#metastatic breast cancer

[jenthebug]

Guess who doesn’t have cancer! This bitch!

[bpod-bpod]

Aggressive Features

Features that differentiate highly metastatic breast cancer cells from less aggressive forms revealed. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition defines changes that cells undergo when becoming invasive, whether during tissue development, wound healing or cancer progression. This study shows that highly metastatic cells bear a hybrid of epithelial and mesenchymal characteristics

Read the published research article here

Video captured with Leica Microsystems technology

Video from work by Mary E. Herndon and colleagues

Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, September 2024

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[shannendoherty-fans]

Published Aug 1, 2024

The Cancer Community Says After The Loss of Shannen Doherty, It’s Important To Keep Going- A Legacy of Bravery

The 'Beverly Hills, 90210' star candidly shared about her day-to-day fight with metastatic breast cancer up until the end.

By Marissa Sullivan.

An Inspirational Icon

The loss of Shannen Doherty, who died on July 13 of stage 4 metastatic breast cancer at age 53, affected fans and loved ones from around the world, and the cancer community was hit particularly hard by this profound loss.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 actress gave people hope, and despite her passing — which can be especially devastating for other late stage survivors, it’s important to keep going in her honor and not give up that hope that she instilled.

After the death of a loved one or someone you looked up to, it’s key to remember that grief may look different for everyone. The stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These labels help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. These stages can also occur in any order.

As far as your own cancer journey, don’t give up. There are more and more options becoming available for patients to manage symptoms of advanced stage disease, and it’s best to talk about specific treatment plans and what is best for you with your own doctor.

The loss of Shannen Doherty, who died on July 13 of stage 4 metastatic breast cancer at age 53, affected fans and loved ones from around the world, and the cancer community was hit particularly hard by this profound loss.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 star gave people hope, and despite her passing — which can be exceptionally heavy on other late stage survivors, it’s important to keep going and not lose faith in your own journey.

Doherty was over four years into her advanced stage diagnosis and had gained a powerful voice in the health space with her Let’s Be Clear podcast, holding nothing back as she aired out past personal struggles in her career and love live, and candidly spoke of her day-to-day fight.

Actress Shannen Doherty became a household name after starring in hit shows like ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ and ‘Charmed.’ “This is what I am currently facing. #cancer #life,” Doherty captioned what would be her last video post.

The day the world woke up to the tragic news, comments came pouring in on Instagram for the late pop culture icon.

“Rest in peace. I’m donating to metavivor today in your honor,” one fan commented, while actress Selma Blair shared: “Thank you for showing us how to keep going.”

CEO Alana Stewart — who runs the Farrah Fawcett Foundation in honor of her late best friend’s cancer mission — wrote, “God bless you, you’re an amazing inspiration.”

How to Cope After Losing a Loved One to Cancer

After the death of a loved one or someone you looked up to, it’s key to remember that grief may look different for everyone.

Everyone is entitled to their feelings, and yes, the emotions are real, even if you consider yourself “just a fan.”

The stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These labels help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. These stages can also occur in any order.

The time it takes to navigate these stages can also vary, so giving yourself grace and patience is essential while navigating your feelings.

“It often gets better over time, but on certain days, it can look like depression, and on other days, people look perfectly normal and can function,” Dr. Scott Irwin, a board-certified psychiatrist and Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet.

‘Grief Comes in Waves’

Dr. Irwin added that grieving people are coming to terms with “the change in their life; the future they had imagined is now different.”

SurvivorNet also had a prior conversation with Megan Newcomer, who lost a close friend to metastatic cancer in 2018. She shared her unique way of coping with grief.

Newcomer’s friend was an athlete and soccer player, so to help her cope, she embarked on a marathon race in his honor, and advises others grieving to first “acknowledge your feelings.”

Shannen Doherty was a passionate animal rights activist. Courtesy of Instagram/Shannen Doherty

“Then, think about a way that you could honor the person through a mechanism that is meaningful to you,” she continued. “So that can be artwork, music, or developing a financial fundraising project. It could be something very simple, but I do think having it be intentional is what you’re doing to help honor this person.”

In a column for SurvivorNet, New York-based clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin expressed that it may be helpful to remind yourself that these feelings are “meaningful yet temporary.”

“If you approach them with compassion, kindness, and eventually acceptance, you will come away from this period in your life more connected to your resilience and strength,” Dr. Strongin added.

Understanding Metastatic Breast Cancer

Stage 4, or metastatic breast cancer, means that the cancer has spread to distant areas of the body. Even though there is currently no cure for metastatic breast cancer, doctors have many options to treat this advanced stage of breast cancer.

Hormone therapy, chemotherapy and targeted drugs are all options to talk to her doctor about, depending on your individual needs. Sometimes surgery and/or radiation is considered as part of the treatment, but mainly it is important to focus on improving your quality of life.

Dr. Erica Mayer, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, says clinical trials have shown that hormone medicines are more effective when paired with targeted therapies. At some point, chemotherapy will be introduced. And according to Dr. Mayer, it’s delivered at a dose and schedule that’s as well-tolerated as possible.

“We are so lucky in breast cancer that we have so many effective and well-tolerated treatments,” Dr. Mayer previously told SurvivorNet. I’m so gratified to see that patients are doing better and living longer today with metastatic breast cancer than they have ever done before.”

Bottom line, there are more and more options becoming available for patients to manage symptoms of advanced stage disease, and it’s best to talk about specific treatment plans and what is best for you with your own doctor.

Treating Metastatic Breast Cancer

With metastatic breast cancer, the primary goal of treatment is to control its spread. SurvivorNet offers information about what those options are from targeted therapies to chemotherapy and when these various treatment options can be used.

We also provide information on new, exciting research that is currently being tested in clinical trials and information about when recently approved drugs, like immunotherapies, can be used.

For help finding a clinical trial that may be right for you or a loved one, try our easy-to-use Clinical Trial Finder.

While there have been many developments in recent years when it comes to treating late-stage breast cancer, which therapies can be used will depend on the characteristics of the patient’s cancer.

What are the treatment options for late-stage breast cancer?

“Metastatic breast cancer is a treatable disease,” Dr. Kenneth D. Miller, medical oncologist at the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore shared in a pior interview with SurvivorNet.

“Fortunately, we have so many new treatments for women with recurrent breast cancer and for many women who look at this as a chronic disease that they can live with — often for many years.”

*****

RELATED: ‘Stage Four Needs More’: Metastatic Breast Cancer Requires Dramatically More Research Investment’ Say Advocates Mourning ‘90210’ Actress Shannen Doherty

RELATED: For Patients, The Inspiration of a Famous Actress And Her Quest to Make Sure Her Affairs Were in Order — Mourning Shannen Doherty

RELATED: Crusading to Save Horses, Shannen Doherty Says ‘We Have To Speak For The Voiceless’

RELATED: ‘Not Done Living & Loving’ Said Actress Shannen Doherty– She Placed Hope In Experimental Drug Trials To Treat Metastatic Breast Cancer

[anzu2snow]

Went to Olive Garden yesterday for dinner. I got their chicken and gnocchi soup. It actually had a decent amount of gnocchi. Then, I had their create your own pasta dish: rigatoni, 5-cheese marinara, and broccoli. There was a lot of broccoli. The sauce was a bit watery again. It was pretty good other than that. I get to have the rest of it for lunch today. Yay! It was also the first time in a long time that I paid for my dinner at a sit down restaurant with my own money. I just got my first deposit of my ssi money recently. I got a little gunk on my card. I don’t think their machine was clean, but I did it. (Cleaned it off afterwards.) It wasn’t that expensive either. I thought it would be. Didn’t have dessert there, because nothing interested me. I had a cowboy cookie from home instead.

[thecorvidforest]

Urgent aid request from someone I know. This request is time-sensitive; if you can’t help out, reblogs/sharing the graphic elsewhere would be greatly appreciated.

[glcarissa]

A terminal cancer diagnosis is challenging and difficult to accept.

Follow the stage 4 breast cancer journey of a Toronto older Black woman abstract artist. I am blessed to still have the energy and determination to share my story and show my art, as I navigate a world of uncertainty and many life-changing challenges.

@gloriacswain | Linktree

Instagram: @metastaticbreastcancer4

gofundme: Fundraiser by Gloria C Swain : Please Help Me Fight Stage 4 Breast Cancer (gofundme.com)

[forever-tiffany]

Missing my Mom always and forever

[fatedwithmbc]

I never wear heels. Ok, I ALMOST never wear heels, but I did when I went to church on Christmas Eve. The next day my heel felt bruised. I chalked it up to a poor shoe decision and figured it would heal itself as time went on. Here we are a month later and I have finally gone to the Podiatrist. It’s not a bruise: I have Insertional Achilles Tendonitis and a Sural Nerve Impingement. Best case scenario steroids and injections will resolve my issues. Physical Therapy may be an option. Worst case scenario could require surgery. I was informed it’s a major surgery as I have would have to have the piece of bone removed from my heel that is aggravating the Achilles. For the next week I’m on steroids, have stretching to do and had to buy a more flexible sneaker. If there is no improvement, it’s injection time at my next appointment.

Despite this being all foot related, my MBC became forefront of the appointment. As I was having my foot x-rayed, the technician asked if I was pregnant or trying and I said matter of factly I could not conceive. She asked why and we began a discussion about my diagnosis and she couldn’t fathom it because of how young I looked. She seemed genuinely concerned and shocked. She asked about my metastasis and how my treatment was coming along. I felt heard by a stranger. And it felt genuine.

My doctor also asked about my MBC as the steroids will reduce the effectiveness of my aromatase inhibitor, but it’s the most conservative treatment for my foot.

I never thought my foot appointment would have so much to do with my cancer diagnosis and yet nothing to do with it at all. It was an interesting appointment.

I know I haven’t had an entry in quite sometime but the interactions today stuck with me and I felt like I needed to get the out of my head. I’m glad to have this space for these type of scenarios.

[pleasureisabirthright]

can't help but think about how in 2022 all i wanted to do was die and now in 2024 all i want to do is live for as long as i can.

depression will do that to you; make you think you want to die when you just want to not be in pain.

now im facing a terminal illness at 26 and want nothing more than to live.

i want to see 27, 28,29, 30, etc.

i want to grow old

i want to stay here, be here.

please pray for me

[maldreathezora]

tumor markers are down 😀 chemo (enhertu) infusion 55.

nov 7 2023. age 32.

[jenthebug]

I went to my appointment and found out that I don’t have cancer anymore.

Then I got home to a letter that I don’t have a job to go back to. Fired for “failure to return from leave.”

I need a fucking drink.

[bpod-bpod]

Fat Checking

Protein called IGFBP2 secreted by healthy fat cells of the breast limit the progression of a non-invasive type of breast cancer to invasive

Read the published research paper here

Image from work by James R. W. Conway and colleagues

Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Science Advances, July 2023

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[florida-breeze]

https://www.zazzle.com/z/drzpr9w4?rf=238911361554516080

[anzu2snow]

Finally had a phone appointment with my oncologist. It kept getting postponed. They said I had to have it as a follow-up. They had it scheduled for 5pm. (I don’t why it was so late in the day. They were the ones that scheduled it.) She called me this morning when I wasn’t around my phone. She said she was sick again and couldn’t do the 5pm one, and said she’d call at 12pm. I waited for a while, but she didn’t call back. So, I called the oncology department about it, and they were confused about it. She called me after that. So weird.

I brought up my bone pain. It’s still pretty bad. She asked if it was in one area. It’s not. It’s all over. She said I should try taking 1mg of dexamethasone daily, instead of the 0.5mg. She wants me to switch from anastrozole to letrozole. Apparently, letrozole is similar. According to Google, letrozole is a hormone based chemotherapy. Anastrozole could be causing some of the bone pain as well. So she’ll prescribe it, and I’ll get it through the mail. She said it’s very important that I stop anastrozole, then wait a day, and then I can start letrozole. I can’t have them at the same time. Hopefully this will help.

I also talked about a ‘mass’ or tumor I started noticing a few days ago. It’s big. It’s on the left side of my chest, and starts with a weird looking dimple. It goes from close to my neck near my left shoulder until my heart area. She said she has to look at it in person. She wrote down what I told her anyways. She said I should probably have an in-person appointment after the bone scan at the end of the month. She said the problem is she’ll be in Tacoma during that time until the end of July. She said I most likely will see a colleague of hers instead. I hope I’m just imagining this ‘mass’. Don’t know what they’ll do about it. Especially with someone new to my ‘case’. I feel like I need a new oncologist. She did tell me to keep her up to date. She doesn’t seem to like email, which makes it harder. Hopefully my bone pain will get better soon, and the mass I see is really nothing.

[livingwithmbc]

Happy New Year!

If your holiday season was anything like mine, it was a little different but low-key this year.

Thankfully, I've got some positive updates to share, mainly about my mom. She finished up radiation to the tumor in her brain like a champ and as of now, scans are showing she's clear! Her original lung cancer is still showing on scans, but it's smaller so it's been responding well to chemo. My mom only has one more chemo left then she's done!

My oophorectomy was smooth sailing. I was in some moderate pain for 3 days afterwards then I was able to manage with only Tylenol after that. All I have to show for it are a couple small incisions which have healed up nicely.

In December I started an oral chemo medication called Kisqali. It's allegedly a "smart chemo" so I have to take pills rather than go the traditional chemo route and for that I'm grateful since the side effects are less than that of traditional chemo. The most annoying side effect so far is extreme fatigue and my own frustrations from feeling so tired. I've noticed it makes it challenging for me to make plans too far in advance since I don't know if I'll have the energy for X. A positive of this entire shitshow is that I'm taking care of my body better than I have in nearly a decade. I'm doing yoga daily and making sure to use the treadmill a few days a week. I'm not thrilled that I'll be on these meds for 2-5 years, but I've accepted that this is my new normal so I'm determined to make the best of it.

In other news, we are getting ready to fly down to Disney in a little over a week to celebrate our dear friends' 10th anniversary vow renewal in Epcot. We desperately need a vacation and so we made one out of the special occasion. I spoke with my oncologist and she gave me the okay to take a week off my chemo meds while I'm on vacation so I can fully enjoy myself and have some energy to do so.

Lots of love,

L

[glcarissa]

I haven't posted for a few months due to major health issues. From March 12, 2023, when I first located the lump in my left breast, to the present, it has been heart wrenching and challenging. I no longer have my father or mother, both have sadly passed away, to help me through this. And I don't want to be a burden on my children. Siblings ... all blood is not necessarily family, which is the saddest part of going through this alone.

After being in remission from ovarian cancer surgery in 2018, I was just diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, that has spread to my bones.

The illness and treatment have drastically impacted my physical and mental health to the point where I have not been fully active for several months. It has taken a toll on me, to say the least. Everything has changed. I am sad to admit, also, that many people have also changed. This is a devastating and horrible disease that no one should have to journey alone. But 'it is what it is' and I must keep fighting, whether with support or on my own.

Below is the link to my gofundme page to help me along my cancer journey. If you are able to donate, thank you in advance. If you are not able to donate, please consider sharing my page. I appreciate you all and hope to live as long as possible with this life-changing illness.

Cancer takes away everything. Each day is a battle, but this is my journey and forward I must go.

Stay safe. Be kind. Be humble. Be human.

Gloria C Swain [May 23, 1956 - ]