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11

The Cancer Warrior Unleashed

For Jason Smith it all started back in

2010 with a funny-looking mole. “For years I

ignored it. I went to the doctor one day and he

said let’s take a look at this.”

Following a biopsy, Jason received a call

from his doctor. “He told me I had melanoma.

I thought skin cancer was no big deal.” In the

end, it turned out to be Stage 2 melanoma. He

embarked on his first immunotherapy trial,

which had mixed results.

A runner’s nightmare

A few years later, there was a setback. The

cancer had spread to Jason’s right lung.

His first reaction was: “Why my lung? As a

runner you develop a fairly close connection to

your heart and lungs and I felt vulnerable.”

There was a flurry of appointments at the

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and then

Jason had surgery to remove part of his

lung. “It all happened very quickly, everyone

was amazing.”

The recovery from lung surgery was tough.

Jason could barely walk to the end of his

driveway. He was given breathing exercises

and he was also told to go for daily walks. “I

would walk to the neighbour’s driveway and

the next day I would go two driveways down.

Every day I started getting stronger.”

The odds are changing

In 2016, Jason embarked on his second

immunotherapy clinical trial. He now has two

small tumors in his left lung and is being treated

with a different immunotherapy drug. “Both

tumors have shrunk as of the last CT scan and

that’s amazing.” One of his tumors is 50% smaller,

the other has shrunk by 30%.

“This drug is showing my body how to beat the

cancer,” he says.

“I go to work every day, I play with my kids

every night, and I’m still running.”

This past April, Jason ran the Boston

Marathon while he was in the middle of

treatment. “It was a fairly emotional experience

for me. I was thinking what an absolute miracle

it is that we’ve got this treatment that seems to be

working and allowing me to get on with my life.”

A Drug that

shows your

Body how to

beat Cancer

Patient Story

I was thinking what an

absolute miracle it is that

we’ve got this treatment

that seems to be working

and allowing me to get

on with my life.”

Watch

Jason’s story in his own words:

www.thepmcf.ca/JasonStory