Clinical trial for lung cancer gives UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial patient her ‘best life’ back

A nurse for 42 years, Brenda Porter knew something was off with her health. She developed a nagging cough after her father’s funeral, and she had been losing weight. 

After a lung X-ray came back clear, Porter’s primary care doctor attributed her physical state to grief. Porter had recently lost her husband of 25 years and her father within a two-month period. 

Porter was doubtful but accepted the diagnosis — until she woke up during a girls’ trip to Detroit a month later writhing in pain and unable to walk. A CT scan at a nearby emergency department showed a mass in her hip and her lung. It was likely cancer, doctors told her.

A woman of deep faith, Porter asked for a Bible. It fell open to John 11:4.

Once back at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey under the care of UChicago Medicine Medical Group Oncologist James Wallace, MD*, those masses got a name: stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. Not only did Porter have advanced lung cancer, but she has an EGFR mutation that’s often seen in nonsmokers. 

She pulled out her Bible before meeting with Wallace about her treatment options. Again, it fell open to John 11:4. “I went in there and I told him, ‘You know I'm going to be your poster child, right?’”

And there was good news: Porter’s markers qualified her for a clinical trial.

Clinical trials at Ingalls Memorial

Porter is part of a nationwide clinical trial that combines the best-known lung cancer treatment, osimerinib, with a second proven cancer medication, bevacizumab. The goal is to determine whether the two medications combined can deliver even better outcomes for patients.

She enrolled in the trial in February 2023, which involves a pill a day and an infusion every three weeks.

“There are many benefits to participating in the trial, but it's still a leap of faith because we don't have proof that the additional medicine is working,” said Wallace, a geriatric oncologist with UChicago Medicine Medical Group. “The science behind it is really strong.”

True to her word, the 66-year-old mother of five and grandmother of 11 has become a poster child for Ingalls Memorial cancer care and UChicago Medicine clinical trials. The tumor in her hip started at 3.8 cm and has shrunk to half its size, with no new measurable areas of cancer. Her cancer is now under control, he said.

“What has remained remarkable for Brenda, in the face of fighting such a tough cancer, is her resilience while maintaining a wonderful quality of life filled with extensive traveling. Given the depth of response she is having, we hope this is the beginning of a new combination that will help future generations facing lung cancer,” Wallace said.

Ingalls Memorial offers community-based comprehensive cancer care approach that allows patients to get treatment close to home, family and friends, said Wallace, who runs geriatric oncology clinics in Calumet City, Flossmoor and Tinley Park. Ingalls also offers a free integrative wellness program that allows patients to explore natural options on top of traditional medicine and science.

Another major benefit for Ingalls patients: They have access to all the clinical trials and expertise on UChicago Medicine’s Hyde Park campus.

Wallace is especially proud of the work at Ingalls to enroll Black patients in clinical trials. On a national level, Black patients’ enrollment in clinical trials is about 4%; Ingalls’ average is about 45%, he said. 

“We've really worked hard to establish trust and caring,” Wallace said.

‘Living my best life’

Cancer hasn’t changed Porter’s optimistic nature or slowed her busy schedule.

“I am living my best life,” she said.

The Homewood, Illinois, resident, visits the sick through her church’s ministry, attends church twice weekly, tends to the huge garden her husband started and enjoys walking, traveling, fishing and spending time with her grandchildren. She’s also cares for her 93-year-old mother. 

She has even spoken to clinical trial researchers, urging them to keep going with their important work. “Please, when you get weary, think about me,” Porter told them. “I am your living proof of a job well done.”

Porter believes in the advancements being made through clinical trials and what she calls “exceptional care” at Ingalls, where she once worked. 

“I've seen so many people recover and I've seen so many people have good outcomes,” Porter said. “I'm just hopeful that I'm one of those, that this is going to work for me. I have too much life to live.”

* Dr. Wallace is a UChicago Medicine Medical Group provider. UChicago Medicine Medical Group is comprised of UCM Care Network Medical Group, Inc. and Primary Healthcare Associates, S.C. UChicago Medicine Medical Group providers are not employees or agents of The University of Chicago Medical Center, UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, The University of Chicago, UChicago Medicine at Ingalls — Calumet City, UChicago Medicine Cottage Grove, UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial, UChicago Medicine Medical Group — Homewood.