Targeted Therapy: 297 Real Stories
297 stories match targeted therapy. 183 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Breast Cancer: Cher’s Survivor Story
Cher first noticed a sore lump under her arm after recovering from COVID and thought it might be a swollen lymph node. When it grew larger and more painful, she went for evaluation. Ultrasound and lymph-node biopsy showed breast cancer, but imaging still…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Helen’s Survivor Story
Helen D. was diagnosed with Stage IV rectal cancer after her doctor called with urgent news. The cancer had spread to her liver, where doctors identified 10 to 14 lesions, several close to major blood vessels. Her care team initially warned that she might…
Read this storyHER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Jim’s Patient Story
Jim Keegan learned he could have breast cancer only after his wife felt a suspicious lump on his chest in May 2013. Their family doctor ordered a mammogram, which was inconclusive, so Jim had a biopsy the same day. The result was early-stage breast cancer. He…
Read this storyStage IV Lung Cancer: Lorie’s Patient Story
Lorie Young was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in March 2026 after a 1.2-inch tumor in the lower left lung was found by chance during a routine physical. A robotic bronchoscopy biopsy and other tests confirmed the diagnosis. Because the cancer had…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Tiffany’s Patient Story
Tiffany Andrews was 35 when a lump in her right breast led to a diagnosis of Stage II breast cancer. Testing showed HER2-positive disease. She began treatment with 6 rounds of chemotherapy combined with HER2-targeted therapy, then underwent a mastectomy…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Alison’s Survivor Story
Alison was 34 and breastfeeding when she found a lump under her right arm. Biopsies confirmed triple-positive breast cancer in the breast and axillary lymph nodes. After HER2 testing returned equivocal 3 times, the final result guided a TCHP regimen…
Read this storyStage III HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Stefanie’s Survivor Story
Stefanie first noticed a breast lump when she was 5 months pregnant and assumed it was a clogged milk duct. The night she delivered her second child by scheduled C-section, a postpartum nurse raised concern about the lump. An ultrasound was inconclusive, so a…
Read this storyStage IV HR-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Shari’s Patient Story
Shari found a breast lump in December 2015. A mammogram several months later led to a surgical lumpectomy because she had saline implants. The lump was breast cancer, and further staging showed that the triple-positive disease was already metastatic, making…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Anne’s Patient Story
Anne spent 35 years as a nurse and had already cared for her father through advanced lung cancer when she began having back pain in 2019. She initially blamed the pain on triathlon training and adjusted her exercise, but it kept worsening. Over the next 8…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff Meckstroth had a cough that lingered for several months before scans and biopsies led to a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis in 2015. He and his wife, Rhonda, were initially told that he might have only months to live. Extra tissue collected for biomarker…
Read this storyStage II Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Lucy’s Survivor Story
Lucy found a breast lump at 23, months after learning that she carried a germline BRCA1 mutation. Several clinicians thought the area felt like fibrous tissue, but because of her inherited risk she continued with imaging and biopsy. Three days after her 24th…
Read this storyStage II Breast Cancer: Wendi’s Survivor Story
During a September bicycling trip, an unnamed patient felt a sudden stabbing pain in the right breast. A biopsy of the painful lump showed Stage II, high-grade, triple-positive breast cancer. The diagnosis was unexpected despite annual mammograms and a…
Read this storyOvarian Cancer: Robyn’s Survivor Story
This ovarian cancer survivor was first diagnosed in April 2022. During routine follow-up in March 2025, abdominal scans showed an enlarged lymph node and raised concern that the cancer had returned. Wanting another opinion before deciding on treatment, she…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Betty’s Patient Story
Betty Jean had survived breast cancer in 2019, but a later episode of back pain changed the course of her life again. While on vacation, she developed pain that seemed like a bad back problem. Imaging instead revealed Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, with…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Rosee’s Patient Story
Rosee’s symptoms began in September 2022 with severe dizziness, loss of balance, and a spinning sensation. Over the next 2 years, she developed hearing loss, persistent vertigo, migraines, and numbness in one hand. The symptoms were attributed to Ménière’s…
Read this storyStage IV EGFR Lung Cancer: Shannon’s Survivor Story
Shannon was 35 when a cough lingered for about 1.5 months, followed by severe neck pain that did not respond to repeated muscle relaxers. The pain reached 7 or 8 out of 10, limited her ability to turn her head or pick up her children, and continued through…
Read this storyStage IV Breast Cancer: Bethany’s Patient Story
Bethany was 34 when she was first diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. After treatment, she reached remission and was told she was cancer-free. She made major life changes afterward, including separating from her husband, moving to Colorado, and starting a…
Read this storyStage III HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Genoa’s Survivor Story
Genoa was living the life she wanted when a subtle but persistent feeling of nausea made her think something was wrong. She was already due for a mammogram, and her OB-GYN also ordered a breast MRI because of her family history of breast cancer. The MRI…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma: Renee’s Patient Story
Renee first found a hard, painful breast area after playing with her children. Her family doctor quickly suspected breast cancer, and testing showed Stage III disease. The first plan was chemotherapy before surgery, with the hope that she might be able to…
Read this storyStage II HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Rach’s Patient Story
Rach D. was 27 when she noticed a change in her right breast during her honeymoon. At first, she was unsure whether the lump had always been there. A January physical exam became the turning point: her doctor felt 3 masses and sent her for ultrasound. The…
Read this storyStage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Nancee’s Patient Story
Nancee Pronsati was an active runner when a persistent cough kept being treated as bronchitis with antibiotics or inhalers. She had believed lung cancer mostly affected smokers, so it was not on her radar. During a race in Nashville, she coughed for 13 miles…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Ken’s Patient Story
Ken was 59 when Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer was found after years of intermittent bowel changes. He had loose stools, increasing bathroom frequency, and occasional blood, but no abdominal pain and no major appetite problems, so he kept hoping the symptoms…
Read this storyStage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Jill’s Patient Story
Jill already knew the fear of lung cancer before her own diagnosis. Her father died at 41, only 3 months after being diagnosed, and her mother died at 54, 6 months after her diagnosis. Because of that family history, Jill had periodic CT scans even though she…
Read this storyStage II Ovarian Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Caitlin’s Survivor Story
Caitlin Koehler was 27 when a year of severe abdominal pain finally led to CT imaging that found an 11 cm mass on her right ovary. She underwent removal of the right ovary and fallopian tube, and pathology showed Stage II squamous cell carcinoma arising in a…
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