This episode aims to challenge the misconception that only a certain type of person gets lung cancer.
Spike Elliott was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and a secondary brain tumour on Christmas Eve 2018. He was 49 and a non-smoker. He enjoyed daily gym workouts and ran 5ks for fun! So, when Spike started to experience fatigue and shoulder pain, lung cancer was not even a consideration. As a result, he saw his GP on three occasions before finally being referred for a brain scan on 19th December.
Spike then endured further 3-month delay whilst he waited for genetic testing. He was told he had 6-12 months to live – although the data did not take into account ethnicity. However, when Spike finally received the results from his biopsy, he had the ALK+ mutation and a whole new line of treatments opened up.
