinic and the new state-of-the-art infusion center, full of questions about the facility and kind words for the patients he encountered, he would frequently pull up Keasha’s photos on his iPad to show those around him.

Looking at her youthful, healthy images, it is difficult to believe Keasha passed away from lung cancer at age 38 on December 27, 2011 – one month to the day after she and Draft were married. A former dancer, Keasha had never smoked and had always been physically active and fit before she was diagnosed with stage IV small cell lung cancer.

Draft, who retired from the NFL in 2010 after playing for numerous teams including the Washington Redskins, hopes people will stop in disbelief when they hear his and Keasha’s story and see her pictures. That’s part of his goal.

“I am determined to show a new face of lung cancer. I’m not trying to make it anything other than what it is, but want to make sure we tell the complete story,” Draft said during his visit.

Telling the Complete Story

The “complete story” is that lung cancer can affect anyone – including nonsmokers like Keasha. In fact, it is among the biggest killers out there – accounting for more deaths than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney and skin cancers combined. Draft wants to shatter the misconception that people who get lung cancer somehow have brought it on themselves through smoking or other adverse behaviors.

Now devoting much of his time to building awareness of the disease and raising funds for research through his Chris Draft Family Foundation, Draft is on the road a lot these days, visiting cancer centers nationwide in an effort to spread a message of hope about the progress of lung cancer research.

While at Georgetown Lombardi, he met with members of the senior leadership team and interested researchers. Unassuming and approachable, Draft came alone, armed with just his iPad, a camera and a hand-held video camera.

He filmed a short video of Deepa Subramaniam, M.D., assistant professor in the division of hematology/oncology, discussing the vast heterogeneity of lung cancer types and the promise of personalized medicine.

According to Subramaniam, lung cancer in people who have never smoked accounts for approximately 15 percent of all lung cancer cases now. The incidence among nonsmokers and women is on the rise, and researchers are learning just how distinct the disease can be from patient to patient, and from tumor to tumor.

Individualized therapies that target unique tumor characteristics will be the answer to responding to this scourge, Subramaniam said, and to forging a “new paradigm in the classification of lung cancer.”

“We will gradually chip away at each slice of the lung cancer pie. We are going to cure those who can be cured, and convert the disease in those who cannot be cured into a chronic disease,” she said.

To view Draft’s video of Subramaniam, visit http://www.thedraftreport.net/?p=1259.

For more information on Draft’s foundation and the national campaign to change the face of lung cancer, visitwww.teamdraft.org.

By Lauren Wolkoff, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

Where There’s No Smoke
By Bob Hecker

A greater proportion of lung cancer patients are never-smokers. It’s a different disease and may require different therapy.

If 85 to 90 percent of lung cancer cases in the United States are linked to smoking tobacco, what’s behind the 10 to 15 percent of cases involving people who never smoked?

Medical scientists aren’t sure, but what they do know is that lung cancer in never-smokers is a biologically distinct disease from lung cancer in smokers, and one that sometimes can be treated differently with therapy targeting specific gene mutations.
“In the past decade, researchers have begun studying subtle biological differences in the lung tumors of smokers and of those who have never smoked,” says Gregory Otterson, MD, a medical oncologist and lung cancer specialist at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James). Otterson says carcinogens in cigarette smoke cause gene mutations that are often different from those found in lung tumors of people who have never smoked.
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The oldest of three children, Stacey was born to Donald and Marguerite Ray on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1967. She grew up in Tonawanda, New York, attended Sweet Home schools and received her bachelor of science from Medaille College in Buffalo, New York. Stacey enjoyed an early career in retail clothing and later found much gratification as a recruitment coordinator for Greater Buffalo Savings Bank. The beloved wife of William Scott, Jr., Stacey was a beautiful, loving young woman, close to her family and friends.

With a delightful sense of humor and an engaging laugh, many people say to know Stacey was to love her. From childhood she had a love of sports that was second to none, and while dedicated to the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills, Stacey was foremost, a diehard New York Yankees fan.

Diagnosis & Cancer Fight

As an active, athletic, non-smoking young woman, Stacey would not have been considered at high risk for lung cancer. Yet, in May of 2005 after complaining of fatigue and chest pain, tests confirmed the presence of malignant lung tumors. As often is the case, by the time lung cancer is diagnosed, it is beyond the early stages and is extremely aggressive and difficult to treat. Stacey fought mightily but lost her battle with lung cancer on September 17, 2005 at the age of 38.

