At 76, Lung Cancer Survivor Stays Active With Genetics-Driven Treatment

Описание: Scuba diving and underwater photography are passions for Keys resident Don Rhodes, who was first diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in 2011. When the cancer returned in 2016, his first thought was, "How is this going to affect my diving?"

See how Don's oncologist, Miami Cancer Institute's Paul Kaywin, M.D., identified a specific mutation in his cancer that can be treated with targeted therapy drugs. Learn how this advance in cancer treatment works and see how it has allowed Don to keep up his active lifestyle -- including scuba diving.

Read the article here: https://baptisthealth.net/baptist-hea...

[Transcript]

(upbeat music)
[Baptist Health logo]

[Don Rhodes, lung cancer patient]
[Don Rhodes]: I've been diving for about 40 years.

[Photos of Don in dive gear on boat and underwater]
[Underwater video and photos of tropical fish, hammerhead sharks, an eel and a sea turtle]
[Credit: videos and photos by Don Rhodes]

[Don Rhodes]: We've been to Hawaii, Mexico several times. Bimini is another place because of the sharks, and I like to do underwater photography. What I like about diving is just the wonder under water. It's the life, the beauty, the sense of peace.

[Paul Kaywin, M.D. Oncologist Miami Cancer Institute]
[Dr. Kaywin]: Don and I go back to 2011 when his lung cancer was first diagnosed. His type of lung cancer was an adenocarcinoma. He had a lobectomy, a right upper lung removal, and the intent was for cure at that time.

[Don Rhodes]: I was good for a few years, but then the fall of 2016, the CT scan showed, that actually things had gotten kinda rough.

[Dr. Kaywin]: And at that time it recurred as a stage four with fluid around the lung.

[Don Rhodes]: I was mostly thinking, "Jeez, how's this gonna affect my diving? And kinda what's next?"

[In a laboratory at Miami Cancer Institute, technicians in surgical gowns wearing gloves perform tests using genetic testing equipment]

[Dr. Kaywin]: Sophisticated genetic molecular testing, done at that time, showed that Don's cancer had a particular mutation. We now have the ability to use very specific treatments that can target those mutations.

[Don takes prescription medication pills in his kitchen]

[Dr. Kaywin]: So he started the afatinib in December 2016, and by February 2017, his scans showed a complete remission.

[Don Rhodes]: Each of theses targeted therapy drugs have a average expectancy for how long they're gonna work.

[Don puts on a bike helmet and rides his bike on a path beside a beach]

[Don Rhodes]: I don't dwell on, "Uh-oh, I'm going to die from stuff." I dwell on, "Gee, what can I do while I am still here."

[Dr. Kaywin]: In 2018, we detected on scans, some new nodules growing in the right upper lung. So the decision was made to treat him with what we call a third generation targeted therapy. The most recent scans in November, all of theses nodules have disappeared.

[Dr. Kaywin in his office looking at scans of Don's lung on his computer screen. He circles nodules on the first scan. In the second scan no nodules are visible]

[Don Rhodes]: I feel very close with Dr. Kaywin, he's been there since the beginning.

[Don puts on his motorcycle. Don rides his motorcycle through his neighborhood}

[Dr. Kaywin]: It's very, very gratifying to see how, with this type of treatment, how he's been able to benefit, and live his life, and do the things that he wants to do.

[In full scuba gear, Don adjusts his regulator then jumps off a dock into the water of an ocean inlet]

[Don Rhodes]: I still get to scuba dive. That's what keeps me going.

[Don smiles as he walks on a sandy beach with palm trees and a calm tropical ocean water behind him]

[Dr. Kaywin]: People who have stage four lung cancer, where in the past, their prognosis was six months, now can live for years, and be able to keep the cancer under control.

[end of transcript]

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