Şehnaz Benoziyo injured her ribs in an accident she had 4 years ago while riding a motorbike with her husband in Bodrum. When they returned to Istanbul, she went to the hospital with complaints of severe pain and swelling. While her treatment was ongoing, she coincidentally learned that she had lung cancer during the examinations. After a difficult process, she managed to hold on to life with immunotherapy treatment.

Şehnaz Benoziyo, 62, who works as a translator in Istanbul, was traveling on a motorbike driven by her husband in Bodrum in 2018 when they hit a pothole and had an accident. Although she did not have any major problems at the beginning, her pain increased when they returned to Istanbul soon after. When she went to the hospital, she learned that her ribs were broken and sunk into her lung. She had to undergo several operations for treatment. When Benoziyo went to the hospital again due to the recurrence of her complaints after a short time, she encountered the most shocking revelation of her life...Şehnaz Benoziyo explained what happened after that as follows:

"The doctor who performed my last surgery found a mass in my lung and shared my reports with the oncology council. We applied to Medical Oncology specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Çelik for a second opinion, and he recommended a PET CT scan. When the results came out, we learned that I had lung cancer and that it had metastasized to the bones. A separate diagnosis was carried out from the previous biopsy. Yeditepe University Kosuyolu Hospital Medical Oncology Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Celik decided that I was suitable for immunotherapy treatment according to the results of the diagnosis and I started the treatment."

“Don't fight the disease, make peace with it”

"Long after we started immunotherapy treatment, doctors told my husband how low her life expectancy was if she had not received treatment. But fortunately, the treatment was successful, and I did not experience any side effects," said Şehnaz Benoziyo and continued her words as follows:  "Going into that pit with the motorbike changed my life. Until that incident, I did not even have a disease that required me to see a doctor. I had a very healthy life. Fortunately, I feel very good now. In fact, if I have to do something tiresome, I wait for the immunotherapy days because I feel more energetic on those days. I always tell the people around me and cancer patients: Do not fight this disease, make peace with your disease. Only then your treatment can be successful."

A Rare Type of Lung Cancer

Yeditepe University Kosuyolu Hospital Medical Oncology specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Çelik, who diagnosed Şehnaz Benoziyo with lung cancer and performed immunotherapy treatment, stated that a rare form of lung cancer was seen in Şehnaz and gave the following information: "Şehnaz Benoziyo felt a pain in her ribs after trauma in 2018. She went to another hospital and was followed up for 10 months. A small mass in the area grew over time. It had metastasized to the bones and adrenal glands. Her general condition was not very good when she applied to us. She was wheelchair-bound and had a lot of pain. Due to the pain and the medication she had to use, she was experiencing confusion from time to time and even today she does not remember that period very well. We thought that her general condition was not suitable for chemotherapy, and we evaluated her suitability for immunotherapy and decided that it could be effective according to the results of the examinations and started the treatment."

“She Started Walking After 3 Doses of Treatment”

Benoziyo, who received immunotherapy every 3 weeks, did not experience the severe side effects seen after chemotherapy, and her general condition improved in a short time. Stating that She had only mild joint pains and itching complaints during the treatment process, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çelik emphasized that after 3 doses of treatment, Benoziyo left the wheelchair and that they detected an almost complete improvement with PET CT.

Treatment May Last A Lifetime

Stating that they started immunotherapy treatment in late 2018 and are still continuing, Yeditepe University Kosuyolu Hospital Medical Oncology Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Çelik stated, "Patient is currently very good, living a normal life. It is unrecognizable she has cancer. We aimed to improve her quality of life anyway. We plan to continue our treatment as long as we get a response from the medication.  According to scientific researches, in patients who receive immunotherapy for 3 years in this disease and continue to receive a positive response, the response to the drug can continue up to 99 percent. The fact that we are still using the treatment after 3 years is actually a great chance for Mrs. Şehnaz and it seems that the treatment will continue for life."

Immunotherapy Can Achieve Promising Results in Many Types of Cancer

Pointing out that if there was no positive response to immunotherapy treatment, the life time with chemotherapy in cancer patients such as Benoziyo is between 10-12 months, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çelik added that immunotherapy is also used in melanoma (skin cancers), kidney cancers, lymphomas, non-small cell lung cancers, bladder cancer, laryngeal cancer, cervical cancer, esophagus and stomach cancers and they have achieved promising results.

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