Employees' own cancer treatment shapes how they give back

Patient Info: Jamie Bernard, female, Under 40 | Stage II

After mastectomy and chemotherapy, Jamie became active in patient and caregiver support programs at MD Anderson.

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Stage II metaplastic breast cancer in a 47-year-old man

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 40s | Stage II

Biomarkers: ER 1%; PR negative; HER2 negative; E-cadherin positive; p63 positive; genetic testing reported no abnormal mutations

Two years after surgery he was doing well, with only occasional pain at the mastectomy site and a negative recent mammogram of the left breast.

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Breast Cancer: Heather's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Heather Kokinda, Female, Under 40

As of March 2018, Heather had completed chemotherapy and double mastectomy, had a clear scan before trying to conceive again, and had given birth to another daughter in July 2017.

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Breast reconstruction after implant loss in a woman with BMI 50.8

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 50s | Stage I

At 3-month follow-up, the DIEP flap remained viable with no fat or skin necrosis and a satisfactory aesthetic result.

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Stage III BRCA2 Breast Cancer: Ashley's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Ashley, female, Under 40 | Stage III

Biomarkers: BRCA2 positive; HER2 positive

Ashley described herself as cancer-free after chemotherapy, double mastectomy and 30 rounds of radiation, with 10 months of Herceptin planned.

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Triple receptor-positive neuroendocrine breast cancer in a 32-year-old woman

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, Under 40 | Stage III

Biomarkers: ER positive; PR positive; HER2 positive; neuron-specific enolase positive; synaptophysin positive

She was stable on follow-up and was receiving adjuvant chest-wall radiation plus systemic chemotherapy and trastuzumab-based therapy.

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Bilateral Breast Cancers Followed by Metastatic Disease and Long Eribulin Treatment

Patient Info: Anonymized, female, 50s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Left primary: ER 90%, HER2 FISH not amplified, Ki67 25%. Right primary: ER 90%

Metastatic Site: lung, pleura, liver, bone

After pelvic bone metastases appeared in 2017, she stopped eribulin, received pelvic radiation and remained on fulvestrant treatment.

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Stage I Breast Cancer: Yanzi's Patient Story

Patient Info: Yanzi, 40s | Stage I

Years after her Stage I diagnosis, Yanzi had completed the other treatment and remained on hormone medication while coping with fear of recurrence.

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Stage III Breast Cancer: Jacquelyn's Patient Story

Patient Info: Jacquelyn | Stage III

Jacquelyn said her stage 3 breast cancer was in remission while hormone therapy medication continued after mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation.

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Stage II Breast Cancer: Ana's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Ana, Female, 50s | Stage II

Ana reported being declared cancer-free in March 2020 and continued hormone therapy afterward, with no recurrence described in the available story.

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Breast Cancer: Tonya's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Tonya, Female

Tonya said she was in remission while continuing radiation therapy and hormone therapy.

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Metastatic Lobular Breast Cancer With Long-Term Disease Control Across Multiple Therapies

Patient Info: Anonymized, female, 40s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Initial tumor: ER negative, HER2 negative, Ki67 17%. 2006 recurrence: ER 40%

Metastatic Site: pleura, liver, skin, bone

She was alive on ongoing metronomic vinorelbine with substantial disease stabilization at the most recent follow-up.

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Breast cancer returning 21 years later as a solitary parotid metastasis

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Parotid metastasis ER positive; PR positive; HER2 borderline by IHC but FISH 1.82

Metastatic Site: left parotid gland

More than 5 months after the parotid metastasis was diagnosed, the tumour had slightly decreased in size and her metastatic disease remained stable on endocrine therapy.

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Stage IV Breast Cancer: Lindsey's Patient Story

Patient Info: Lindsey Ballas, Female | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: Not reported

As of September 2017, Lindsey was living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer on advanced targeted maintenance therapy every 3 weeks, with stable disease and continued work and family life.

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Stage II BRCA1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Roxana's Patient Story

Patient Info: Roxana Lopez, female, Under 40 | Stage II

Biomarkers: BRCA1 positive

After chemotherapy and bilateral mastectomy, Roxana continued regular screening for breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers and melanoma.

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Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together

Patient Info: Anonymized, Under 40

Biomarkers: Li-Fraumeni syndrome

At 36, six months after giving birth, this patient was diagnosed with hormone-sensitive breast cancer and later learned she had Li-Fraumeni syndrome, shaping her decision to avoid radiation.

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Stage III Breast Cancer: Melissa's Patient Story

Patient Info: Melissa Angiolillo, Female, Under 40 | Stage III

Completed double mastectomy, 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 25 radiation treatments over the prior 8 months.

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HER2-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Trish's Patient Story

Patient Info: Trish Vickery, female, 50s

Biomarkers: HER2-positive

At 58, Trish was living an active life after treatment, including working, traveling, exercising, and rowing.

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Breast Cancer: Marianne's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Marianne Gongos, Female, 60s

Marianne had been breast cancer-free since June 13, 2013. Her separate chronic myeloid leukemia was also in remission after she restarted its medication.

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Metastatic Breast Cancer and an Atypical Femoral Fracture During Ibandronate Treatment

Patient Info: Anonymized, female, 50s

She was living with bone-metastatic breast cancer when a suspected new femoral metastasis was instead recognized as an atypical femoral fracture during long-term ibandronate treatment.

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Stage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Sarah's Patient Story

Patient Info: Sarah, Female, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: HER2-positive; BRCA and other known hereditary breast cancer genes not identified in family history discussion

As of January 2017, Sarah had been living for almost 3 years with recurrent Stage IV HER2-positive breast cancer and was receiving Kadcyla every 3 weeks.

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Breast Cancer: Amanda's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Amanda

Biomarkers: CDH1 gene deletion

About 7 years after gastrectomy and mastectomy, Amanda said all of the cancer had been removed, although long-term effects of surgery continued to affect daily life.

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Stage II Breast Cancer: Natalia's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Natalia | Stage II

Natalia was declared cancer-free on February 21, 2024, and continued regular follow-up while taking letrozole.

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Stage IV Breast Cancer: Debora's Patient Story

Patient Info: Debora, Female, 60s | Stage IV

Debora was living with metastatic breast cancer after Stage III disease treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy; four years after surgery, she was told the cancer had metastasized and was on targeted therapy.

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