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Nov 25, 2008 8:38 am US/Central
Hope For Stage 4 Lung Cancer Patients
(WCCO)
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Mike Corcoran, right, on the red rocks of Sedona. He's been traveling while his cancer's been on an indefinite hold.
CBS
Lung cancer is the number-one cancer killer with more than 200,000 new cases expected this year and 160,000 deaths. Yet, even at its worst stage, there is always hope.
Three years ago, Mike Corcoran was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer. The largest mass was in his upper-right lung.
"His life expectancy was anywhere between 9 months and a year," said oncologist Dr. Mark Sborov with Minnesota Oncology Hematology, PA.
After Corcoran had chemotherapy, Sborov prescribed a second line of targeted therapy, called Tarceva. The daily pill targets only cancer cells by short-circuiting their functions.
"If the cell does not have functioning circuits, it's not going to work. So it's either going to not grow or die," Sborov explained.
Tarceva has been shown to have a 37 percent response rate, meaning it will work in nearly four out of every 10 patients. It worked in Corcoran's case. For other patients, the hope rests in more targeted therapies in the pipeline.
With his cancer on indefinite pause, Corcoran has been traveling. He worked to get a proclamation from the governor declaring this lung cancer awareness month, and in general, he's enjoying life.
"Every day is a bright day," he said. "There may come out something new on the market that I continue to have hopeful days."
"If you're talking about a cancer that can't be cured, we talk about a quality of life which is as important as quantity of life," Sborov said.
Corcoran never smoked, but smoking is to blame for more than 80 percent of lung cancers.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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