‘Fit & Healthy’ North Carolina Man, 60, Got Breathless Walking Stairs; Never Smoked But It Was Lung Cancer

An X-ray ultimately revealed concerning results, which led him to see a pulmonologist, a physician who specializes in lungs and the respiratory system, and discover he had lung cancer.

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A post shared by Thad McLaurin (@therunnerdude)

An oncologist at Cone Health that is working on McLaurin’s medical care team, Dr. Mohamed Mohamed, told the news outlet that McLaurin’s first treatment plan included chemotherapy and radiation. Dr. Mohamed then recommended additional forms of treatment as maintenance therapy.

Dr. Mohamed, who noted how the most common cause of lung cancer in non smokers is radon exposure, explained further, “Luckily our patient has EGFR mutation, which is one of the most common mutations we see in lung cancer in a non-smoker.

“And he’s taking an oral drug which is a target therapy, and it works better and with less side effects than what we would have done with chemo.”

McLaurin, who was been living with late-stage lung cancer since the the start of 2023, added, “I mean there’s always a chance of a miracle but more than likely it’ll just be something that we’ll have to manage but the goal is just to have a good quality of life.

“I still do four fitness classes with people during the week not running quite as much but I can run so I’m very lucky.”

Thad McLaurin’s Lung Cancer Diagnosis

When McLaurin was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, at age 58, he took to social media to insists he’s going to “stand up to cancer.”

He wrote alongside a selfie shared on Instagram, “Having been fit and healthy most of my life, and never smoked or vaped, learning I have stage 4 lung cancer was a bit of a gut punch.

“Over the past couple of months, I’ve learned the power of a strong supportive wife and family, the power of prayer and positive thinking, the power of amazing support from the Greensboro running community, and the power of modern medicine and a great oncology team at the Cancer Center at Wesley Long.”

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A post shared by Thad McLaurin (@therunnerdude)

He continued, “With all this support, I’m prepared for this fight. My targeted treatment is already making a difference. I have grandkids to see grow up into amazing individuals. I have grandkids yet to come! I have another daughter to walk down the aisle. I have many more family beach trips to make. More pancakes and pound cakes to make. Many more runners to get across the finish line. And so much more.

“I encourage you all to get regular physicals and to be persistent if something just doesn’t seem right with your health. My lung cancer was discovered during an X-ray to see if I had pneumonia.”

McLaurin concluded, “Don’t know what lies ahead, but I know I’m ready. Thanks to all the support from so many. Trust. Believe. CONQUER! Love you all.”

Meanwhile, McLaurin turned 60 earlier this month and he’s feeling “so blessed” amid the abundance of well wishes and support from his loved ones and friends.

He wrote in a Feb. 3 post “In 3 days, it will be 2 years since my stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis. Initially, I didn’t know if I’d be here for this milestone.

“But, here I am still kicking lung cancer’s butt with the support of so many! Thank you!”

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A post shared by Thad McLaurin (@therunnerdude)

Understanding Lung Cancer

Lung cancer forms when cancer cells develop in the tissues of the lung. It is the second most common form of cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the U.S., SurvivorNet experts say. It’s “completely asymptomatic,” thoracic surgeon-in-chief at Temple University Health System Dr. Joseph Friedberg, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.

“It causes no issues until it has spread somewhere. So, if it spreads to the bones, it may cause pain. If it spreads to the brain, it may cause something not subtle, like a seizure,” Dr. Friedberg adds.

WATCH: Detecting lung cancer in the absence of symptoms.

Scans such as X-rays can help doctors determine if a shadow appears, which can prompt further testing for lung cancer.

Lung cancer often doesn’t cause symptoms until it has already spread outside the lungs, according to SurvivorNet’s experts.

There are two main types of lung cancer, which doctors group together based on how they act and how they’re treated:

• Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type and makes up about 85% of cases.
• Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is less common, but it tends to grow faster than NSCLC and is treated very differently.

The EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) is a protein in cells that helps them grow. If there’s a mistake in the gene for EGFR, it can make it grow too much, leading to cancer.

Metastatic cancer means that the disease has spread to distant parts of the body. We understand this diagnosis can be really intimidating, but treatment options are ever-evolving.

Some people with lung cancer may experience symptoms such as:

• A cough that doesn’t go away, that gets worse, or that brings up bloody phlegm
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Chest pain
• Hoarse voice
• Appetite loss
• Weight loss

If you are experiencing these kinds of symptoms consistently, contact your doctor for further tests.

