B.J. Thomas Cancer Battle
- Grammy-winning singer B.J. Thomas, 78, has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and asked for people to pray for him.
- Treatment options for stage four lung cancer include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Many people turn to faith and prayer after being diagnosed with cancer.
And while the news is undoubtedly challenging for Thomas and family, there have been many recent developments in the treatment of lung cancer.
Read MoreThe iconic singer is best known for his hits from the ’60s and ’70s, including Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, featured in the Robert Redford and Paul Newman film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film took home the Best Song Oscar in 1969, and was Thomas’s first number one hit song. Thomas’s publicist released a statement from him about his illness:
“I just wanted to take this unique opportunity to share my gratitude to Gloria, my wonderful wife and my rock for over 53 years, my family, friends, and fans. I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to record and perform beautiful songs in pop, country, and gospel music, and to share those wonderful songs and memories around the world with millions of you. I ask all of you for your prayers during this time and that my music can live on with you.”
Stage Four Lung Cancer Treatment Options
Thomas is currently receiving treatment in a Texas care center, Deadline reports, and he is said to be remaining hopeful about his prognosis. For people who are battling stage four lung cancer, like Thomas, treatment options may include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy. Immunotherapy has been called a “game-changer” for people battling lung cancer.
Dr. Brendon Stiles says of the immunotherapy treatment path, “It’s really changed the face of lung cancer, just like targeted therapies. It’s amazing to me now that you can have Stage IV lung cancer and actually not even need chemotherapy. If you have high expression of a protein that we know is targeted by immunotherapy, you may just get immunotherapy alone.”
“That’s really changed the paradigm in lung cancer,” says Dr. Stiles. “And it’s a real thing. Response rates upwards of 50%. So, much better than chemotherapy.”
Immunotherapy Has Changed The Game For Lung Cancer
The Importance of Genetic Testing
The presence of genetic mutations — including KRAS, ALK, EGFR, and a number of others — can help oncologists decide the best course of treatment for a specific person’s cancer. Discovering these mutations and the role they play in how well someone’s cancer responds to treatment has been a major focus in lung cancer treatment.
Because the presence of these mutations can influence treatment decisions, experts often stress to SurvivorNet just how important it is to get genomic testing done.
“All patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer should have genomic testing and therapy should be tailored accordingly,” Dr. Gilberto De Lima Lopes, a lung cancer researcher at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami and the Miller School of Medicine, tells SurvivorNet in a previous interview.
Dr. Ronald Natale, director of the Lung Cancer Clinical Research Institute at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explained the process of genomic testing in a previous conversation with SurvivorNet: “Today when a patient comes in with lung cancer, the first thing we do is next-generation sequencing on the tumor. We extract the DNA from the cancer. And we specifically search for hundreds of different mutations [that can inform treatment decisions]. We also test their tumors for the production of PD-L1.”
“This is what we call precision medicine,” Dr. Natale continued. “Not simply taking a chemotherapy cocktail off the shelf and giving it to everybody with lung cancer, but analyzing their tumor, finding precisely what’s driving the growth or that’s blocking the immune system from attacking the cancer, and using that information to give the patient a specific treatment that is much more likely to be successful, much more likely to help them.”
Turning to Faith After a Diagnosis
For many people, including Thomas, faith can become a powerful component of the cancer journey. For ovarian cancer fighter Beverly Reeves, faith was an important support system during her cancer fight.
In an earlier interview, Reeves says, “If I had one piece of advice for someone who had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it would be to get a strong support group together. Get your close friends. If you’re connected to a faith community, get your faith community. Get your family.”
“Let them know what’s going on and let them help you,” suggests Reeves. “And sometimes that’s the most difficult thing to do, but just know that they are there. If they love you, they’re there to help you.”
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