![\"Deziree](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/123_1.jpeg\")
Deziree Ibarra celebrated pregnancy with her nieces, Aaliyah and Agnes, after years of uncertainty following a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two pink lines appeared almost immediately.<\/p>\n
Deziree Ibarra celebrated pregnancy with her nieces, Aaliyah and Agnes, after years of uncertainty following a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n
The home pregnancy test brought forth a future that Deziree Ibarra once thought lung cancer had taken away from her. For nearly five years, she took a medication that targeted her tumors and kept the cancer under control, while a life that included motherhood seemed increasingly out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this my gift? Is this my blessing that I never thought was coming?\u201d She remembered thinking once her pregnancy was confirmed.<\/p>\n
The trouble was that her medication had not been formally studied in pregnant patients. Stopping it could allow the cancer to worsen; continuing it could expose her developing baby to unknown risks.<\/p>\n
Specialists at UT Health San Antonio\u2019s Mays Cancer Center<\/a> and maternal-fetal medicine specialists at UT Health San Antonio<\/a> worked with Ibarra to adjust her cancer treatment as her pregnancy evolved.<\/p>\n A treatment matched to her cancer<\/p>\n Ibarra was 30 years old, working as a hairstylist, taking college courses and helping raise her two nieces when persistent shortness of breath led to the discovery of a mass in her left lung in the fall of 2020. A biopsy later confirmed stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer<\/a>. Molecular testing then found an ALK gene mutation within her cancer cells.<\/p>\n Abhishek Pandya, DO<\/a>, Ibarra\u2019s oncologist at the Mays Cancer Center, explained that this type of lung cancer can occur in younger patients, particularly women, who have never smoked. The ALK mutation is generally not inherited.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mutation happens within your own cancer cells in your lifetime, not something you were born with,\u201d Pandya said.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely felt like my world had flipped,\u201d Ibarra said. \u201cThe unknowing of the future was scary.\u201d<\/p>\n However, finding the gene alteration gave her physicians a specific target. Ibarra began taking alectinib, an oral therapy designed for cancers with the ALK mutation. Her lung tumor shrank, the fluid around her lung resolved and, as soon as a month after starting the medication, scans showed significantly decreased signs of active cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery patient\u2019s lung cancer is different,\u201d Pandya said. Testing metastatic lung cancers for biomarkers is critical, he said, because it can help physicians \u201cgive the right drug to the right patient.\u201d<\/p>\n Alectinib controlled Ibarra\u2019s disease but is not designed to cure it. Pandya compared the medication to a brake on the cancer\u2019s biology: Removing it could allow the disease to grow again, he said.<\/p>\n Ibarra had measured her future in survival milestones. \u201cMy whole life had been put on hold since my diagnosis,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t make future plans because I didn\u2019t know what was going to happen to me.\u201d The pregnancy brought those plans to life.<\/p>\n A plan that changed with her needs<\/p>\n When Ibarra learned she was pregnant, her scans showed no active disease, so Pandya advised her to stop alectinib while he reviewed published cases about the treatment in pregnancy and consulted with other lung cancer experts. He also began collaborating with her UT Health San Antonio maternal-fetal medicine specialist<\/a>.<\/p>\n The team decided to put a pause on the medication during Ibarra\u2019s first trimester, when the potential risk to fetal development was greatest. During that time, they used MRI scans without contrast, ultrasounds and specialized testing to monitor both mother and baby.<\/p>\n When an MRI revealed a small lesion in Ibarra\u2019s brain that could be cancer-related, Ibarra, Pandya and her maternal-fetal team weighed the benefits and risks and decided to restart alectinib at half the dose during her second trimester.<\/p>\n When more small spots began appearing in the brain, specialists in radiology, radiation oncology and neuro-oncology joined the discussion. Since Ibarra had no neurologic symptoms and alectinib has the potential to reach the brain, Pandya increased her medication to its full dose and continued monitoring her through imaging rather than immediately pursuing radiation. The spots quickly stabilized.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of this was constant back and forth between maternal fetal medicine, radiation oncology, neuro-oncology, radiologists and most importantly, Ms. Ibarra,\u201d Pandya said. \u201cIt really took a village.\u201d<\/p>\n Ibarra said the uncertainty of her condition followed her into moments that should have been purely joyful. One of her brain scans was scheduled for the morning of her gender reveal party. \u201cIt was hard to be so excited,\u201d she said, while \u201cdeep down knowing that this can all still take a turn.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Professional](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Abhishek-Nikhil-Pandya-lc.jpg\")
Abhishek N. Pandya, DO<\/p>\n![\"Patient](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/E9FEFF2E-9F96-4168-9B84-51DEE24C3B6E.jpg\")
Deziree Ibarra and her husband, Jonathan, welcomed their son, Jeremiah, after specialists coordinated her cancer treatment and maternal care.<\/p>\n
![\"Baby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_7077.jpg\")
At three months old, Jeremiah is growing under the care of his mother whose doctors continue to monitor her health and tailor her cancer treatment.<\/p>\n