When Sandra Noack returned home from a visit to Bogota, Colombia, to visit her family, there was a letter waiting for her. It was a leaflet sent via the Massachusetts Department of Public Health describing a clinical trial at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for Latina and Hispanic breast cancer survivors. The trial didn’t involve any medicine. … Read more
Thirteen years after Vici Robinson was treated for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, she began experiencing shortness of breath. Her local physicians in New Hampshire determined her symptoms came from liquid that was filling her lung. Then came the shocking news that this was caused by a breast cancer recurrence which had metastasized. At 81, Robinson … Read more
When Meghan MacDonald visited her primary care provider in the fall of 2022 to get a lump in her breast examined, they confirmed her suspicion that it was just an inflamed cyst. Relieved, MacDonald began a course of antibiotics, but when the lump didn’t go away, her doctor ordered a mammogram, and when the results … Read more
After treatment at Dana-Farber, Dena Ofengeim was able to get on her bike, train with her friends, and complete the Pan-Mass Challenge.
Over the past 30 years, outcomes have improved dramatically for women with breast cancer. There are many new treatments, including hormone therapies and CDK4/6 inhibitors. In contrast, there has been no improvement in the outcomes for men with breast cancer. And current guidelines don’t support the use of newer therapies in men. “If we do … Read more
As a veteran scuba diver who has donned her wetsuit around the globe, Stephanie Lafontaine is never more at peace than when deep below the water’s surface. Even if she’s sharing the depths with sharks, she considers it her happy place. So when Lafontaine, 42, learned in April 2019 that she had inflammatory breast cancer … Read more
The trip from Nantucket to Boston, involving a long drive and ferry ride, is an arduous four-hour journey (not counting summer traffic). But when Nantucket resident and retired educator, Claudia Kilvert, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she committed to regularly getting in the car with her husband and 80-pound golden retriever Luna to get treatment … Read more
Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer and affects almost 300,000 women in the United States every year. The good news is that with early detection, the chances of successful treatment are higher. This is why breast cancer screening — which uses tests and imaging to detect cancer in people without … Read more
In a branch of the PI3K protein family — with members named PI3Kα, PI3Kβ, PI3Kδ, and PI3Kγ — PI3Kβ was long treated as the proverbial middle child: neglected by cancer scientists in favor of its more prominent siblings. In a new study, Dana-Farber researchers demonstrate that it doesn’t deserve its obscurity — that in fact … Read more
By Valerie Frank Ever since I can remember, I’ve made people laugh. I was always the funny friend, and when I was in my mid-20s I made it official by becoming a Main Stage cast member of ImprovBoston — an improvisational comedy theater in Cambridge, MA. Once I retired from improv to become a suburban … Read more
One of the ways of classifying breast cancers is by the level of a protein called HER2 on the surface of tumor cells. HER2, which stands for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, helps control how breast cells grow, divide, and repair damage. Breast cancers marked by high levels of HER2 are known as HER2-positive … Read more
Just over a year after giving birth to her son, Emmett, Abigail Myers faced a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in March 2014. It started when Myers woke up one morning feeling sore. When she found a lump, she rushed to her doctor, all the while in disbelief that she might have cancer. A resident … Read more
At first, Joy Mills and Arthur “Buck” Benedict look like any other happy, older couple traveling by ferry from their home on Peaks Island, Maine, to Portland. Admiring the beautiful views, they sit outside when weather permits. They laugh, chat with friends, and occasionally needle each other during the 18-minute trip. Once a month, the … Read more
When Jennifer Fullerton was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, her mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. “I thought I was going to die. That first day all I could think was ‘why me,’” Fullerton says. “My mom very poignantly told me, ‘Today you can say ‘why me,’ but tomorrow, ‘why not me’. And you … Read more
Nancy Arsenault was taking a lunch break from driving her elementary school bus route in her hometown of Stow, Massachusetts, when she began to experience double vision. She had been first diagnosed with pre-invasive breast cancer in 2006, which recurred in 2011. In 2019, she developed an invasive breast cancer in her chest wall and … Read more
Plant-based diets have many known health benefits, but can they reduce the risk of breast cancer? In fact, some evidence suggests that people who eat rich in non-starchy vegetables may be at lower risk of some kinds of breast cancer. However, Dana-Farber physician and researcher Jennifer Ligibel, MD, cautions that the evidence that consuming a … Read more
Logic said that drugs known as PARP inhibitors would work as well — and perhaps even better — in breast cancer marked by BRCA gene mutations than in ovarian cancer carrying the same abnormalities. Clinical results said otherwise. Patients with relapsed, BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer survive longer, overall, with PARP inhibitor treatment than any other therapy. … Read more
Lianne Kraemer describes two breast cancer diagnoses before age 40 — including metastatic breast cancer (MBC) that had spread to her brain — as “slamming into one brick wall, getting back on life’s highway, and then slamming into another.” Now, as she continues navigating her way with the disease, Kraemer is helping those traveling a … Read more
As a marathon runner, Kara Niewohner knows a thing or two about perseverance. This same trait that propels her through the 26.2 miles of each marathon course served her well through her quest for a second opinion after being diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer with a BRCA2 mutation — one that led her to Dana-Farber. … Read more
Anne Keane is a big fan of counting, from laps swam to miles ran to birthdays celebrated by her daughter Ruby. The most recent was Ruby’s seventh, and Keane plans on marking many more as she continues enjoying an active lifestyle with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). “We’re just so lucky to get to wake up … Read more