Super fit non-smoker, 34, hit with incurable lung cancer...the only sign was a 'gym injury'

Daily Mail​

14-05-2025

A fit and healthy mother of-two has revealed the early sign of lung cancer that put down to an exercise injury — 'aching' pain in her shoulder.
Despite never smoking, Reyna Savage, from Michigan, was diagnosed with incurable cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, kidneys and bones in April last year, aged just 34.
Less than 10 per cent of those diagnosed at stage four of the disease live for longer than five years, studies suggest.
But she never suspected lung problems when hit with the initial symptoms, which included 'no real shortness of breath'.
In a video shared to her Instagram page she said: 'People often ask what type of pain do I feel before I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer as a healthy non-smoker 34.
'It started out as shoulder pain, just felt like I had done something wrong, it was just this achy feeling and then it started to spread towards my neck.'
The pain slowly began to change, including a 'popping sensation every time I rotated my shoulder'.
'It then moved to the centre of my back and then wrapped around...it went all the way to the very centre of my chest.
Lung cancer kills some 35,000 Brits each year, about four every hour. However, rates of the disease have declined some 9 per cent since 90s across the population as a whole
'Lastly, I was unable to sleep on my right side, it was completely unbearable. I could not for anything lay on my right side.'
At the time, she didn't believe she was suffering from noticeable shortness of breath.
However, looking back, she said there was a subtle change in her breathing.
'It felt like my body was gasping for air—just for a split second,' said Ms Savage, who has the non small cell type of the disease.
'I was in a lot of shoulder and back pain so I put it down to me not taking deep enough breaths.
'But I was not panting.'
Ms Savage has since undergone intensive treatment including chemotherapy and other anti-cancer medications.
According to scans taken in November last year, her cancer is undetectable.
Experts have recently reported an alarming rise in non-smoking lung cancer.
Earlier this year a landmark global study revealed that patients who have never smoked now account for a greater number of lung cancer cases than those with a history of smoking.
The researchers found that non-smokers were likely to develop non-small cell lung cancer, like Ms Savage.
The group of international scientists found the most dominant form of the disease is now adenocarcinoma — a type of non-small cell lung cancer that forms in the lining of the organs and is most commonly found in non-smokers.
The experts behind the research, from China and France, believe increasing exposure to air pollution could be responsible.
They estimated that around a third of the 600,000 adenocarcinoma cases diagnosed each year globally could be attributed to air pollution.
The experts also noted that as per 2019 reports, 99 per cent of the global population live in areas where air quality doesn't meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.
The researchers also found that non-smoking lung cancer was also more common in women.
Non-small-cell lung cancer is the most common form, accounting for more than 87 per cent of cases.
It can be one of three types: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma or large-cell carcinoma.
Small cell lung cancers, which start in specialised cells in the airways, mostly affect smokers, and spread quickly.
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK with around 48,500 people diagnosed every year.
Symptoms include a persistent cough, chest infections and aches in the chest or shoulder.
About 70 per cent of cases are caused by smoking, while other risk factors can include exposure to radon gas, certain chemicals and a family history of lung cancer.
Although lung cancer is rare in young people younger than 40, overall there are around 2,300 new cancer cases in young people in the UK every year, according to Cancer Research UK.