A 44-year-old mom felt out of breath while talking. It turns out she had stage 4 lung cancer, despite never smoking. - Yahoo

What the report says

Business Insider reported on the case of Summer Farmen, a Pennsylvania mother of three who began experiencing fatigue, a persistent cough and shortness of breath in early 2020. Farmen, then 44, said she had never smoked and considered herself health-conscious, but within weeks she was struggling to speak without coughing. After initial treatments did not resolve her symptoms, she went to an emergency room, where doctors removed about 2 liters of fluid from around her lungs.

Farmen was later diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer linked to an ALK-positive gene abnormality, a rare subtype that can occur in people without traditional lung cancer risk factors. According to the article, the diagnosis was initially frightening because doctors had considered the possibility that cancer had spread from another organ, which would have sharply limited treatment options. ALK-positive lung cancer can respond to targeted therapies, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which are designed to interfere with signals that help cancer cells grow.

Now 50 and more than six years past her diagnosis, Farmen remains in treatment and undergoes regular scans, Business Insider reported. She described both the physical side effects and the emotional strain of living with advanced cancer, including fears about missing milestones in her children’s lives.

The article also highlighted Farmen’s advocacy work with ALK Positive Inc., a nonprofit that supports patients, shares clinical trial information and funds research. She is now the organization’s vice president and contributed to a study in the journal Lung Cancer on how patients and caregivers weigh treatment benefits against side effects. The case underscores that lung cancer can affect never-smokers and that molecular testing can be important in guiding care.