Stage III Colorectal Cancer: Michael's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Michael Ettinger, Under 40 | Stage III

Michael reported that he was approaching his 5-year cancer-free anniversary in October 2026.

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Stage I Breast Cancer: Tamara's Patient Story

Patient Info: Tamara Mitchell, Female | Stage I

Tamara continued annual breast cancer screening while her leukemia and kidney cancer were being managed separately.

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Rare Breast Neuroendocrine Cancer That Recurred in the Liver

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 70+ | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Chromogranin-positive; synaptophysin-positive; GATA-3-positive; ER-positive; PR negative on repeat biopsy and 40% positive on the mastectomy specimen; HER2-negative; Ki-67 85–95%

Metastatic Site: Liver; abdominal lymph nodes

After temporary responses to surgery and repeated chemotherapy, the cancer returned repeatedly in the liver and had spread to abdominal lymph nodes by May 2025. A new chemotherapy regimen was planned.

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Dave Bjork’s Stage 1 Lung Cancer Story

Patient Info: Dave Bjork, Male | Stage I

Dave survived more than 20 years after surgery for stage I lung cancer and became an advocate for early detection, screening and inclusion of early-stage survivors.

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Stage II Breast Cancer: Renée's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Renée, Female, Under 40 | Stage II

Renée described her health as stable and her treatment as working. She remained on a long-term hormone-based anti-cancer regimen and was still healing from reconstruction complications rather than describing herself as cancer-free.

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Stage I Colorectal Cancer: Kristen's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Kristen Price, Under 40 | Stage I

Biomarkers: JPS

Kristen reported that she and her sister were both still alive and in remission.

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Stage IV MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: JJ's Patient Story

Patient Info: JJ, Male, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: Lynch syndrome; microsatellite instability

Metastatic Site: Abdominal wall; lymph nodes throughout the body

At the latest scan, the main abdominal tumor remained stable. JJ had completed 126 rounds of chemo-immunotherapy and continued treatment every 3 weeks; small lung nodules were being watched but were not confirmed as metastases.

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Stage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Lucy, Female, Under 40 | Stage II

Biomarkers: Germline BRCA1 mutation; triple-negative breast cancer

Surgical pathology was all clear on June 17 after a strong chemotherapy response. Lucy described herself as cancer-free and continued oncology reviews every 3–4 months while planning delayed reconstruction.

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Stage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Melissa's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Melissa, Female | Stage II

Biomarkers: Triple-negative breast cancer; BRCA testing negative; NBN gene mutation identified on later testing

Melissa completed pregnancy-adapted cancer treatment, later underwent risk-reducing surgery and reconstruction, and was raising both daughters.

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Stage IV rectal cancer with liver metastases and a rare tumor subtype

Patient Info: Anonymized, Male, 50s | Stage IV

Biomarkers: HER2 amplification; KRAS/NRAS wild type; microsatellite stable

Metastatic Site: liver

He declined systemic treatment, entered home hospice, and died in August 2025 with Stage IV rectal cancer.

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Stage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Alison's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Alison, Female, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: ER-positive; PR-positive; HER2-positive

Metastatic Site: Cervical/neck lymph nodes

Alison reported complete remission since August 2017 while continuing intermittent maintenance chemotherapy, most recently 1 month of treatment followed by 2 months off.

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Stage III HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stefanie's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Stefanie, Female | Stage III

Biomarkers: ER-positive, PR-positive and HER2-positive

Stefanie completed chemotherapy, breast-conserving surgery, prolonged Herceptin and 30 radiation treatments, then moved into survivorship while still adjusting to the lasting effects of treatment.

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Stage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shari's Patient Story

Patient Info: Shari S., Female | Stage IV

Biomarkers: ER-positive, PR-positive and HER2-positive; no inherited cancer mutation was identified

Metastatic Site: Brain; other initial metastatic sites were not named

Systemic imaging after chemotherapy showed no active disease, but brain metastases later required stereotactic radiation. Shari remained stage 4, continued Herceptin every 3 weeks and underwent brain MRI every 3–4 months.

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Paul Weigel

Patient Info: Paul Weigel, Male, 40s | Stage III

Paul completed treatment, returned to endurance athletics, and later became a colorectal cancer advocate and author.

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Stage II Breast Cancer: Wendi's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Wendi Kushner | Stage II

Biomarkers: Triple-positive

After the clinical trial, lumpectomy pathology showed a complete pathological response with no residual cancer in the breast or lymph nodes.

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Colorectal Cancer: Janine's Patient Story

Patient Info: Janine Stellacci, Female

Janine completed treatment and ileostomy reversal in 2024 and remained active in exercise and colorectal cancer screening advocacy.

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Breast cancer treatment in a woman with mirror-image organ anatomy

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female

Biomarkers: ER-positive; HER2-negative

A woman in her early 60s with mirror-image organ anatomy received chemotherapy and mastectomy for left breast cancer after a specially planned venous port placement.

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Rare ovarian cancer diagnosed during pregnancy after an initial misdiagnosis

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, Under 40 | Stage IV

Biomarkers: SMARCA4 and TP53 alterations

Metastatic Site: liver|spleen|bone

After a complete response in July 2024, the cancer recurred widely within about 6 months. She died from progressive disease in January 2025.

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Stage IV Gastric Adenocarcinoma: Derek's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Derek Cooney, Male, 40s | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: peritoneum

At his first follow-up in June, scans showed no evidence of disease, and he later completed his pain-management fellowship.

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Lung adenocarcinoma that spread to the thyroid 9 years later

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 60s | Stage IV

Metastatic Site: thyroid

After the thyroid metastasis was removed, she started systemic chemotherapy and remained under oncology management.

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Stage I Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: Jen's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Jen, Female, 50s | Stage I

Jen completed 2 operations and radiation for a 3.5 mm stage 1 lobular breast cancer and then entered post-treatment follow-up.

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No rectal cancer recurrence 8 years after surgery despite a new rectal mass

Patient Info: Anonymized, Female, 40s

About 8 years after rectal-cancer surgery, evaluation of a new rectal submucosal mass found a postoperative abscess rather than recurrent cancer, with no evidence of tumor recurrence.

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Ovarian Cancer: Robyn's Survivor Story

Patient Info: Robyn Townsend

After surgery, 6 rounds of chemotherapy and ongoing olaparib, she reported no evidence of disease since the previous December.

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Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shelby's Patient Story

Patient Info: Shelby, Female, Under 40

As of June 2026, Shelby had undergone double mastectomy and AC chemotherapy during pregnancy as a surrogate and delivered a healthy baby; long-term cancer status was not clearly stated.

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