Mastectomy for Stage 4 Breast Cancer: 131 Real Stories

HER2-Positive Breast Cancer With Metastatic Progression and Drug-Induced Lupus During T-DM1

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

Biomarkers: ER-positive, PR-negative, HER2-positive

Metastatic Site: bones, axillary lymph nodes, intra-abdominal lymph…

More than 5 years after her March 2018 diagnosis, she was living with metastatic breast cancer, but T-DM1 had been stopped after disease progression in 2023.

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Stage IV luminal A breast cancer: liver resection and disease-free follow-up

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

Biomarkers: luminal A; ER-positive; PgR-positive; HER2-negative

Metastatic Site: lung, liver

Disease-free after R0 hepatic segmentectomy for breast cancer liver metastasis, with May 2021 MRI showing no remaining liver nodules while she continued maintenance letrozole and goserelin.

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Stage IV luminal B HER2-negative breast cancer with liver-limited metastasis resected after systemic therapy

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

Biomarkers: Luminal B; HER2-negative

Metastatic Site: liver

After liver segmentectomy for breast-cancer liver metastasis, follow-up imaging showed no remaining liver nodes, and she remained fit, well, disease-free, and on maintenance letrozole plus goserelin.

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Stage 4 HR-positive breast cancer: stable disease on ribociclib

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

Biomarkers: ER-positive; PR-positive; HER2-negative

Metastatic Site: left iliac bone

Metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer remained without progression as of October 2024 while she continued ribociclib 400 mg plus letrozole after SBRT to a left iliac bone metastasis.

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Breast Cancer Recurrence in the Small Intestine and Bone More Than 5 Years After Diagnosis

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

Biomarkers: Initial ER-positive, PR-positive, HER2-negative; metastatic lesion ER-negative, PR-negative, triple negative

Metastatic Site: small intestine, bone, right fallopian tube

More than 5 years after her December 2018 diagnosis, she was alive at 1-year follow-up after metastatic recurrence, with multiple bone metastases still present.

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Stage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Nina's Survivor Story

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

Biomarkers: HER2-positive; broad hereditary genetic testing negative

Metastatic Site: spine

As of November 2024, Nina described being in a no-evidence-of-disease phase, while continuing treatment because of her Stage IV HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer history.

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Breast invasive lobular carcinoma metastatic to the endometrium: hysterectomy and hormone therapy

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

Biomarkers: HER2 negative, PR/HER2 negative.

Metastatic Site: endometrium (endometrial polyp)

No signs of recurrence were reported 18 months after total hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy for endometrial metastasis from invasive lobular breast carcinoma, with scheduled follow-up every 3 to 6 months.

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Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer metastatic to the pituitary: surgery and disease-free follow-up

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

Biomarkers: ER 2+; PR 1+; HER2 0; GATA3 positive; CA125 elevated

Metastatic Site: pituitary

Disease-free 11 months after surgical resection of pituitary metastasis from prior hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, with postoperative recovery supported by antibiotics, hormone replacement/supportive therapy, and electrolyte management.

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Stage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dee's Patient Story

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

Biomarkers: ER-positive

Metastatic Site: Bones

As of October 2024, Dee was living with Stage IV metastatic ER-positive breast cancer after bone metastases were found in 2023 and had adapted to treatment with ribociclib.

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Stage IV HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dee's Patient Story

Patient Info: Dee Doherty, Female, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Hormone-sensitive disease implied by letrozole and ovarian suppression; ER/PR/HER2 status not explicitly stated

Metastatic Site: bone

As of September 2024, Dee was living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Her tumors had not shrunk, but disease was stable on ribociclib/Kisqali, letrozole, and ovarian suppression.

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Stage IV Breast Cancer: Lourdes's Patient Story

Patient Info: Lourdes Monje, Under 40 | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: lung

Lourdes is receiving investigational treatment through a clinical trial, with manageable side effects, while continuing to work and spend time with family and friends.

Stage IV KRAS Breast Cancer: Lauren's Patient Story

Patient Info: Lauren, Female | Stage IV

Biomarkers: KRAS mutation in colon cancer context

Metastatic Site: Abdominal lining; spine

As of September 2024, Lauren was living with a history of Stage IV colon cancer and recurrent metastatic breast cancer in the spine, with low colon tumor markers, recurring spinal spots, and PET scans every 3 months.

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Stage 4 breast cancer: ongoing treatment with multi-line chemotherapy

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

Biomarkers: Initial tumor: hormone receptor-negative; HER2 2+. 2011 recurrence: ER 10%; PR 70%; HER2 2+.

