Jennifer Mathews: Story time is valuable time for Marcie and Nicholas. Marcie has stage four lung cancer.
Marcie Whitcomb-Fuentealba: I thought lung cancer, you know, I thought how could that be? I've been a non-smoker my whole life.
Jennifer Mathews: Her first dose of chemotherapy didn't work. More chemo and radiation followed, but her cancer didn't go away.
Marcie Whitcomb-Fuentealba: Do you want to hear words of encouragement and hope, you just long for something.
Jennifer Mathews: Those words of hope came when she met Dr. Karen Kelly who introduced her to a promising drug called ZD-1839.
Karen Kelly: This drug, ZD-1839, specifically targets a specific protein on a cancer cell.
Jennifer Mathews: By going after that protein, the drug stops the cancer from growing. Studies show as many as 20% of patients taking the drug actually had their tumors shrink by 50% or more. Another 35% had symptoms relieved.
Karen Kelly: It really provides them with a chance to have prolonged survival with a high quality of life. It's not a magic bullet, but it really has helped a lot of patients with lung cancer.
Jennifer Mathews: Marcie takes the drug every day.
Marcie Whitcomb-Fuentealba: This drug has given me renewed life and renewed hope and renewed faith. I live now with a love of life and enjoy every day and just try not to take any day for granted.
Jennifer Mathews: With more energy and more strength, she is able to live life with Nicholas to the fullest.
This is Jennifer Mathews reporting.
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