Breast Cancer Survivor Provides Textured Wig Options to Women of Color 

In the midst of a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation for ​​breast cancer, Dianne Austin thought finding a wig to cover her balding head would be easy. She quickly learned otherwise.  As a Black woman, Austin desired a wig that resembled her tightly coiled, kinky and curly hair. This was 2015, and although several hospitals near … Read more

Breast Cancer and Young People of Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Descent: What You Need to Know 

Between 2000 and 2021, breast cancer rates in people under 50 of Asian or Pacific Islander decent rose by nearly 50%, from 36 to 55 cases per 100,000, with sharper increases between 2020 and 2021. Rates of breast cancer in young people are known to be rising in general, but this rate increase, according to … Read more

Researchers Uncover Key Actor in Spread of Breast Cancer to the Brain 

When breast cancer metastasizes, it often heads for the brain, where it can be exceptionally difficult to root out. The key to preventing the spread of the cancer, or thwarting it if it does reach the brain, is to understand the mechanism that turns stationary tumor cells into nomadic intruders.  In a recent study, a … Read more

Acupuncture for Hot Flashes with Breast Cancer Treatment: Your Questions Answered 

After treatment for early-stage breast cancer, patients are eager to get back to their normal lives. Most, however, are prescribed five or more years of hormone therapy, such as estrogen-blocking medicines, to help keep the cancer from coming back.   These medicines can cause menopause-like symptoms even in people who are decades away from menopause. Symptoms … Read more

Breast Cancer Disparities: What Is Dana-Farber Doing to Address Them?  

Overall survival of breast cancer has improved for everyone in the U.S. in recent years, but the pace isn’t the same for all groups of people. Some groups still experience dramatic disparities.   For example, according to the American Cancer Society:  Dana-Farber wants to close these gaps so that everyone benefits equally from high-quality care and … Read more

Dana-Farber’s Focus on Equity in Breast Cancer Clinical Research 

Clinical trials assess new medicines to ensure they are safe and effective and to find out which patients they are most likely to benefit.   However, clinical trials often enroll few people of color for a constellation of reasons related to historical marginalization of certain groups. Systemic marginalization can result in lower levels of income, fewer … Read more

Improving Everything: Movement and Exercise Helped Breast Cancer Patient Restore Her Mobility and More

 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

Patient with Breast Cancer Lives Her Best Life with the Help of a Team 

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

Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivor Proves Her Endurance at NYC Marathon 

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

Tailored Treatment and Support for Older Adults with Breast Cancer 

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

Research Drives Key Protein from the Shadows to Reveal Its Role in Breast Cancer Subtype 

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

Finding Reason to Laugh with Metastatic Breast Cancer 

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

What is HER2-Low Breast Cancer? 

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

Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, Mother is Given a Chance to Raise Her Son 

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

Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, Valentines Ferry On

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