An Ipswich grandmother diagnosed with lung cancer has defied the odds through clinical trials at Mater Hospital.
Jan Mundt, of Flinders View, has now survived another six years after being first diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2018.
It came after Mrs Mundt went to her GP with chest pain and an X-ray later revealed a 6.5cm tumour on her lung.
Following a biopsy at Ipswich General Hospital, she was referred to an expert panel at Mater Hospital Brisbane, consisting of Mater oncologists and cancer researchers.
She was entered into the clinical trial of a new treatment which combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
Over 15 months, the pioneering treatment halted the tumour’s growth and shrunk it to 5cms.
Ipswich grandmother Jan Mundt said that while she is not cancer-free, the treatment has given her precious time with her family.
“I received the devastating cancer diagnosis, when my first grandchild Charlie was three months old ,” she said.
“I wanted to be around to see him go to school and set myself a goal that I’d be around for that.
He started prep last year, and I proudly held his hand and walked him through the school gates on his first day”, she said.
Mrs Mundt recently entered into a second immunotherapy trial, which is training her immune system to recognise and seek out cancer cells.
“I’m doing well and am so grateful for every day I get to spend with my family.
I now have a second grandson, Thomas, and I am looking forward to being there when he starts school too,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr Vikram Jain, Director of Medical Oncology at the Mater Cancer Care Centre, said the treatment was the first in Australia to combine immunotherapy and chemotherapy for lung cancer and has since become a standard option for treatment of the disease.
“Lung cancer treatment has come a long way in the last six years – and much of that is down to the success of clinical trials and the participation of patients like Jan,” Dr Jain added.
“The clinical trials are essential to cancer care and give clinicians the ability to treat patients with some of the newest and most innovative cancer treatments.
“The increased cancer survival rates we see today are because of access to trials, and from successful trials becoming the standard of care,” Dr Jain said.
Lung cancer is Australia’s biggest cancer killer, claiming an estimated 8690 lives each year.
The disease has the lowest five-year survival rate of any cancer at just 24 per cent.
