This Doctor Was Diagnosed With The Same Cancer He Spent His Life Studying
Among Asian Americans, lung cancer rates have been rising in the past several decades with no smoking history.
Dr. Bryant Lin, a physician and professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has spent much of his career studying this strange and concerning phenomenon.
Six years ago, he founded Stanford’s Center for Asian Health Research and Education to gain a better understanding of the medical issue. However, in early May 2024, he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer after never having smoked before.
“I never would’ve thought that I would have this cancer or become the poster child for my center working on this cancer,” Lin said.
This past spring, Lin began to experience a cough that just wouldn’t go away. Initially, he thought it was allergies and tried a series of inhalers and other treatments, but his symptoms persisted. Eventually, he reached out to a colleague, who ordered a chest X-ray for him.
The scans showed opacity in the lungs, along with an abnormal buildup of fluid. Further tests were conducted, and a sample of Lin’s lung tissue was extracted for laboratory analysis.
Within a week, he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. It had already spread to parts of his skin, bones, liver, and brain.
Lin was able to begin treatment about eight weeks after his cough started, which is much sooner than most patients.
Overall, lung cancer patients don’t start treatment for an average of 138 days after their first symptoms appear.
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The form of disease that Lin has is sometimes referred to as “never-smoker” lung cancer. It is the form that someone who does not use cigarettes is most likely to develop. Never-smoker lung cancer disproportionately affects Asian Americans.
Lin’s lung cancer is driven by a mutation that can happen when a protein on the surface of some cells, known as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), starts dividing uncontrollably.
“About 50 percent of nonsmoker Asians [with lung cancer] have this mutation, and less than 20 percent of non-Hispanic whites have it,” Lin said. “We don’t really know why Asians get this mutation more than other groups.”
Cancer can become more aggressive due to EGFR mutations. It is often the only mutation in never-smoker lung cancer. Since it is harder to tell apart from noncancerous cells and tissues, the mutation can make the disease more of a challenge to treat.
On the bright side, the mutation makes Lin a candidate for targeted therapy. He takes a new pill every day that attacks the mutated cells.
It is called osimertinib and leads to fewer side effects because of its precision. Every three weeks, Lin has to undergo chemotherapy, which does have major side effects.
His experience as a cancer patient inspired the new course he is now teaching at Stanford called MED 275: From Diagnosis to Dialogue: A Doctor’s Real-Time Battle With Cancer.
The course is open to students from all backgrounds and encourages reflection on how cancer impacts those fighting it.
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