MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Mid-South family is using their struggle to help others avoid a similar struggle.
Cancer has been a fate known all to well by too many families. When it comes to lung cancer, members with Baptist Memorial Healthcare say the Mid-South sees some of the highest rates in the country. And according to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading killer among cancers in the US, yet is the least funded form of cancer research.
For one Memphis-area family, the story never gets easier to tell.
“Everybody describes her the same, it’s like… she’s just like the person who would do anything for anyone,” said Greg Hollenbeck.
In 2015, Hollenbeck's wife, Gina, was told she had lung cancer, after eating right, working out and not smoking.
“She did everything the right way, and then she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer at 38-years-old,” said Hollenbeck.
But a simple biomarker test changed a seven month survival into something much greater. Doctors at Baptist were able to study how Gina's cancer cells grew, and what treatment they would best respond to. After finding out Gina's cancer came from a genetic mutation, the Hollenbeck's were given some hope.
“Finding that out was like hitting the lottery because we knew there was a therapy for that,” said Greg.
The treatment from Baptist proved to do wonders, allowing Gina to live on for seven more years, instead of only seven months.
“After six weeks it shrunk the cancer so much that there was no cancer," Gina said back in 2019, "and doctors couldn’t even believe how well the medicine worked.”
"She got to see her oldest get all the way through graduation of high school,” said Greg.
Unfortunately biomarker testing is not as accessible as Hollenbeck would like to see. Insurance does not always cover the procedure. A new study from Baptist found testing was less common in non-teaching hospitals.
Dr. Phil Lammers, Chief of Medical Oncology at Baptist, tells ABC24 this trend is partially due to how new biomarker testing is as a whole. Doctors do not know to administer the test, and patients do not know to ask for it.
“Unfortunately not every healthcare system has those options in place, and so patients need to be educated on where they can find the best treatment in the area,” said Lammers.
In Gina's memory, her loved ones are trying to find a solution, creating a fund in her name with Baptist. The Gina Hollenbeck Memorial fund helps with research for early detection, and aid people in affording biomarker testing if insurance does not cover it.
“We don’t know unless we know what we’re fighting, and the only way we know what we’re fighting is through biomarker testing,” said Greg.
You can contribute to the Gina Hollenbeck Memorial Fund USING THIS LINK HERE.