Targeted Therapy for Stage 4 Breast Cancer: 142 Real Stories

Metastatic Male Breast Cancer Responding to Abemaciclib and Letrozole

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

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

Metastatic Site: soft tissue, distant lymph nodes, bone

The tumor and metastatic soft-tissue and lymph-node disease shrank markedly, with no progression on July 2024 imaging and good clinical condition in September 2024.

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Severe Corneal Injury After Trastuzumab for Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

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

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

Metastatic Site: lungs, spine, left adrenal gland, calvarium, orbit,…

She was living with widespread metastatic breast cancer when trastuzumab was stopped because of severe eye toxicity.

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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 4 breast cancer: complete remission with letrozole and palbociclib

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Breast cancer was ER/PR positive, HER2 0

Metastatic Site: pleura/pleural effusion

Breast cancer remained in remission on letrozole after palbociclib was stopped; Ph-positive B-ALL achieved complete response with no molecular residual disease after blinatumomab plus ponatinib, with ongoing monthly outpatient monitoring.

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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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Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Complicated by Recurrent Treatment-Related Heart Failure

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

Biomarkers: HER2-positive

Heart function improved after the cancer regimen was changed, but she later died from septic shock caused by bile duct obstruction.

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Triple-positive breast cancer: complete response to targeted therapy

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

Biomarkers: Triple-positive breast cancer; SBDS variants present; no detected TP53 variant on MyeloSeq.

Metastatic Site: liver

Stage IV triple-positive breast cancer with liver metastasis achieved complete response after paclitaxel, trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and G-CSF support; complete response was maintained for 18 months after treatment initiation while on maintenance HER2-directed and endocrine therapy.

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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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HR-positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: bone metastases managed with sequential endocrine therapy

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

Biomarkers: ER 90%+, PR 80%+, HER2-. CA 15-3 was tracked during treatment.

Metastatic Site: skull base; spine; sternum; ribs; left iliac bone;…

Metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer remained under active management; after earlier progression, palbociclib plus fulvestrant and zoledronic acid produced stable/remission findings on PET/CT at 3 months and again 1 year later, with continued 3-month follow-up recommended.

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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 Breast Cancer: Lisa's Patient Story

Patient Info: Lisa Ordmandy, Female, 60s | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: Spine/bone: C2 and L3 vertebrae

As of June 2024, Lisa was living with metastatic breast cancer as a chronic illness, had recovered mobility after November 2023 spine surgery, continued close MD Anderson monitoring, and was being evaluated for possible clinical trials.

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BRCA2-mutant metastatic breast cancer: complete response with rucaparib maintenance

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

Biomarkers: Germline BRCA2 mutation; somatic BRCA2 mutation; HER2 amplification not seen by FISH; grade III IDC

Metastatic Site: bone

She maintained a complete response for 2 years on rucaparib, letrozole, and zoledronic acid after upfront metastatic BRCA2-mutated breast cancer involving bone, axillary nodes, and right-breast nodules.

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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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Stage 4 lobular breast cancer: bone therapy switch to denosumab

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

Biomarkers: Not reported for breast cancer; CRP 21 mg/dL and ESR 27 mm/hr were elevated during orbital inflammation workup

Metastatic Site: bone

As of April 2024, zoledronate-associated ocular inflammation resolved within 2.5 weeks, vision returned to 20/20 after about 3 weeks, and bone-support treatment was changed to denosumab; breast-cancer response was not reported.

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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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Stage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Leslie's Patient Story

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

Metastatic Site: Bone: spine, ribs, pelvis

Leslie was diagnosed at 56 with de novo metastatic ILC after an initial Stage II biopsy result was revised to Stage IV when MRI showed numerous bone metastases, and her cancer was well controlled on targeted drugs as of February 2024.

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Stage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Dena's Patient Story

Patient Info: Dena Ofengeim, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Hormone receptor-positive; BRCA mutation

Metastatic Site: spine

Dena improved rapidly after treatment, regained her mobility, returned to an active life, and remained on therapy for metastatic breast cancer.

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Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer With Treatment-Related Telangiectasias

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

Biomarkers: HER2-positive; initially ER-negative and PR-negative; metastatic disease weakly ER-positive and PR-negative; germline testing negative

Metastatic Site: left supraclavicular, mediastinal, axillary and…

Living with HER2-positive breast cancer for 9+ years since her 2014 diagnosis, including metastatic disease since 2017. She remained on reduced-dose tucatinib in 2023 while treatment-related telangiectasias improved after dose reduction and electrocautery.

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BRCA2-Positive Breast Cancer in a Woman With Down Syndrome

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

Biomarkers: ER-positive, PR-negative, HER2-negative, germline BRCA2 pathogenic variant

Metastatic Site: lungs, bones

The cancer later progressed with lung and bone metastases and extensive cancer spread through lymphatic vessels in both lungs. She died 59 months after breast surgery.

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Treatment-Refractory Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treated With Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes

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

Biomarkers: Germline BRCA1 pathogenic variant; later triple-negative phenotype

Metastatic Site: skin, lungs, bones

Tumor burden briefly decreased after tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, but she developed severe treatment complications followed by rapid cancer relapse and died about 1 month after the TIL/IL-2 treatment began.

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Male Breast Cancer Controlled for Years Through Multiple Lines of Targeted and Endocrine Therapy

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

Biomarkers: Initial tumor ER-positive, PR-positive, HER2-positive; later ER-positive, PR-negative, HER2-negative; PIK3CA mutation; germline BRCA1/2 negative

Metastatic Site: bones, pleura, liver

After a 5-year and 6-month disease-free interval, the cancer recurred in bone and later progressed to the pleura and liver. He died in January 2021, more than 13 years after his 2007 breast-cancer diagnosis.

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