Understanding DNA mutations: What does EGFR mean?

DNA is the genetic code of your cell, or the blueprint. Everything your cells make to keep them alive and functioning is all stored in the DNA. Normally, there are checkpoints and safeguards in your cells that identify changes in the DNA in order to correct them. This can be through either fixing the DNA change or mutation itself, or killing the cell if the DNA change or damage is too difficult to fix.

When enough of certain parts of the DNA are mutated and not fixed by your cells’ protective mechanisms, this can result in unregulated growth and division of the cells which can result in cancer.

There are some drugs available that can target these specific DNA mutations — or medications that doctors know are very effective against these changes. Just as cancers that arise in various parts of the body are different, common DNA mutations that cause these cancers can also be different, resulting in different medications to target these DNA mutations.

The following are the most common mutations that have FDA-approved targeted treatment options already:

• EGFR
• ALK
• ROS1
• BRAF
• KRAS
• MET
• HER2
• RET
• NTRK

The EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) is a protein in cells that helps them grow. If there’s a mistake in the gene for EGFR, it can make it grow too much, leading to cancer.

EGFR is like a switch on the cell that when activated tells the cell to grow. When EGFR mutates it is constantly turned on, which means the cell grows too much. This can result in cancer growth.

What is Molecular Testing and Next-Generation Sequencing?

If your lung cancer has a mutation in EGFR, it is called an EGFR-mutated lung cancer or EGFR-positive lung cancer, which is a specific subtype. This can affect treatment options and also tells us how the cancer typically behaves.

There are several types of EGFR mutations and they do tend to be more common in specific subsets of patients.

Smoking and Lung Cancer Risk

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for men and women in the United States. Nonsmokers still get lung cancer, but cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for the disease. Tobacco smoke contains a mixture of more than 7,000 different chemicals, at least 70 of which are known to cause cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.

The CDC says cigarette smoking is linked to about 80 to 90 percent of lung cancer deaths, and people who smoke cigarettes are 15 to 30 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from lung cancer than people who don’t smoke. Additionally, second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer.

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

Smoking is, of course, the primary cause of lung cancer, but nonsmokers, like That McLaurin, can and do develop this disease.

Researchers have made progress in understanding the differences between lung cancer in smokers versus nonsmokers, says Dr. Ronald Natale, a medical oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and they’re developing targeted treatments that will be able to address the genetic drivers of lung cancer in nonsmokers.

“Among patients who are nonsmokers, or former very light smokers, we identify a mutation that we can target with pills in about 60% to 70% of them. That leaves 30% or so, 40%, in whom we either have a target for which we do not have successful treatment,” Dr. Ronald Natale, a medical oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet.

“Among patients who are smokers, who have more complex cancers that have hundreds, sometimes thousands of mutations, don’t have a driver mutation that we can give a pill for, which is only a tiny percentage of lifelong smokers. Chemotherapy is the primary treatment in most patients,” Dr. Natale explains further.

Understanding the treatment options for lung cancer

Navigating Clinical Trials

Clinical trials can be an option for people with cancer at many points during the treatment process. Your doctor may have spoken with you about possibly enrolling in a trial if you have advanced disease or if there’s a drug that’s currently considered investigational that may work better than the standard for you.

Clinical Trials Give Hope

A lot of patients may feel uncomfortable about the thought of participating in a trial, but the trials can provide amazing opportunities for patients. For one thing, they give patients access to a bevy of new drugs that are currently being developed by pharmaceutical companies.

Things to Consider

In the U.S., all new drugs have to go through clinical trials before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve them. In addition to being potentially live-saving for patients, these trials are also necessary to advance science and cancer treatments.

However, participating in a trial comes with risks as well, and it’s important to talk to your doctor about this before getting involved in one. Some risks to consider are:

• The risk of harm and/or side effects due to experimental treatments
• Researchers may be unaware of some potential side effects for experimental treatments
• The treatment may not work for you, even if it has worked for others

Still, joining a clinical trial comes with benefits as well. You will be given access to treatments that could be life-saving, but simply haven’t made it through the approval process yet.

If you’re looking for a clinical trial, SurvivorNet can help. Check out SurvivorNet’s Clinical Trial Finder.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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