Metastatic Breast Cancer

We miss each other at this desperate time, and we need each other more than ever. But living with cancer creates an extra challenge when navigating celebrating the holidays during COVID-19.

Recalling my double mastectomy for breast cancer treatment and the strange experience it altogether was.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular CURE® stories. Here are the top five for October 2020.

Getting a second opinion is vital in handling metastatic breast cancer, after all, four eyes are better than two.

Stephanie Walker, who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2015, recalls how her disease has pulled the rug out from underneath her.

Susan Swanson, who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2014, says it’s very important for patients to surround themselves with a good support network.

Kirby Lewis, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and whose disease metastasized in 2016, says his diagnosis helped his care team detect a heart condition.

“The future is not yours,” says Pam Haldeman, who has metastatic breast cancer. “A way to get back a little bit of control is to be your own advocate and get aggressive in researching and going to every conference or retreat available.”

Two women living with metastatic breast cancer that has spread to the brain describe the tools that are helping to keep them alive.

“Most kinds of breast cancer are potentially curable, but metastatic breast cancer is not,” says Kathleen Friel, lab director at the Burke Neurological Institute of Weill Cornell Medicine. “People assume, ‘Oh, you must be fine because you look fine.’ It puts a lot of expectations on us that, if somehow we’re strong enough, then we’ll beat this disease.”

How to turn breast cancer awareness into actions that can improve your life and those of people you love.

How does a metastatic cancer diagnosis affect families, especially children? CURE® spoke with Kate Watson, a patient ambassador for METAvivor, about the tricky balance of protecting and empowering kids.

For Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day on Oct. 13, 2020, here’s a round-up of fast facts and the latest news and updates in this disease space.

Adding the targeted drug Tukysa (tucatinib) to Herceptin (trastuzumab) and the chemotherapy Xeloda (capecitabine) lengthens life and time until disease progression in patients, without decreasing their health-related quality of life, researchers found in a follow-up to the HER2CLIMB study.

“Pinktober” is a major month for women with breast cancer, but sometimes that mainstream awareness doesn’t cover the experience of all women with breast cancer. Including those with metastatic breast cancer.

In a clinical trial, adding the CDK4/6 inhibitor Ibrance (palbociclib) to the hormonal treatment Faslodex (fulvestrant) delayed disease progression in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

A roundup of the latest news and updates for patients with metastatic breast cancer from CURE®.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular CURE® stories. Here are the top five stories for August 2020.

There are women all over the world advocating for flat closure and starting nonprofits to put flat on the menu and make it a viable choice when it comes to mastectomy.

In addition to not delaying disease worsening, the immunotherapy Tecentriq was associated with a negative survival trend, but data on the length of life were immature at the time of analysis and further analysis is planned.

Patients with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer need so much more. All I want is more time, because six years is just not enough.

“This study has highlighted the potential benefit of supportive resources to help women with (metastatic breast cancer) guard against potentially severe cancer-related financial losses for themselves and others within their households,” the authors wrote.

After being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, nurse Stephanie Walker was thrown into a world of isolation and new depths of depression she “never knew even existed”. Here, she details how working with a therapist and communicating with her family and friends helped her find her way out of the darkness.

While it may be tempting to “go to that dark place” when feeling the isolation that comes with metastatic breast cancer or a pandemic, Stephanie Walker shares her tips for how to emerge and connect with others.

In both diagnosis and treatment of cancer, there is a growing role for radiation drugs that are injected, ingested or inserted.