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MIDWAY — Approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime.
Chris Pendleton, of Midway, was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Thanks to a new treatment, he can continue to enjoy doing the things he loves.
"I try to stay as happy and active as possible because I'm still alive," Pendleton said.
He's a fighter in many ways.
"A firefighter for 36 years. Firefighters have three times higher chance of getting cancers," he said.
Pendleton was diagnosed with prostate cancer nine years ago.
"It is always a little strange to get a definitive diagnosis of maybe your life won't be as long as you hope," he said.
At first, his cancer was manageable through surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy, but then the cancer stopped responding to those treatments.
He said, "I was told that it went to my bones and that's stage 4."
But the fight wasn't over.
Pendleton was eligible for a new treatment called Pluvicto.
Dr. Dustin Boothe is a radiation oncologist at Intermountain Health. He said, "It actually works kind of like a heat-seeking missile in finding the cancer, attaching to it, and then killing cancer cells. And it does so in a pretty specific way and relatively less side effects compared to a lot of other treatments."
Pendleton travels to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray every six weeks to receive an injection.
His doctors say he's had an exceptional response.
"When we started, we estimated a prognosis of months to a little bit over a year," Dr. David Gill, a medical oncologist at Intermountain Health, said. "And since that time, he's already outlived it. We're hopeful that it will continue to keep him alive for a lot longer."
While there is no cure for metastatic prostate cancer, Pendleton said this medication allows him to live the way he wants, which means keeping up his active lifestyle of skiing, mountain biking and hiking.
"It's good to be retired," he said.
His wife, Amy Pendleton, said, "He just doesn't let cancer define him."
They may not know what the future holds but for Chris and Amy Pendleton; they do know that they want to take advantage of every moment.
"My wife and I live day to day now. We just smile and enjoy the day and move on," Chris Pendleton said.
The attitude of a fighter: Don't give up.
