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: Betty’s Patient Story
Betty Jean had survived breast cancer in 2019, but a later episode of back pain changed the course of her life again. While on vacation, she developed pain that seemed like a bad back problem. Imaging instead revealed Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, with…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Bethany’s Patient Story
Bethany was 34 when she was first diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. After treatment, she reached remission and was told she was cancer-free. She made major life changes afterward, including separating from her husband, moving to Colorado, and starting a…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Genoa’s Survivor Story
Genoa was living the life she wanted when a subtle but persistent feeling of nausea made her think something was wrong. She was already due for a mammogram, and her OB-GYN also ordered a breast MRI because of her family history of breast cancer. The MRI…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Renee’s Patient Story
Renee first found a hard, painful breast area after playing with her children. Her family doctor quickly suspected breast cancer, and testing showed Stage III disease. The first plan was chemotherapy before surgery, with the hope that she might be able to…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Rach’s Patient Story
Rach D. was 27 when she noticed a change in her right breast during her honeymoon. At first, she was unsure whether the lump had always been there. A January physical exam became the turning point: her doctor felt 3 masses and sent her for ultrasound. The…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA Breast Cancer: Maralee’s Survivor Story
Maralee Lellio was 28 when she noticed a breast lump in 2018. A first evaluation called it a benign fibroadenoma, but the lump grew and became painful. Further mammogram and biopsy showed Stage II breast cancer. Before treatment, Maralee and her husband froze…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Erica’s Patient Story
Erica was 41, active, and working as a P.E. teacher when breast cancer became part of her daily life again. Her first diagnosis was Stage I hormone-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. She completed chemotherapy in February 2025 and had a double mastectomy…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Christina’s Patient Story
Christina spent months feeling that something was wrong. In January 2024, she felt as if she had a cold, with swelling around her neck and head. The problem worsened, and she repeatedly told her doctor she felt seriously ill. She later learned that the…
Read this storyTriple-Negative Breast Cancer: Jacqueline’s Patient Story
Jacqueline Bennett first noticed a breast lump months before diagnosis, but several doctors dismissed it as mastitis. In June 2017, shortly after learning she was pregnant again, a new OB/GYN sent her for ultrasound and biopsy. The biopsy confirmed breast…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Janet’s Patient Story
Janet Ayala was 35 when she felt a breast lump while getting ready for a shower in summer 2024. After difficulty getting a diagnostic mammogram appointment, she finally had imaging in September and was told right away it was breast cancer. The diagnosis was…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Sonja’s Patient Story
Sonja Rideout was diagnosed on October 19, 2022, with Stage II HER2-positive breast cancer after ultrasound and biopsy of a 2-inch breast mass. Her treatment began with 4 months of chemotherapy, followed by a total mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Janella’s Survivor Story
Janella Bustamante was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in June 2021. Her cancer was described as fueled by estrogen, progesterone and the HER2 protein. She returned to Lima, Peru, for the first part of treatment and spent the following months…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Paul’s Patient Story
Paul Forgette was 68 when arthritis-related preoperative blood work unexpectedly revealed low-grade prostate cancer that only needed observation. Soon after, he bumped his chest and felt a lump. A mammogram first suggested male breast cancer, and further PET…
Read this storyStage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Nicole’s Patient Story
Nicole was 42 and working as a fine jewelry designer when a sharp seatbelt-like pain across her chest led her to feel a new breast change. Because she had dense, fibrous breast tissue and a history of cysts, a cyst seemed possible, but her gynecologist was…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Dalitso’s Patient Story
Dalitso was 38 when invasive ductal breast cancer was first found in 2020. She had noticed a hardening breast mass years earlier, along with weight loss, fatigue, and back pain that had been attributed to other health issues. A mammogram first suggested Stage…
Read this storyStage IV BRCA2 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Marissa’s Patient Story
Marissa was 31 and raising young children when fatigue, nighttime hot flashes, restless legs, and a lump in her right breast led to testing. On February 17, 2024, biopsy confirmed Stage II invasive lobular carcinoma in the right breast, with positive lymph…
Read this storyStage IV Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Nikoo’s Patient Story
Nikoo was 42 in 2003 when a normal mammogram missed the cancer her doctor felt during a breast exam. A biopsy confirmed invasive lobular breast cancer, a type that can be difficult to see on standard imaging. The tumor was small, about 0.9 cm, and she was…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Dana’s Patient Story
Dana, 52, lives in Vancouver. She first noticed a painless bump under her arm while doing sit-ups, along with smaller lumps under her chin. She thought it might be an ingrown hair or something minor, but her doctor urged her to get checked immediately. Scan…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Maria’s Patient Story
Maria first went through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and targeted/endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Surgery showed more lymph-node involvement than expected on PET imaging, and up to 20 lymph nodes were removed. Pathology later showed more cancer in…
Read this storyBreast Cancer: Marissa’s Survivor Story
Marissa Coreno was 27 when she felt a breast lump in June 2021. She was young, healthy, living independently, and had no family history of breast cancer, so she did not expect the lump to be serious. Diagnostic imaging at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Linda’s Patient Story
Linda Norman was approaching her 60th birthday in January 2019 when a routine mammogram found a small mass in her left breast. Biopsy confirmed breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy, then 10 radiation treatments over 2 weeks. Anastrozole caused extreme joint…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Suzy’s Survivor Story
Suzy was a respiratory therapist with 17 years of experience when her own symptoms were dismissed. In late 2022, she noticed a lump under her collarbone and frequent pain in her left breast. A clear mammogram the year before made clinicians less concerned…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Elissa’s Patient Story
Elissa was 34 and only a few months postpartum when numbness in her feet began interfering with daily life. She could not keep shoes on comfortably and could barely play tennis for 20 to 30 minutes. Because she had recently given birth, the symptoms were easy…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Kathleen’s Patient Story
Kathleen McEvoy-Schufreider was first diagnosed in 2011 with early-stage HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. She joined a clinical trial and received 16 weeks of paclitaxel with trastuzumab. After surgery, she received 4 doses of AC…
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