Rybrevant injections may help Stage 4 lung cancer patients extend their lives

Stage 4 lung cancer used to be a death sentence. Today the survival rate has been steadily on the rise since the 1990s. Now a new targeted treatment that's helping extend the lives of some lung cancer patients is making living with cancer much easier.

Looking at her scans, 41-year-old Heather Suchan of Burbank has come a long way from spring 2024 when a pet scan showed lung cancer had spread to her liver, her bones and her brain. It was Stage 4.

"I want my kids to have a mom. And we had a big cry that day in our kitchen," she said.

If it weren't for a persistent cough, Suchan never would have gone to the doctor. The crazy thing for her was that she had never smoked and wasn't around smokers.

"I feel like people really assume that it's lifestyle-based and it's so not," Suchan said.

"We're seeing a large number of lung cancer patients here in Southern California that are not smoking related," said City of Hope oncologist Dr. Ravi Salgia.

Up to half of people diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer haven't smoked. A majority of people with Suchan's cancer also have an EGFR-mutation. She was diagnosed just as a new targeted treatment called Rybrevant went on the market.

"For this type of therapy that Heather has, it was IV therapy that we had to give," he said.

Suchan still needed chemotherapy and radiation, but Salgia credits Rybrevant for shrinking her tumors 60 to 70%. It specifically targets her cancer cells and revs up the immune system. For a year and a half, Heather underwent a 6-to-7 hour infusion of Rybrevant, now she can get the same result with a single injection.

"The shot that takes five minutes will be just as effective and it saves me time. That's a really a big win," said Suchan.

Salgia said the hope is to turn cancer into something more like a chronic condition that can be managed.

"So can we control the cancer and make it a chronic disease? I think that's a great goal," said Salgia.

Until there's a cure for this type of lung cancer, this once a month injection will be Suchan's normal This drug became available right when she needed it and she wants others with Stage 4 disease not to lose hope

"Research is so important and although this is keeping me well and I am so happy about that, we've got to keep going with the research," she said.