Mary Shertenlieb wanted to toe the line at the Boston Marathon in 2025, but her body was not on board; she was in the middle of treatment for her fourth cancer diagnosis. This year, however, she ran, completing her fifth Boston and her sixth marathon overall.
“I feel so lucky that I get to do this,” says Shertenlieb, age 50, who has raised $156,000 to date for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “I feel this tremendous gratitude at the start line for the generosity and understanding people have shown. It is such a good cause.”
Since her original diagnosis in 2013, Shertenlieb has fought through three rounds of treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a blood cancer, and one round of treatment for her latest diagnosis, an unusual recurrence of AML that presented in her breast rather than her blood. It’s the kind of diagnosis that is so unusual that there is no standard therapy. Her entire Dana-Farber team conferred to confirm the diagnosis was accurate and that the treatment plan was sound. The team also worked with her to understand her needs and her goals and incorporated that into her care plan.
“I was scared. But at the same time, I thought, if there’s anybody who can figure it out, it’s this team,” says Shertenlieb, who works in philanthropy at MIT and is a mother of two teen boys. “They’ve got the medical expertise down, but they also think about the whole picture.”
Determined to run
After receiving treatment for AML by Richard Stone, MD, chief of staff at Dana-Farber and director of Translational Research in the Adult Leukemia Program, Shertenlieb received a stem cell transplant in 2014 under the care of Robert Soiffer, MD, chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at Dana-Farber, with her sister, Amanda Whitworth, as her stem cell donor. The two doctors and their nurse practitioners, Ilene Galinsky, NP, and Amy Joyce, NP, remain her dedicated care team today.
In 2018, she was still in remission and decided to run the Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber. Her finish was triumphant, and she went on to run the New York City marathon that fall.
Shertenlieb fully intended to run Boston again in 2019 but was sidelined with hip pain. She assumed it was caused by too much running, but a scan showed otherwise.
“They said, it’s not the running, it’s the steroids,” she recalls. “Your hip is like Swiss cheese.”
Shertenlieb has chronic graft versus host disease, where her body continually fights against the donor cells from her stem cell transplant. To keep that condition under control, she takes steroids to dampen her immune system. That treatment can take a toll on joints like the hips and knees.
After her hip replacement, Shertenlieb laced back up and ran for Dana-Farber in October 2021, April 2023, and April 2024.
“Mary is exceptionally courageous, and so kind, thanking us at every visit for getting her to where she is now,” says Galinsky. “But she’s done all the work, fighting to get through her treatment. She is very determined.”
An unusual recurrence
In November of 2024, Shertenlieb noticed a strange mark on her breast. A biopsy showed that her AML had returned in the form of a solid tumor.
“It came back with the same type of leukemic cells she had before,” says Stone. “We had to really think about what to do next.”
The Dana-Farber team opted to treat the spot with radiation, followed by chemotherapy to address any remaining cells.
“When you finish radiation, you get to ring a little bell. Isn’t that adorable?” says Shertenlieb. “It’s just another one of these ways that the medical teams show their compassion and empathy. They are all just next-level human beings.”
Shertenlieb missed the marathon in 2025, but later that year, she was in remission again. Stone, wanting to keep any future recurrence at bay, offered her a medicine that targets a mutation that helps her cancer grow.
In December of 2025, she started taking it, but experienced side effects that were interfering with her marathon training. The team decided it would be safe for her to pause the treatment, with plans to restart it after the April 2026 marathon.
“We asked her if she was sure she wanted to run the marathon. She said, yes, I’m going to do it,” recalls Galinsky, who worked with Stone on an adjusted treatment plan “Of course she would.”
And she did.
Her husband and sons were there to cheer her on at miles 13 and 19 and again at the finish line. She plans to be back again next year, too.
These stories are so inspiring
What an inspiring story! Congratulations, Mary, on reaching your latest finish line, and kudos to Dr. Ilene, and everybody else on your Dana-Farber team who helped get you there.