Stage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Leftfootforward's Survivor Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Biomarkers
- HER2-positive
- Sex
- Female
- Spread to
- Brain | Liver
- Treatment
- chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, targeted therapy and antibody therapy
- Outcome
- Cancer-Free / NED
Treatment course, step by step
- December 2010 Stage IIB breast cancer at age 37
- A/C chemotherapy
- Herceptin
- bilateral mastectomy
- 36 rounds of radiation
- Herceptin for about 8 months, stopped when ejection fraction decreased
- December 2012 metastatic breast cancer to brain and liver
- Gamma Knife radiation for brain metastasis
- Xeloda plus Tykerb
- February 2015 craniotomy removed tissue that proved to be necrosis from prior Gamma Knife treatment
- July partial left hepatic lobectomy removed solitary liver tumor
- Tykerb stopped and Herceptin resumed
- latest scans showed no evidence of disease.
What happened, in summary
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 months, but it had to be stopped when her ejection fraction decreased. In December 2012, she learned that the breast cancer had become metastatic, with spread to the brain and liver. The liver was so involved that chemotherapy was the only realistic option at that point. The brain metastasis was treated with Gamma Knife radiation. She then took Xeloda and Tykerb. In February 2015, she had a craniotomy to remove tissue that turned out to be necrosis from the earlier Gamma Knife treatment, not active tumor. In July, she had a partial left hepatic lobectomy to remove a solitary liver tumor. After that, Tykerb was stopped and Herceptin was restarted. Her latest scans showed no evidence of disease. She continued to describe herself as living with Stage IV disease, even while NED, and encouraged others with metastatic breast cancer to ask questions, seek help, and speak up about side effects.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by BreastCancer.org (ES). 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