Patty Mastandrea has kept a secret for the past four years.
In quiet, she went through three rounds of chemotherapy. She had part of her right lung removed after a cancerous mass was found. A nonsmoker, the revelation was stunning, but one she kept hidden away.
She didn’t miss much work. She didn’t want to be seen differently.
“I didn’t let it define me, and I turned it into the courage to fight,” she said.
On Saturday, that courage will be on display during a Lung Cancer Awareness Walk with WVU Medicine at Founders Park in Hempfield. Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the United States, and it is the leading cause of cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.
Mastandrea is among a growing number of nonsmokers who have been diagnosed with lung cancer — an estimated 10-20%, according to National Cancer Institute research. Lung cancer in nonsmokers occurs more often in women, and women of Asian descent have a higher risk, according to the Cancer Research Institute.
Lung cancer in nonsmokers can be driven by environmental factors, such as exposure to radon, secondhand smoke or air pollution. It can also be the result of genetic mutations, as in Mastandrea’s case.
Warning signs typically happen when the cancer is already at an advanced stage, said WVU Medicine thoracic surgeon Dr. Michael Szwerc. They can include shortness of breath, weight loss, chest pain and a cough.
One day in May 2022, Mastandrea felt a little under the weather while at work at MedCare Equipment Company in Hempfield. She was winded and her voice was getting weak.
Days later, she tested positive for covid and, after continuing to get worse, eventually went to what was then Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital. A chest X-ray revealed the mass.
“ ‘Are you sure you have my chart?’ ” Mastandrea, now 65, remembered asking the doctor. She said she has always eaten healthy, stayed active and kept up with regular blood work, so the ensuing cancer diagnosis was a shock. But it was one she wouldn’t have gotten if there wasn’t a positive test for covid.
“When I tell you covid saved my life — covid saved my life,” she said.
Lung cancer in nonsmokers is something Szwerc said he has been seeing more frequently.
“This year alone, I’ve operated on three individuals with the same gene mutation for nonsmoking,” he said, adding that they were all women.
Mastandrea quickly got set up with her care team, including Szwerc at what is now WVU Medicine Latrobe Hospital, and peppered them with a laundry list of questions. At home, she started what she called “Patty’s Walk” — a daily 4-mile ritual around 1 acre at her Bell Township property that gave her time to process what was happening.
She had three rounds of chemotherapy over the summer in 2022 and surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung in September that year. Today, she gets regular scans and is on a daily treatment, Tagrisso, that targets the EGFR genetic mutation.
“I wanted to get the courage to be an example,” she said.
Mastandrea balances that with being chief executive officer at MedCare, a position she took over in late 2019. She said most employees there are unaware of what she’s been through the past four years.
Annual lung cancer screenings are recommended for people between 50 and 80 years old who have a history of smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While there isn’t such a recommendation for nonsmokers, Szwerc said he hopes that may change in the future as research progresses on the causes of lung cancer not related to smoking.
“I think this story will continue to unfold,” he said.
Regular screenings are important to catch it early, Szwerc said, because lung cancer is often in an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. There are also options for low-cost screenings for people who don’t qualify but have a family history of cancer. Mastandrea’s stage was 3A.
Now that her long-kept secret is out, Mastandrea said she hopes to raise awareness. Her first stop is Saturday’s walk.
“If I can help one person with my message, and it’s ‘You are not alone,’ ” she said.
If you go
Lung Cancer Awareness Walk
Saturday, registration starts at 9 a.m. followed by the opening ceremony at 9:30, walk will be 10-11
Founders Park, 889 Weatherwood Lane, Hempfield