Her summer plans were the first thing she thought after her doctor told her she had cancer.   

Marissa Chew was supposed to be a Team USA coach for jumps. Her summer 2023 included trips to Costa Rica, Germany and Hungary to coach elite athletes in various events.  

“I told him I will start treatment in a couple of months,” said Chew, TCU track and field coach for combined events and vertical jumps. “The biggest point of my career was about to happen. I could not take a break.” 

She was set to coach Lindon Victor, two-time world champion in decathlon, in the World Athletics Championships.

“When Lindon learned about my diagnosis,” Chew said. “He told me I cannot miss the summer. He needed me, and I knew I had to be there for him no matter what it meant for treatment.” 

When she told her doctor she was delaying treatment for a few months she said he looked at her like she was crazy,  

Chew laughed at the memory.  

“He told me ‘You know this is cancer right? This is serious,’  

“But I told him I cannot sacrifice this opportunity.” 

Chew had already been treated for throat cancer. The stage one breast cancer diagnosis came after she felt a lump in the shower.  

 “If you ask anybody, I am naively confident,” Chew said. “I came in stage one and since I have done this before I knew what I was getting into. I could have waited until after the summer and not been diagnosed. I could have waited years and not been diagnosed and who knows where I would be as it but I was a diligent patient. I knew that I was not going to die from this.”

Cancer research

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer and makes up 15.5% of all cancer diagnoses in the U.S. Fortunately it is very treatable with a five-year survivability of 91.2%. 

“For the average breast cancer,” said Dr. Chi Pham, oncologist at Texas Oncology. “We detect them very early because of screening. And so, because we detect them early, then of course, the cure ability is very high. We are more worried about making sure the cancer doesn’t come back because the survivability is so high.” 

For decades chemotherapy, radiation and surgery were the only treatment options. Now the ways doctors are treating cancer are different. 

“Certain breast cancers rely on a pathway we call the HER2 pathway,” Pham said. “And in that instance, we develop an antibody, that will go after the HER2 pathway and destroy it.  

“There is also immunotherapy which attempts to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer cells. With these developments of the antibody therapy and immunotherapy we have people Living 20-plus years that have stage four which we say is incurable. It would usually be a year to two years most.” 

With these new treatments patients are less likely to be treated with chemotherapy and have higher survival rates. Studies have shown that immunotherapy through a vaccine is able to block tumor cells from forming.  

“A lot of times you don't even know if people are taking treatment because they're functional," Pham said. "They still do whatever that they normally do such as working and exercising. We are even able to help patients keep prevent hair loss. With less chemotherapy there are fewer side effects. These treatments often have minimal side effects.”

Chew's first full day back at practice was emotional.

“I could see their relief knowing I was there for them again," she said. "It's going to make me tear up. It felt so right to be back. You could see the pressure valve get released when they saw me that was pretty awesome. They would run and want to embrace, but I’m cut in half so I had to remind them not too hard.”

This summer, Chew coached Victor at the Olympics in Paris. He won bronze in the Men's Decathlon.

“This next chapter is going to be a good one," said Chew, noting her daughter would be at TCU in the fall. "I am feeling incredible. We are not meant to know these things happen. We are meant to overcome them and come out of them.”