David Rose started smoking when he was 15, and just before he quit the habit 40 years later, he was burning up three or more packs a day. His smoking history was only one reason he worried about his health: His lungs had already been damaged from asbestos exposure during the years he worked at a local steel mill. On top of that, he had developed benign lung tumors, and his mother, also a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer in 1967.

Because of those concerns, David has been an enthusiastic participant in two research studies at Roswell Park. Those studies have helped him beat overwhelming odds.

He first came to Roswell Park in 2002 to enroll in a study aimed at finding better ways of detecting lung cancer in its earliest stages in high-risk patients. He says the benign tumors in his lungs had previously been dismissed as not important. But a bronchoscopy, spiral CT scan and PET scan conducted as part of the Roswell Park study revealed that he did, in fact, have an early-stage malignancy. Fortunately, it was discovered before it had spread beyond one lobe, and Todd Demmy, MD, Chair of Thoracic Surgery at Roswell Park, removed the affected part of the lung in December of 2002.

Mary Reid, PhD, Scientist in Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, notes that 85% of lung cancer patients die within the first five years. The poor prognosis is due largely to the fact that lung cancer usually is not discovered until it’s in the advanced stages. But five years later, “Mr. Rose has had no recurrence,” she says. “That’s really remarkable. He’s a star case for Roswell Park’s lung cancer screening program for high-risk patients.”

For more than three of the past five years, David Rose has also been enrolled in a trial that’s examining whether the mineral selenium can help prevent lung cancer in former smokers. He’s already on the lookout for other trials for which he might be eligible when the selenium study ends.

What inspired him to take part in the first study? “I felt that by volunteering, I was giving something back,” he says. At the same time, he adds, he knows that enrolling on a trial will give him an advantage if eventually the cancer recurs: “I’m watched closer,” he says. “This is something that can come back, and if it does and they can catch it soon enough, then I’ve still got another shot.”

David’s message of hope is summed up in two simple words: “I’m alive.”