Heather Quintana Suchan Completes 30 Stage 4 Lung Cancer Treatments With No Progression
Updated
Updated · TODAY · Aug 12
Heather Quintana Suchan Completes 30 Stage 4 Lung Cancer Treatments With No Progression
1 articles · Updated · TODAY · Aug 12
Summary
Thirty rounds into treatment, Heather Quintana Suchan, 41, has no evidence of Stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer progression, with liver and bone lesions gone on some scans.
Her care shifted after testing found an EGFR mutation, leading City of Hope to use a three-part regimen: six carboplatin sessions, pemetrexed and targeted therapy amivantamab.
FDA approval of a subcutaneous amivantamab version cut her treatment visits from full-day IV infusions to one or two hours and reduced side effects, improving daily life with her two young sons.
Suchan was diagnosed after months of a persistent cough and vision changes were initially treated as infection, underscoring how lung cancer can be missed in younger never-smokers.
About 20% of people who die from lung cancer have never smoked, yet U.S. screening guidelines still mainly cover adults 50 to 80 with heavy smoking histories.