The Registry Created

To express their deep love for Stacey, Bill, his partners at Scott Danahy Naylon, and Stacey’s family have created a lasting tribute in her honor. With the help of others, they started a charitable fund to create a lung cancer registry which will support promising early detection lung cancer research. Their generosity has helped established The Stacey Scott Lung Cancer Registry.

Linebacker Chris Draft tackled tough for several NFL teams—and played to win. But, when the Redskins released him in 2010, he faced an opponent he couldn’t beat.

His fiancée, Keasha, who had never smoked, had stage four lung cancer.

Last November, chronicled in a poignant video that went viral, the two got married. With a beautiful white dress and an oxygen tank, Keasha walked the final few steps, and she and Chris exchanged vows.

Exactly one month later, Keasha died. She was 38.

Now Draft is a man on a mission, meeting with lung cancer groups and lobbying Congress to pass the “Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act,” which calls for the government to come up with a plan to cut lung cancer deaths in half by 2020.

This year alone, 160,000 Americans will die of lung cancer—by far the biggest cancer killer of all.

Even though smoking is the number one cause, the lung cancer alliance says the 60 percent of new lung cancer cases are people who quit—many decades ago—and 20 percent never smoked.

Ribbons have become a popular and easily recognizable symbol of hope and support for cancer patients, survivors and advocates, with different cancers represented by a rainbow of colors.
Local artist Jo Fleming took this concept and transformed it into “Ribbon of Joy,”a 39-foot-long modular painting that will soon be installed in Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center’s new infusion center. Fleming, from Great Falls, Va, hopes the artwork will provide an emotional lift to patients and their caregivers and promote positive energy and healing.

“We diagnose and treat in an atmosphere filled with creativity and hope,” says Nancy Morgan, director of the Georgetown Lombardi Arts and Humanities Program, who has worked with Fleming to bring the impressive piece to Georgetown Lombardi. “Jo captured our philosophy of caring for the whole person in her paintings. It fits us perfectly. The reference to cancer is subtle, yet every person with cancer who sees the paintings gets the message.”

Fleming visited Georgetown Lombardi to get a sense of the environment and people and was inspired by the elements of the space that were already present, such as a large, multi-color mobile in the center of the lobby. She then created “Ribbon of Joy,” which mimics the sense of warmth and care she witnessed. The painting features 13 vibrantly colored cancer ribbons that flow together through a changing landscape.

“I wanted to find a meaningful way to address the individual. I wanted the work to say ‘We are all in this together,’” Fleming says on her process of creating the painting. “Cancer affects almost everyone—ourselves, our family and friends—so I joined the ribbons to each other and allowed them to flow through a changing landscape.” Fleming, whose father died of esophageal cancer and mother-in-law of lung cancer, knows first-hand the effect cancer can have on a family.

“I hope the artwork welcomes and pulls the visitor into the moment, outside of his or her concerns and provides a little lift,” says Fleming.
To find out more about Jo Fleming, please visit http://www.jofleming.com.

By: Lauren Wolkoff and Alaina Farrish

Celebrities including Ricky Gervais, Alex Ferguson, Jenny Frost, Duncan Bannatyne and Mark Lawrenson are lending their support to a campaign trying to raise awareness of lung cancer.

