Cancer began with pain near his ear lobes and neck

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist

Cancer diagnosis came when he was entering his senior year of college

As Spencer Comer sat through infusion with his father, he talked and laughed with nurse Morgan Williams. He has gotten to know the oncology team at IU Health Simon Cancer Center over the past several years.

It was 2014 when Comer was entering his senior year at University of St. Francis, Fort Wayne, Ind. He was playing basketball for the school and working on an undergraduate degree in business marketing. He told the team trainer that he had some pain in his neck and earlobes. Since he was coming home for the summer to start an internship, Comer was advised to see a family doctor if the pain didn’t subside.

A trip to the ear, nose, and throat doctor resulted in a biopsy that came back benign. Follow-up procedures uncovered a tumor the size of a thumb. Comer was headed back to college, his car packed when he went to get his sutures removed.

“That’s when the doctor told us the lab report showed cancer,” said Comer’s dad, Scott. His mom is Lucina Comer. Spencer has two older brothers. He graduated from Rushville High School in 2011.

Specifically, he has Adenoid cystic carcinoma.

After his diagnosis, Spencer stayed home for a semester, completing his classes online and receiving treatments at a nearby hospital.

After treatments, her returned to campus for the second semester graduating on time with another year eligibility to play basketball. He continued with the team - a runner up team I the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Comer earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership, and his life seemed to get back to normal.

Then he learned the cancer had metastasized in his lung. He opted for radiation and was close to his five-year mark of being cancer free. In 2021, more liaisons appeared, and again in 2023.

That year was a milestone year in Spencer’s adult life. He met his now-wife after college. After dating three years, he proposed to her and they planned to be married in the Fall of 2023. They honeymooned in Greece. His wife, Madison Comer is a nurse practitioner at IU Health.

Spencer went to an oncologist at another hospital who recommended a research hospital in Chicago. That was when a doctor suggested Spencer come to IU Health Simon Cancer Center and he became a patient of hematology and oncology specialist Dr. Gregory Durm.

Dr. Durm started Spencer on targeted immunotherapy.

“His type of cancer is considered aggressive but slow growing with no known cure, “said his dad. “He went through genetic testing and through precision genomics we were able to determine the best drug that is tailored to his diagnosis – a targeted immunotherapy,” said his dad.

At the age of 33, Spencer said his initial reports show that he is stabilized. He and his wife welcomed their first child, a girl, in April 2024 and a second child, a boy in October 2025. For nearly nine years he has worked for the federal government special leadership program. He enjoys sports, travel and music.

“I feel like the best way to describe it is you wake up every day and put your best foot forward and have a positive outlook,” said Spencer. “We don’t dwell on his diagnosis. We take each step as it comes, talk about it and then take full advantage of the opportunities that we have. Cancer isn’t something we dwell on; it’s an afterthought,” said his dad.”