Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Marina's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Marina was 31 and had just qualified for the Boston Marathon when she noticed a daily ache in her breast. Her mother had survived breast cancer twice and was known to carry a BRCA1 mutation, so Marina already understood that breast cancer could run in her family. A biopsy soon showed aggressive triple-negative breast cancer, and her own genetic testing was also positive for the BRCA1 mutation. She was told she needed chemotherapy right away and would lose her hair and breasts. Marina leaned on her athlete’s mindset, treating chemotherapy like another marathon and reframing hair loss as a sign that treatment was working. Because she was not sure whether she wanted children, her team discussed fertility preservation before treatment. She chose Zoladex injections every 4 weeks to put her in menopause and protect her ovaries. After chemotherapy, she had surgery to remove her breasts and underwent reconstruction. She was cleared 4 months later to start training and ran the Boston Marathon as a survivor 1 year after treatment. Marina later married and had 2 children. At the 5-year mark, she found a new lump near her rib and breast area and faced a second diagnosis. That second journey included chemotherapy and radiation. As of March 2026, Marina had completed treatment after 31 rounds of chemotherapy, 30 radiation sessions, and 9 surgeries across her cancer care.