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.