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17

The Cancer Warrior Unleashed

Patient Story

Tish Vigna knew something was very wrong.

While out on a run with her dog, she had chest

pains. She struggled to get home. When she did,

she called an ambulance.

In hospital, staff checked to see if a heart attack

was to blame. Instead, they found a mass on Vigna’s

left lung. Within days, Vigna, a non-smoker, learned

she had Stage 3 lung cancer.

“It was surreal,” says Vigna, recalling the

diagnosis she received at Princess Margaret Cancer

Centre in March 2013.

NEW OPTIONS FOR PATIENTS

Vigna underwent six weeks of chemotherapy

and radiation and after that, surgery – yet her

cancer endured.

More chemotherapy and radiation followed. A

follow-up appointment in January found the cancer

had spread to her right lung, in three locations.

Surgery wasn’t an option. But her doctor hoped

to get Vigna into an international immunotherapy

clinical trial. She ended up being among a handful

Immunotherapy

Offers Hope

Within three

months, the three

tumors had been

reduced by 50

percent.”

of Princess Margaret patients who were admitted.

Vigna was then put on a drug designed

to stimulate an immune response.

‘HOPE FOR EVERYBODY’

“Within three months, the three tumors had

been reduced by 50% in size,” says Vigna. And

those tumors haven’t grown any bigger in the 2½

years that have passed since then.

For Vigna, immunotherapy treatments will

continue for the foreseeable future. That’s okay

with her. She and her family are simply grateful

she could participate in the trial.

Her experience so far with immunotherapy

has left her optimistic about what the future of

cancer treatment holds for patients like her. “We

are going somewhere in science … and there’s

hope for everybody out there,” she says.

She’s also optimistic about her own future.

“I am extremely confident about what the future

holds for myself and others!” Vigna says.

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