Metastatic Breast Cancer

Looking back at my journey with wigs, or "the girls", during my early treatment for cancer.

Becoming a dog owner, and the designated dog walker, while my dog and I both moved through cancer treatment is an experience that has shaped my motivation on the cancer journey.

Updated data from the phase 2 DESTINY-Breast01 study continues to show encouraging and durable responses for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Data from the trial that led to the Food and Drug Administration approval demonstrated that Margenza plus chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer by 24%, compared with Herceptin plus chemotherapy.

Tesetaxel, a novel agent, with Xeloda contributed to a median progression-free survival of 9.8 months, compared with 6.9 months with Xeloda alone, in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Premenopausal women with HR-positive, HER2-negative, lymph node-positive breast cancer and a risk for recurrence experienced benefits with chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy, with improvements in five-year invasive disease-free and overall survival.

An increase in gastrointestinal side effects were found with the more effective combination of oral paclitaxel and encequidar; however, new safety evaluations demonstrated that various antiemetics can help treat these effects in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

In addition to having greater efficacy, the combination of oral paclitaxel and encequidar demonstrated lower rates of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with metastatic breast cancer compared to intravenous paclitaxel.

My grandpa always lived life to the fullest, until the day he couldn't. And while he did, he didn't have to know about my cancer diagnosis.

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.