Grandma's 'Covid' Turns Out to Be Lung Cancer
- A grandma in the UK thought her cough was a symptom of Covid-19, but it turned out to be advanced lung cancer.
- Stage 4 lung cancer is typically treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy.
- Radiation as a treatment for advanced lung cancer is used to shrink tumors, which can alleviate some cancer symptoms, like pain.
Smith took four Covid tests because she’d been experiencing a persistent cough, and also lost her sense of taste (both are symptoms of Covid). The BBC reports, “The grandmother went to her GP after returning from a family holiday to Butlins – but tests showed Julie actually had terminal lung cancer.”
Read MoreJulie Smith’s Cancer & Radiation for Advanced Lung Cancer
Smith, who is originally from Wales, describes how she found out about her advanced lung cancer diagnosis. “We went to Butlins with the family, I went on the big water slide and everything and then the cough started,” she says.“I had nothing wrong with me apart from a cough and then a couple of weeks later my taste started to go. I’d had all my Covid injections so I thought ‘well I’ll be alright, but I’ll just have Covid’,” she says.
Her cough first manifested in September 2021, but her Covid-19 tests came back negative. She had more scans, at which point her lung cancer was diagnosed. The cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes and bones, which meant it was advanced, late-stage cancer.
“I had a little tear but was in shock,” says Smith. “My husband was sobbing, as were my son and daughter. But I’ve had a lot of tears since. None of us can believe it.”
She has had chemotherapy to treat her lung cancer and is also undergoing immunotherapy. Late-stage lung cancer like Smith’s, also called stage 4 or metastatic cancer, has spread to other parts of the body, beyond the lungs. "The goal of therapy," says Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard of Boston Medical Center in a previous interview, "is to treat the entire body in order to destroy every last remnant of the cancer. In the past, chemotherapywhich kills all fast-growing cells in the bodywas considered the treatment standard for stage four lung cancer, but times have changed.”
Radiation is one treatment option for stage 4 lung cancer. Dr. Billy Loo from Stanford Medicine says in a previous interview that radiation "has been used as part of palliative treatment to shrink tumors, which ideally will help alleviate some of the cancer symptoms such as trouble swallowing, coughing and pain.”
"Radiation can also be used in special cases where the spread to other parts of the body may be very limited," says Dr. Loo. He explains that in cases of metastatic lung cancer, intense radiation can be used in an attempt to mitigate the cancer's effects.
Radiation May Help In Certain Cases of Stage Four Lung Cancer
Screening for Lung Cancer
Julie Smith used to smoke, but had stopped smoking cigarettes in 1989. It’s important to know that you don't have to be a smoker, or have smoked at all, to get lung cancer. Dr. Patrick Forde, director of thoracic oncology research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says getting screened early is a must.
"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," Dr. Forde tells SurvivorNet in an earlier interview. "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."
Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
