How funds for new treatment, love and support saved lung cancer patient who lost hope
- Hong Kong delivery driver who went to hospital with persistent cough, chest pain and fatigue diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer
- Hong Kong Adventist Hospital Foundation’s Cancer Fund and doctors cover HK$50,000-a-month cost of medication
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men, and the third most common in women, after breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
A total of 4,936 new diagnoses were reported in Hong Kong in 2016 – accounting for 15.7 per cent of all new cancer cases, according to the Hong Kong Cancer Registry.
Advanced genetic testing and medicine has brought about targeted therapy, whereby the special genetic make-up of cancer cells can be more precisely identified and targeted with tailor-made drugs to get rid of them.
However, such genetic changes in cancers are complex and a single targeted drug can only destroy a subpopulation of cancer cells. Other cancer cells, with different genetic make-ups, will continue to grow despite continued treatment, leading to drug resistance.
