Lung cancer: Test, talk, and take action — now!
And the fight continues: Dr. Jorge Ignacio, president of the Philippine Society of Oncologists; Dr. Cesar Recto II of MSD Philippines; Ma. Fatima Girlie Lorenzo, president, Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations; Dr. Clarito Cairo of the Philippine Cancer Prevention and Control; and mediaman Diego Castro at the “Test, Talk, and Take Action” forum on lung cancer.
Practically born under the limelight, Diego Castro lost his famous parents — media personalities Angelo Castro, Jr. and June Keithley — to cancer a year apart.
Angelo Castro, news anchor of The World Tonight, had been smoking for decades since he was young when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008. It all started as a persistent cough that wouldn’t go away. Given only a few months to live, Angelo fought for his life as he sought alternative treatments and kept as normal a life as possible. The next two years were marked by frequent trips to the hospital where he would stay for weeks up to months as his cancer progressed. In 2012, Angelo bade the world good night forever.
The following year, the feisty June Keithley lost her brave, bruising battle with breast cancer.
Being breadwinner and caregiver to his parents proved to be physically, emotionally, and financially draining for Diego — it was the toughest role he had had to tackle in all his years under the harsh klieg lights.
The former teen idol, who starred in such popular TV shows as Gimik and TGIS: Growing Up, has certainly grown up in age and wisdom. Today, having battled and lived with cancer vicariously, Diego, 41, is even stronger and tougher. Fact is, he’s taken on a new role — as an advocate of the campaign “Test, Talk and Take Action” in the continuing battle vs. lung cancer.
“It’s a movement that’s part of the ‘Hope from Within,’ an advocacy to inform patients that with proper information, education, early diagnosis and the presence of immunotherapy, there’s hope to prolong life,” Dr. Cesar Recto II, medical affairs director of MSD Philippines, tells us. “The old notion is that if you have cancer, it’s already a death sentence. But now, we’re seeing patients who’ve lived much longer. Those given two months to live have lived much longer.”
Dr. Recto cites the case of his own brother-in-law who has been on targeted therapy for a year and a half now. “His lesions have been reduced to a very small, almost invisible, size.”
Of course, the campaign is not just for lung cancer. “The advocacy is for any form of cancer,” says Dr. Recto.
It involves three basic things: Test, talk, and take action. If you suspect something or you’re at high risk (like if you smoke or you’re around people who smoke or you have a family history of cancer or you’ve been exposed to asbestos), you must get yourself tested or screened. “Specifically for lung cancer, it is important for those at high risk to get screened so that the disease can be addressed immediately,” says Dr. Ivy de Dios, oncology medical adviser of MSD Philippines.
Next step is to talk to your doctor (or a medical professional or expert) for treatment options. Finally, take action and do the appropriate treatment — take a positive and proactive approach through healthy lifestyle changes and help from support groups.
Dr. Recto stresses, “The important thing is the biopsy, to find out the biomarker present in the tumor. Depending on the result, the oncologist will now decide what’s the appropriate therapy for you.”
He quickly adds, “Of course, the best for any form of lung cancer is prevention, avoiding the risk factors like drinking, and smoking, having a healthy lifestyle — exercising, eating more vegetables, avoiding red meat.”
“Hope from Within” brings optimism to cancer patients through novel treatments such as immunotherapy. “The response rate of new medicines now is really good so that patients have hope for longer and better quality of life,” Dr. Recto points out.
We ask the good doctor: What is immunotherapy?
He replies, “It’s a new form of treatment for cancer wherein the drugs are able to help the body fight the cancer by enhancing the immune response so they’re able to unmask the cancer. Cancer cells have a way of trying to cloak themselves so that the body cannot attack them. Immunotherapy allows the body to recognize the cancer cells and kill them. Unlike chemotherapy, immunotherapy does not target normal cells, it only targets the tumor cells, that’s why the usual side effects from chemotherapy are not found in immunotherapy (like losing your hair, getting nauseous, vomiting, feeling weak).
Immunotherapy does hold a lot of promise. In many countries, immunotherapy drugs have been successfully used to treat various types of cancer. In studies all over the world, immunotherapy has been proven to add years to the lives of cancer patients — and, yes, more life to their years, too.
Not to be left behind, immunotherapy is now here in the Philippines. Pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug, has been indicated by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration as “first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)” — meaning those diagnosed with this particular type of lung malignancy may be given this immunotherapy drug from the onset and avoid having to undergo chemotherapy.
Indeed, science never ceases to amaze. We wonder what wonder drugs are coming up next!
