Stage IV Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: April's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Biomarkers
- Triple-negative breast cancer; BRCA1 positive
- Sex
- Female
- Spread to
- Lungs
- Treatment
- chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, targeted therapy and supportive care
- Outcome
- Setback / Progression
Treatment course, step by step
- Initial 2020 Stage II triple-negative breast cancer treatment included about 6 months of chemotherapy, including Adriamycin/Red Devil and CarboTaxol
- Then had double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction/implants and removal of several lymph nodes
- Radiation was first deferred
- Cancer returned in 2021, leading to more chemotherapy, another surgery, and extra surgery to retrieve biopsy clips
- Proton radiation began in 2022 for left-sided breast cancer
- In 2022 lung nodules were found, and later lung surgery/biopsy confirmed metastatic breast cancer in the lungs
- Hyperbaric oxygen helped radiation/infection-related healing
- PARP inhibitor targeted therapy was planned after recovery, with July 2023 scans showing growth again.
What happened, in summary
April Donaldson was 40 when she found 4 lumps along the side of her left breast in January 2020, only months after a normal mammogram. Around the same time, she received genetic testing results showing she was BRCA1 positive. Biopsy confirmed triple-negative breast cancer, and her surgeon explained that it was Stage II because the cancer was still local to the breast but involved about 2 lymph nodes. Initial treatment was about 6 months of chemotherapy, including Adriamycin, also called the Red Devil, and a CarboTaxol regimen. She then had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction and several lymph nodes removed. April was told she was cancer-free, but the pathology report later raised concern because some biopsy clips were not found. The cancer returned in 2021, only months later, leading to another round of chemotherapy, another surgery, and an extra surgery to retrieve remaining clips. Radiation was delayed but eventually delivered as proton therapy in 2022 because the cancer was on the left side near the heart and lungs. During a hospitalization for infection in May 2022, doctors saw lung nodules. They were monitored, then later confirmed through lung surgery/biopsy as metastatic breast cancer in the lungs. As of September 2023, April was living with Stage IV disease. February scans were stable, but July scans showed growth again, and PARP inhibitor therapy was being planned.
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