Stage II HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Lanie's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage II
- Subtype
- Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
- Biomarkers
- HER2-positive; Li-Fraumeni syndrome / TP53 mutation; BRCA-negative
- Sex
- Female
- Treatment
- surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, maintenance therapy and surveillance
- Outcome
- Care Ongoing
Treatment course, step by step
- At age 24, Stage II HER2-positive breast cancer was treated with double mastectomy and tissue expanders
- Later implant exchange was done
- Chemotherapy/targeted treatment included carboplatin and Herceptin, with another drug name unclear in the source wording
- Treatment stopped around July 2009
- Later cancers included melanoma, thyroid cancer, and sarcoma
- Ongoing maintenance chemotherapy for life was reported, but the drug name was not stated.
What happened, in summary
Lanie Jones had already survived adrenal carcinoma as a toddler when she found a breast lump in July 2008, shortly before starting nursing school. At first, she delayed the ultrasound because she was 24 and could not imagine having cancer again. When the lump seemed larger, her gynecologist ordered a mammogram. The radiologist was concerned immediately and performed a biopsy. Lanie was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer about 2 weeks before her 25th birthday. Her breast cancer was HER2-positive, and she initially received standard breast cancer care: double mastectomy, tissue expanders, implant exchange, and a chemotherapy/targeted regimen that included carboplatin and Herceptin. Treatment stopped around July 2009. Soon after, a mole removed from her back turned out to be melanoma. At 26, surveillance imaging found thyroid cancer, and specialists eventually confirmed Li-Fraumeni syndrome after earlier testing had missed it. That changed her follow-up from repeated PET/CT scans to more MRI- and ultrasound-based surveillance because of radiation concerns. In 2015, tiny chest-wall sarcoma spots were found. As of January 2023, Lanie had been diagnosed with 5 cancers and was on lifelong maintenance chemotherapy. She described herself as thriving, while emphasizing that patients with multiple cancers may need specialized genetics expertise and whole-person oncology care.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by The Patient Story. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer