Breast Cancer

Welcome to our newest issue of CONQUER. We know the value of hearing the experiences of cancer survivors and family caregivers. It helps people to relate, feel a sense of connection, and provides food for thought. We have many stories, with several focusing on breast cancer, including male breast cancer. Pink ribbons are not just for women.

Teresa Todt could not shake the nagging feeling that the pain in her breast was something serious, but repeated visits to her gynecologist and a mammogram didn’t lead anywhere. It was only after she found blood in her bra that additional tests showed she had invasive breast cancer.

Enjoy Lillie Shockney’s sense of humor as you read her personal story of how working as a nurse and facing her own breast cancer diagnosis shaped her life and her lifelong work as a breast cancer educator and advocate.

Recently, Tecentriq became the first immunotherapy to be approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly difficult type of breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive type of cancer that usually has a high rate of disease recurrence (returning) within the first 5 years after diagnosis.

In May 2019, the FDA approved Piqray (alpelisib), the first PI3K inhibitor for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer with a PI3KCA mutation in postmenopausal women, and in men. An FDA spokesperson said it was the first treatment “to demonstrate a clinically meaningful benefit” for this type of breast cancer.

In February 2019, the FDA issued a letter to raise awareness of the risk for a rare type of lymphoma, BIA-ALCL, that is linked to all types of breast implants. Although this is an uncommon reaction to implants, all women who have or intend to get an implant after breast cancer should be aware of this risk. Learn more about this risk here.

Melody recounts her story of being a 34-year-old new mother diagnosed with breast cancer.