A mom felt out of breath while talking. It turns out she had stage 4 lung cancer, despite never smoking. - Business Insider

What the report says

Business Insider reported on Summer Farmen, a Pennsylvania mother of three who began experiencing fatigue, a lingering cough and shortness of breath in early 2020. Farmen, then 44, had never smoked and initially did not suspect cancer. As her breathing worsened, routine activities and even conversations became difficult, and treatments for possible infections or other respiratory causes did not resolve her symptoms.

According to Business Insider, Farmen went to an emergency room struggling to breathe, where doctors removed about 2 liters of fluid from around her lungs. She was later diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer linked to an ALK-positive genetic abnormality, a subtype that can occur in people without traditional smoking-related risk factors. The article says physicians initially worried the cancer might have originated elsewhere, but the lung cancer diagnosis opened the door to targeted treatment.

Farmen’s care included tyrosine kinase inhibitors, medicines designed to interfere with signals that help cancer cells grow. Business Insider reported that, more than six years after her diagnosis, Farmen is 50 and remains in treatment and monitoring, with scans every three months. She described the experience as physically and emotionally difficult, even as treatment has allowed her to continue family life.

The story also highlights Farmen’s advocacy through ALK Positive Inc., a nonprofit that supports patients, shares clinical trial information and funds research. Farmen is now the group’s vice president and contributed to a study in the journal Lung Cancer on patient and caregiver preferences in treatment decisions. The case underscores that lung cancer can affect never-smokers and that molecular testing can be important in identifying targeted therapy options.