Updated March 30th, 2022

‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ Singer B.J. Thomas, 78, Dies From Stage 4 Lung Cancer; What You Need to Know About This Disease

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B.J. Thomas's Legacy

Grammy-winning artist BJ Thomas has died from lung cancer at age 78.
Thomas announced in March that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and was receiving treatment.
Lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell) is the second most common cancer in both men and women (not counting skin cancer), according to the American Cancer Society.

Grammy-winning American singer B.J. Thomas died at his home in Arlington, Texas at age 78. He announced in March that he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

The 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.

Other big hits included Hooked on a Feeling and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry. A five-time Grammy award winner and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, Thomas sold more than 70 million albums worldwide, scoring eight No. 1 hits and 26 Top 10 singles over his 50+ years in the music industry.

RELATED: Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head Singer BJ Thomas Announces He Has Lung Cancer

Thomas’ publicist Jeremy Westby shared the following statement with SurvivorNet: “A quote from his website exemplifies Thomas's humble attitude and appreciation for life. "All I am is just another guy. I've been very lucky," he shared. "I've had a wonderful life, I've been a husband and a father who cherishes his children and now I'm a grandfather, and I'm motivated like all these teachers and preachers and mothers and fathers to help my kids grow up with character and self-respect. I hope that doesn't sound too grandiose, but that's what it comes down to. It's what I've tried to do with my music and with the majority of my life."

Thomas’s publicist released a statement from Thomas about his illness in March:

“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."

Treatment for Stage 4 Lung Cancer

Lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell) is the second most common cancer in both men and women (not counting skin cancer), according to the American Cancer Society. While we don’t know the specifics of Thomas’ lung cancer diagnosis or 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."

What Happens When You’ve Been Newly Diagnosed With Lung Cancer

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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