Remembering Donna Summer Who Died 9 Years Ago Today After a Battle with Lung Cancer

Summer born LaDonna Adrian Gaines in 1948 rose to prominence in the 1960s when she became the lead singer of a psychedelic rock band Crow, which brought her to New York City. Her career heated up in the Big Apple when she got connected with Broadway and joined the touring company for Hair, one of the most notable musicals of that era. Her touring brought her to Europe, where she lived for several years, recording songs with producers in Munich that gained her international acclaim. The rest, as they say, is history: Summer is inarguably the Queen of Disco, and remains so, even after her 2012 passing.

Donna’s Cancer Battle

Summer passed on May 17, 2012, at age 63 after a battle with lung cancer. She died in her home in Florida. She was survived by her husband, Bruce Sudano, and their three daughters. Of note, Summer was a non-smoker. She believed her lung cancer was a result of having inhaled dust and toxic fumes on September 11, 2001, during the World Trade Center attacks. Summer was in her apartment near the buildings when they collapsed.

Related: 'Very Painful': Oscar-Winning Actress Laura Dern Recalls Losing Her Grandfather to Lung Cancer When She Was 6

Some have said that Summer’s exposure to second-hand smoke in music clubs may have led to her developing lung cancer. Second-hand smoke increases one’s risk of developing lung cancer and should be avoided at all costs.

Lung cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, targeted drug therapy and immunotherapy. A lung cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming. Dr. Patrick Forde, a thoracic oncologist at Johns Hopkins, outlines the first steps taken after a diagnosis.

First, your medical team will stage the cancer with imaging, a CT scan usually and sometimes an MRI and MRI scan of the brain. Then they need to get a sample of the tumor biopsy on which they perform some routine tests, the most important of which is a  PD-L1 test, which helps direct the use of immunotherapy, but also more complicated testing looking for gene mutations in the tumor.

"There are two main types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, which is about 85% of lung cancers, and small cell lung cancer, which is about 15%," Forde says. "Within that non-small cell category, there's a subtype called non-squamous adenocarcinoma, and that's the group of patients for whom genetic testing is very important on the tumor. Genetic testing is looking for mutations in the DNA, in the tumor, which are not present in your normal DNA."

Dr. Forde says the important questions to ask when you receive a lung cancer diagnosis are:

-Ask about the histology or type of lung cancer

-Ask about the stage of the cancer

-If the cancer is metastatic or stage 4, ask about the genetic mutation results and also the PD-L1 testing

The PD-L1 test is a "simple test" that involves staining a sample of the tumor with a marker for PD-L1. The lab gives the tumor a  percent expression score ranging from from zero where none of the cells have PD-L1 expression and up to 100 percent where all of the cells have PD-L1 expression.

"The likelihood of the tumor responding to immunotherapy depends to a degree on the level of expression," Dr. Forde says. A tumor with 90% expression PD-L1 on the surface is more likely to respond than one that has no expression.

Dr. Forde says that non-smokers should make sure genetic testing is performed before going directly on immunotherapy.

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Getting Screened for Lung Cancer

As many people know, smoking is a risk factor for developing lung cancer. Former and current smokers should screen for lung cancer to reduce their risk of developing the disease, or missing it until it reaches a later stage, which may limit treatment options.

Related: I Don't Make People Feel Bad About Smoking: A Thoracic Surgeon's Perspective

Dr. Forde says in an earlier interview how imperative and life-saving screening is for smokers. "Over the last few years, there's been a number of studies looking at using low dose CT scans of the chest in patients who have a history of smoking to try and pick up lung cancers in earlier stage," he says.

"About 70% to 80% of patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer, unfortunately, the cancer has spread outside of the lung and is not suitable for surgery," says Dr. Forde. "And there have been a number of studies, most recently, one in the Netherlands, which looked at doing CT scans for patients who are over the age of 55 and had a significant smoking history for many years and then monitoring them on a regular basis with a low dose CT of the chest."

He explains how screening is an effective tool for prevention. "And they were able to show a reduction in the numbers of lung cancers which had spread outside of the chest. They were able to pick them up in earlier stage and potentially cure them at a higher rate than not doing screening."

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced in March that people who are at high risk for lung cancer because of their smoking history should receive free annual screenings with a low-dose CT scan starting at age 50 regardless of whether they have symptoms.

Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan, Says Leading Expert

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