Lung Cancer Survivor Urges Others to Participate in Research, Says it ‘Will Make a Difference in the Future’ of Others

Video

A breast cancer research nurse and lung cancer survivor stresses the importance of participating in clinical trials that are investigating the latest treatments.

When Alesha Arnold was diagnosed with lung cancer, she says she felt “completely blindsided,” but then turned those feelings into advocacy through sharing her story and encouraging others to participate in cancer research.

Arnold, who was honored for her contributions to the community at CURE®’s third annual Lung Cancer Heroes® awards ceremony, is a breast cancer research nurse, who has witnessed how the latest trials and studies have improved the world of cancer care.

“The things that we are doing today will make a difference in the future of people tomorrow,” Arnold said in an interview with CURE®. “We have things like immunotherapies and targeted therapies and all kinds of new advanced treatments, which have come forth through research.”

Transcript

When I was diagnosed, I completely felt like I was blindsided, because I was a relatively healthy person lived a healthy lifestyle, and then you get this diagnosis that you have advanced-stage lung cancer, it kind of changes your whole perception on your life and the life of others.

So what I wanted to do at that time, is give back and share my story with others so that maybe other people can get help they need earlier in their journey, be able to find answers, as well as encourage people to be involved with research, because research matters and it makes a difference.

The things that we are doing today will make a difference in the future of people tomorrow. We have things like immunotherapies and targeted therapies and all kinds of new advanced treatment, which have forth through research. So it's important that we stress that people participate and be a part of that research, and just to make a difference in the future.

Lung Cancer Hero® Alesha Arnold passed away on Feb. 5, 2023, leaving behind a legacy of advocacy, education and awareness in the cancer community.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.

Related Videos
For patients with cancer, the ongoing chemotherapy shortage may cause some anxiety as they wonder how they will receive their drugs. However, measuring drugs “down to the minutiae of the milligrams” helped patients receive the drugs they needed, said Alison Tray. Tray is an advanced oncology certified nurse practitioner and current vice president of ambulatory operations at Rutgers Cancer Institute in New Jersey. If patients are concerned about getting their cancer drugs, Tray noted that having “an open conversation” between patients and providers is key. “As a provider and a nurse myself, having that conversation, that reassurance and sharing the information is a two-way conversation,” she said. “So just knowing that we're taking care of you, we're going to make sure that you receive the care that you need is the key takeaway.” In June 2023, many patients were unable to receive certain chemotherapy drugs, such as carboplatin and cisplatin because of an ongoing shortage. By October 2023, experts saw an improvement, although the “ongoing crisis” remained. READ MORE: Patients With Lung Cancer Face Unmet Needs During Drug Shortages “We’re really proud of the work that we could do and achieve that through a critical drug shortage,” Tray said. “None of our patients missed a dose of chemotherapy and we were able to provide that for them.” Tray sat down with CURE® during the 49th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Annual Congress to discuss the ongoing chemo shortage and how patients and care teams approached these challenges. Transcript: Particularly at Hartford HealthCare, when we established this infrastructure, our goal was to make sure that every patient would get the treatment that they need and require, utilizing the data that we have from ASCO guidelines to ensure that we're getting the optimal high-quality standard of care in a timely fashion that we didn't have to delay therapies. So, we were able to do that by going down to the minutiae of the milligrams on hand, particularly when we had a lot of critical drug shortages. So it was really creating that process to really ensure that every patient would get the treatment that they needed. For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.
Related Content
Image of a syringe in a vial.

Oncolytic Virus to Be Studied in Advanced Lung Cancer

May 2nd 2024
Article

The oncolytic virus, MEM-288 will be studied in combination with Opdivo for patients with non-small cell lung cancer that progressed on standard therapy.

Read More

CURE Cancer Horizons logo

FDA Approvals from February 2024

February 26th 2024
Podcast

February brought in multiple FDA approvals in the oncology space. Here’s an overview of some of the most recent ones.

Listen

Image of tumors located in the right lung.

Tecentriq, Cabometyx May Not Improve Survival Over Chemo in NSCLC

April 23rd 2024
Article

Tecentriq plus Cabometyx conferred no overall survival benefit when compared with chemotherapy, a study showed.

Read More

Guidelines for Childhood Neuroblastoma, FDA Decisions and More

Guidelines for Childhood Neuroblastoma, FDA Decisions and More

February 12th 2024
Podcast

Last week, we saw a few moving parts in the regulatory space, from new NCCN guidelines for pediatric neuroblastoma treatment to FDA Fast Tracks and Priority Reviews

Listen

Image of lung cancer in both lungs.

Corner Room in a Pueblo, Colorado Cancer Hospital

April 18th 2024
Article

I wrote this heart-felt poem after watching my father pass away from stage 4 lung cancer.

Read More

Illustration of a woman with a short bob with glasses.

The Role of Nutrition in Cancer Outcomes

April 12th 2024
Article

I've found that nutrition and healthy foods play an important role during cancer.

Read More