Managing Emotional and Physical Side Effects of Lung Cancer Treatment

Brittney Nichols, registered nurse and senior science/research specialist at GO2 for Lung Cancer, sat down for an interview with CURE to discuss the topic of emotional and physical side effects of lung cancer treatment, as well as share her advice with newly diagnosed patients who may be feeling overwhelmed or isolated.

Notably, Nichols sat down for a prior interview on the topic of early detection and misconceptions in lung cancer. Read it here!

CURE: For those who may not be familiar, what is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding lung cancer that you believe need to be addressed?

Nichols: There's this pervasive sense of nihilism that surrounds lung cancer, sometimes where it's almost as if people view this diagnosis as a death sentence. And I want people to know that there's hope. Things have come so far in the last 20 years. We're now diagnosing lung cancer at much earlier stages. Surgical technology has advanced very far, and so we're able to do lung-sparing surgery to remove the core parts where that cancer is, while preserving as much lung function as we can.

Treatments alone have come so much further too, so that people are living longer and with fewer side effects. Now we see people living and not just living but thriving for years while on active treatment for lung cancer.

A common concern patients raise is how to cope with the emotional and physical side effects of treatment. What advice or support systems does The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer provide?

We have a wide array. I'm really going to focus in, first on our Patient Support Services team, just because they're kind of the heart of that organization. One of our big things is our helpline, and people can call or email that to connect with our helpline navigators. They are very kind, very empathetic and they're there to offer information and answer questions, all the way from, "You know, I was just diagnosed with lung cancer, and I don't know what to do." That's one of the more common ones that we get. But sometimes it's, "I want to get screened, but I don't know where to go." Sometimes it's looking for local resources and financial support that might be available in the community, and sometimes it is talking about side effects and different ways that we know we can deal with those. So our helpline professionals are really good at looking through the information and the evidence and helping to provide people with some of those data points to really help them live better lives.

We also have our phone buddy program, and that's really good for people who need peer-to-peer support, because honestly, sometimes there's nothing better than talking to someone who's been in your shoes before, and can kind of tell you a little bit about what to expect, at least from their experience. And we offer that not just for people who are diagnosed with lung cancer, but also for caregivers as well, because we know that a diagnosis of lung cancer doesn't just impact that individual; it impacts their support network, their family unit, and those individuals also need support and unique services as well.

And then one of the newer programs that's come out of our Patient Support Services team is called our Mind Over Matter class. And this is a five-week, free virtual class. It's really for people who are struggling a lot with the anxiety and fear that can come with a cancer diagnosis, and this is to help them learn some different tips and strategies on how to manage those feelings and kind of cope in a positive way. I think those are really good at dealing with some of those difficult, emotional, and sometimes physical aspects.

One other service I want to highlight, because it comes from the Science and Research team where I'm located, is our LungMATCH program. And that's for people who may have a bit more of a scientific-focus question. Maybe they want to know what their different treatment options are based on some of the newest science released, or maybe they're curious about clinical trials, but aren't sure where to start, or even what they might qualify for.

On our LungMATCH team, you can actually connect one-to-one with a trained navigator. You can share a little bit about your unique diagnosis and your situation, and the navigators will really look through the evidence, look at the guidelines and help to provide information about treatments and trials that they should discuss with their health care team to learn more and maybe explore their options a bit better.

What message of hope or advice would you give to patients who are newly diagnosed with cancer and feeling overwhelmed or isolated?

I know so many people describe how overwhelming and isolating a diagnosis of cancer is, and so what I think I really want people to know is that no matter how it feels, you are not alone. And there is hope. There's a whole community out there who wants to support you, help you and provide any information and resources that we can to help you live your best life, even with a diagnosis of cancer.

Again, do not lose hope. It can be very scary, but if you just think about the amazing advances we've seen in the last decade and a half, with medicine that's highly personalized, and medications that can revamp a person's entire immune system. The rate of all of these discoveries is accelerating, and not just from a scientific standpoint, but we're really interested now in making sure that people aren't just living long lives, but they're living happy and healthy lives. So again, it's a really scary place to be in, but you're not alone and there's hope at the end of that tunnel.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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