Read more on Rick Gervais and Alex Ferguson

According to this article by Lynne Eldridge MD, lung cancer in never smokers is considered to be the 6th leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.
Take into consideration the two following facts: Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer, killing more people than colon, breast, kidney, liver, prostate and melanoma cancers combined. Secondly, tobacco smoking accounts for approximately 87 percent of lung cancer deaths.
Here is another statistic that may come as a shock to some: Tobacco usage, both past and present, accounts for approximately 80% of lung cancers in women. That means that 20% of women with lung cancer have never smoked. It makes you think twice about the stigma associated with lung cancer, doesn’t it?
Smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, asbestos, radon or other harmful carcinogens, a family history of lung cancer—all of these factors play a role in determining an individual’s personal lung cancer risk. It is important to take all of them into consideration, even if one is more prevalent than others.
Recognizing these risk factors is important; equally important, however, is the knowledge of how these factors impact your personal lung cancer risk, and taking charge to monitor your own personal risk.
According to data from the National Cancer Institute, the average five-year survival rate for a lung cancer patient is only 15%. If the cancer is caught in the later stages, after it has spread, that number can drop all the way down to 4%.
The key to fighting lung cancer is catching the disease in its earliest stages, when the five-year survival rate jumps to more than 50%.
We invite you to assess your personal lung cancer risk with this lung cancer risk calculator, developed with the help of clinicians from MD Anderson. Another available tool is the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center “Lung Cancer Prediction Tool,” which measures risk by taking various factors into account, including age, smoking history, gender and exposure to carcinogens.
By finding one’s propensity for lung cancer, people can get a feel for his or her potential for developing the disease before symptoms appear, and take precautionary action, such as seeing a physician, learning about various methods for early lung cancer detection, or taking action to lower try and lower your personal risk.
With the five-year survival rate so low and symptoms from the disease often not appearing until the late stages of the disease, there is a growing importance for early lung cancer detection methods—one of which is utilizing and understanding proper risk assessment tools.

Courtesy of Hello Have You Heard? Posted by Greg Stanley

Watch the story of Barbara Champion, a lung cancer survivor, talk about her fight against lung cancer, the benefit of early detection, and her experience with EarlyCDT-Lung, a simple blood test which can aid in the early detection of lung cancer.

When Carol Sill learned she had lung cancer in November 2004, she and her husband, Dennis, searched the Web for a support group near their Sacramento home. They called the American Cancer Society. They checked with the American Lung Association. Nothing.

“If I had breast cancer, I’d be able to choose from literally dozens of support groups and help lines right in our area. But there was nothing for lung cancer,” Sill said.

Now there is. Determined to reverse the stigma she believes has kept lung cancer patients from stepping forward and seeking the help they need, Sill went to work. She founded a support group that meets twice a month at UC Davis Cancer Center under the leadership of Cancer Center social worker Carolyn Guadagnolo. Sill also forged ties with the Gail P. Ramos Lung Cancer Foundation in Fairfield, to help that group expand its fundraising efforts for lung cancer research in Sacramento. She also told her story to the Sacramento Bee and the regional ABC and NBC affiliates.
Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer in the United States, but it lags far behind breast and prostate cancer in terms of public attention. At one recent meeting of the support group Sill established, a woman talked about ribbons. Breast cancer has a pink ribbon; prostate cancer’s is blue. The lung cancer ribbon is clear, she had discovered. “Invisible. Like us,” she told the group.
“Invisible like us”
That’s changing. ABC anchorman Peter Jennings’ death from lung cancer last year put the disease in the headlines. Shortly after his death, Dana Reeve, widow of actor Christopher Reeve, confirmed her lung cancer diagnosis, helping to raise awareness that lung cancer is increasingly a disease of younger women who have never smoked. She died of the disease March 6.
“Twenty years ago, the typical lung cancer patient was an older man who had a smoking history,” said David R. Gandara , director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at UC Davis Cancer Center. “But lung cancer rates for men are down, while they are climbing in women. And in my clinic, more than one-third of our lung cancer patients are never-smokers — individuals who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.”
Improving Treatment
Treatments are also changing. Last year, a Southwest Oncology Group study led by Gandara demonstrated the best long-term survival rates yet reported in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Another study, co-authored by Gandara, showed that administering chemotherapy after surgery can boost five-year survival for patients with early stage, completely resected non-small cell lung cancer tumors to more than 60 percent. Both studies made national headlines.
Newer drugs are targeting tumors in more specific ways. Half a dozen of these molecularly targeted agents are being evaluated at UC Davis Cancer Center right now. UC Davis researchers are also looking for clues that will let doctors better determine which patients will respond to which targeted agents, and are studying new methods of preventing lung cancer recurrence.
In its first three months, Sacramento’s first lung cancer support group grew to 60 members. Meetings are held on Wednesdays to coincide with the Cancer Center’s multidisciplinary lung clinic and Thoracic Tumor Board. Patients from as far away as Palo Alto, Tahoe and Turlock attend, often because no lung cancer support group is available closer to home.
Courtesy of UC Davis Health Center