Stage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Christine's Survivor Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Biomarkers
- HER2-positive
- Sex
- Female
- Treatment
- targeted therapy, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation
- Outcome
- Cancer-Free / NED
Treatment course, step by step
- Treatment included trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta), surgery, weekly chemotherapy, and 5 weeks of radiation.
- After reaching no evidence of disease at 1 year, Christine continued targeted therapy infusions every 3 weeks with regular scans.
What happened, in summary
Christine Hodgdon was 34, active, and training for a triathlon when she was diagnosed with aggressive metastatic breast cancer. The cancer was HER2-positive. She had no family history of breast cancer and described the diagnosis as a complete shock.
Her treatment included the HER2-targeted drugs trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta), surgery, weekly chemotherapy, and 5 weeks of radiation. After 1 year, Christine learned that there was no evidence of disease. Because she had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she continued targeted therapy infusions every 3 weeks and had regular scans to watch for recurrence.
Christine turned the shock of diagnosis into patient advocacy. Through AACR’s Scientist↔Survivor program, she connected with researchers and other survivors, met with elected representatives, and advocated for cancer-research funding. She also created a tool to help people with metastatic breast cancer narrow down clinical-trial options that might fit their situation.
At the latest report, Christine remained NED while continuing treatment and surveillance, and she focused her advocacy on helping other patients find credible research and treatment information.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by AACR. 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