Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer: 118 Real Stories
118 stories match breast cancer and targeted therapy. 96 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage IV Breast Cancer: Nathalie’s Patient Story
Nathalie, a homemaker and mother of two from Colombia, had been living with stage 4 breast cancer for more than three years. A strong family history prompted her to seek evaluation after noticing changes in breast shape and areas of thickening. Several…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Erika’s Patient Story
Erika developed painful, sore breasts with small bumps and was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The diagnosis was frightening and left her nervous, worried, and overwhelmed. Her initial recommendation included mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Kattysmith’s Patient Story
Kattysmith was first diagnosed with borderline Stage I/II breast cancer in 2003, shortly before turning 51. She underwent lumpectomy with sentinel-node biopsy, which showed no spread, followed by radiation and tamoxifen. After years of follow-up, breast…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Suzi’s Patient Story
Suzi found a painful lump in the lower part of her left breast during a self-check at the end of April 2024. She had long believed that painful lumps were unlikely to be cancer, but a mammogram, breast scan, and guided biopsy confirmed carcinoma. The…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Gemina’s Survivor Story
Gemina, a health journalist, remembered the key months of her breast cancer story clearly: when she first noticed that something was wrong, when the diagnosis was confirmed, and when surgery took place. Because of her professional background, she understood…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patient Story
This patient had regular breast screening every year, alternating mammography and ultrasound. One screening found a 1.5 cm breast tumor. She had not thought of herself as high risk: she exercised, felt healthy, and did not match the common risk factors she…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Leftfootforward’s Survivor Story
Leftfootforward was 37 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer in December 2010. Her treatment began with A/C chemotherapy and then Herceptin. She had a bilateral mastectomy, followed by 36 rounds of radiation. Herceptin continued for about 8…
Read this storyStage II BRCA1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stephanie’s Patient Story
Stephanie Hargis was 25 when she found a painful lump in her right breast in March 2022. With no family history and her young age, she and her clinicians first thought it might be an inflamed lymph node. Ultrasound and biopsy instead showed Stage II…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: June’s Patient Story
June Lee first had breast cancer in April 2005, when she was 43. A mammogram found early signs of cancer in her left breast, even though the lump she had felt was on the right. She was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, had a lumpectomy, and received…
Read this storyStage II HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Frédérique’s Survivor Story
Frédérique was 40 when she was listed with Stage II HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2-positive disease can feel especially alarming because it is biologically distinct and requires treatment that targets that pathway. Her record centers on Herceptin, also…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Sarah’s Patient Story
Sarah was 53 when she was diagnosed in April 2019 with hormone-dependent, grade 1 infiltrating breast carcinoma. Several nodules measured 3 to 8 mm. After MRI, 3 oncologists recommended breast removal, followed by radiation and possibly chemotherapy. Sarah…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Pilar’s Patient Story
Pilar was 43 and living with metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer. Before cancer, she had trained as a special-education and early-childhood teacher, spent 14 years in Nicaragua, worked with young people and families affected by…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer Patient Story
A woman who had always been active, healthy, and busy with work and family noticed a lump in the lower inner part of her left breast. For a long time, she tried to convince herself it was a benign breast condition. A doctor's exam changed everything. Testing…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Katie’s Patient Story
Katie was 56 and living south of London when she shared her experience with invasive lobular carcinoma. Her primary breast cancer had been diagnosed at 50 after mild pain in her right breast. A mammogram did not show the cancer, and the diagnosis was…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Survivor Story
An unnamed mother of 4 was 37 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIB breast cancer in December 2010. Her initial treatment included A/C followed by T/Herceptin, then a bilateral mastectomy and 36 radiation treatments. She stayed on Herceptin for about 8…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Genevieve’s Survivor Story
Genevieve first found breast cancer in 1987, at age 40, after noticing a small hard lump in her right breast. Surgery removed the tumor and lymph nodes while preserving the breast, and pathology showed an aggressive non-hormone-receptive cancer. She received…
Read this storyStage III Breast Cancer: Cher’s Survivor Story
Cher first noticed a sore lump under her arm after recovering from COVID and thought it might be a swollen lymph node. When it grew larger and more painful, she went for evaluation. Ultrasound and lymph-node biopsy showed breast cancer, but imaging still…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Jim’s Patient Story
Jim Keegan learned he could have breast cancer only after his wife felt a suspicious lump on his chest in May 2013. Their family doctor ordered a mammogram, which was inconclusive, so Jim had a biopsy the same day. The result was early-stage breast cancer. He…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany Andrews was 35 when a lump in her right breast led to a diagnosis of Stage II breast cancer. Testing showed HER2-positive disease. She began treatment with 6 rounds of chemotherapy combined with HER2-targeted therapy, then underwent a mastectomy…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy’s Survivor Story
Lucy found a breast lump at 23, months after learning that she carried a germline BRCA1 mutation. Several clinicians thought the area felt like fibrous tissue, but because of her inherited risk she continued with imaging and biopsy. Three days after her 24th…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Alison’s Survivor Story
Alison was 34 and breastfeeding when she found a lump under her right arm. Biopsies confirmed triple-positive breast cancer in the breast and axillary lymph nodes. After HER2 testing returned equivocal 3 times, the final result guided a TCHP regimen…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stefanie’s Survivor Story
Stefanie first noticed a breast lump when she was 5 months pregnant and assumed it was a clogged milk duct. The night she delivered her second child by scheduled C-section, a postpartum nurse raised concern about the lump. An ultrasound was inconclusive, so a…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shari’s Patient Story
Shari found a breast lump in December 2015. A mammogram several months later led to a surgical lumpectomy because she had saline implants. The lump was breast cancer, and further staging showed that the triple-positive disease was already metastatic, making…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Wendi’s Survivor Story
During a September bicycling trip, an unnamed patient felt a sudden stabbing pain in the right breast. A biopsy of the painful lump showed Stage II, high-grade, triple-positive breast cancer. The diagnosis was unexpected despite annual mammograms and a…
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