Metastatic Site: pleura/pleural effusion; lung

Metastatic breast cancer with malignant pleural effusion achieved complete response after chemotherapy and long-term endocrine therapy; PET-CT in October 2023 still showed complete response, with ongoing cardiac and bone-health management.

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Triple-negative breast cancer: partial response to immunotherapy combination

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

Biomarkers: Initial tumor: ER-negative; PR-negative; HER2-negative; Ki-67 >80%

Metastatic Site: left lung, neck lymph nodes, mediastinal lymph nodes

Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer had a partial response after 9 months of pembrolizumab plus MK-4830, with reduced tumor burden, decreased lung and mediastinal metastases, and no new metastatic lesions; immunotherapy continued after prednisone controlled a grade 2 lichenoid eruption.

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HER2-Positive Breast Cancer That Spread to the Cervix

Patient Info: Anonymized, female, 60s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: HER2-positive; ER and PR less than 1% in the left breast tumor

Metastatic Site: cervix, esophagus, mediastinal lymph nodes

Cervical metastasis showed a local complete response after brachytherapy, but systemic disease later progressed to the esophagus. She died after 4 months of nutritional support and palliative treatment.

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Stage 4 invasive ductal carcinoma: metastatic disease with bone involvement managed successfully

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

Biomarkers: ER <1%; PR 0%; HER2 score 3+; Ki-67 60%

Metastatic Site: bone (12th thoracic vertebra/T12)

Stage IV HER2-positive breast cancer had improved T12 bone metastasis, major breast-tumor regression on trastuzumab deruxtecan, and pathologic complete response in the breast after mastectomy; durable systemic disease status was not reported.

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Stage IV Breast Cancer: Samantha's Patient Story

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

Biomarkers: Hormone-positive breast cancer; specific receptor details not reported

Metastatic Site: bone: rib, spine, pelvis

As of July 2024, Samantha was living with Stage IV hormone-positive breast cancer with bone metastases. Current treatment was working in most areas, but a breast tumor continued to grow and was surgically removed; ongoing treatment and 3-month scans were reported.

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Stage IV triple-negative breast cancer in remission: CBD and exercise for neuropathy

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

Biomarkers: Triple-negative breast cancer. Blood and immune inflammation measures were tracked during neuropathy care.

Metastatic Site: liver

She was in remission for more than 5 years after Stage IV breast cancer with a solitary liver metastasis, while later managing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy with CBD and an exercise program that improved symptoms and function.

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Stage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Melissa's Patient Story

Patient Info: Melissa Adams, Female | Stage IV

Melissa’s breast cancer progressed after maintenance hormone therapy and was reassigned as Stage IV. She describes living with incurable disease while focusing on keeping the cancer at bay and staying engaged with family, church, and advocacy.

MSI-High Metastatic Hormone-Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Responding to Pembrolizumab

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

Biomarkers: ER-positive; PR-positive; HER2-negative; MSI-high; BRCA mutation-negative

Metastatic Site: bone, para-aortic lymph nodes, brain

Pembrolizumab produced marked improvement in metastatic bone and nodal disease. After 1 year it was stopped because of appetite loss; 8 months later she was symptom-free and back at work on endocrine therapy, although asymptomatic brain metastases were documented.

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Metastatic Breast Cancer With Recurrent Severe Hypocalcemia During Treatment - Case 1

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

Biomarkers: ER-positive; PR-positive; HER2-negative

Metastatic Site: bone, liver, ovaries

She died about 9 years after her breast-cancer diagnosis after progression of liver metastases.

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HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer With Recurrent Severe Hypocalcemia - Case 2

Patient Info: Anonymized, female, 60s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: ER-positive; PR-positive; HER2-positive

Metastatic Site: bone, liver

She died about 7 years after her breast-cancer diagnosis after rapid deterioration from liver metastases.

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Rare soft-tissue sarcoma of the breast

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female | Stage IV

Biomarkers: TLE1 strongly and diffusely positive; p63, CK7

Metastatic Site: lungs

After mastectomy, the cancer was metastatic to the lungs and care was palliative.

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Metastatic invasive lobular breast carcinoma to pancreas: biliary stent and paclitaxel

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

Biomarkers: Primary breast tumor was triple-negative. Pancreatic metastasis was ER-positive/GATA-positive

Metastatic Site: pancreas; coelio-mesenteric lymph nodes

After 21 years of remission, she developed pancreatic and coelio-mesenteric nodal metastases from invasive lobular breast carcinoma; palliative paclitaxel was stopped after 2 courses because her condition deteriorated, and she was lost to follow-up.

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