Kelly Hyland's Breast Cancer Battle
- “Dance Moms” alum Kelly Hyland is wishing her late mom, who passed away from breast cancer in 2019, a “heavenly birthday” with a sweet throwback photo on social media. Hyland also fought breast cancer, and her story reminds us on the importance of knowing one’s family history when it comes to cancer.
- She completed her second round of treatment in her fight against invasive carcinoma stage 1, grade 3 breast cancer earlier this year, just eight months after the first time she rang the bell.
- Hyland discovered she had cancer last Spring after finding a lump on her breast and getting a mammogram, followed by a biopsy. Her treatment consisted of chemotherapy, breast cancer surgery and radiation.
- For anyone battling breast cancer, it’s important to understand that your doctor has many ways to treat breast cancer, including: Surgery, Chemotherapy, Radiation, Hormone therapy, Targeted therapy, and Immunotherapy.
- It’s important to note that genetic testing can help your care team determine if you have a specific mutation that puts you at higher risk for cancer. The results help doctors tailor your treatment and are helpful for breast cancer patients.
The grade of cancer is determined based on how normal or abnormal the cells look under a microscope. The more normal cells are low-grade, such as grade 1 or grade 2, meaning the cancer is “less aggressive” and likely to grow and spread slowly. However, if tissue samples under a microscope reveal more abnormal cells, the cancer is higher grade and tends to grow and spread more quickly, making it more aggressive.
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She explained at the time, “I got to ring the bell today, this was the end of my first treatment … next steps surgery, 20 radiation, and 11 more treatments. I GOT THIS.”
Hyland’s initial treatment included chemotherapy and she used cryotherapy, to help reduce hair loss, which includes using a scalp-cooling device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The device is designed to help preserve hair when used before, during, and after chemotherapy. It constricts blood flow, limiting the circulating chemotherapy from reaching hair follicles.
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Understanding Breast Cancer Treatment
For anyone battling breast cancer, it’s important to understand that your doctor has many ways to treat breast cancer, including:
“It’s important to understand why your doctor is recommending a particular type of treatment,” Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center’s Dr. Jessica Tao previously told SurvivorNet.
Surgery
Most women with breast cancer will have surgery at some point in their treatment. Depending on how far your cancer has spread and your personal preferences, you and your doctor may decide to:
- Remove just the cancer and an area of healthy tissue around it (lumpectomy)
- Remove one breast (mastectomy)
- Remove both breasts (double mastectomy)
- Removing your breasts can have a dramatic effect on your self-esteem, which is why some women who opt for a mastectomy then choose breast reconstruction surgery. This is a highly personal choice, and there is no “right” answer as to whether or not to reconstruct.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses strong drugs to kill cancer all over the body. You may get this treatment to shrink a tumor before surgery, afterward to get rid of any remaining cancer cells, or on its own if you can’t have surgery.
Whether or not to have chemotherapy can also be a choice, depending on a woman’s age, type of cancer, and stage.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells and is typically used after surgery to lower the chance that the cancer will come back after treatment. Many women undergo radiation as part of their treatment, especially if they opt for a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy.
Hormone Therapy
The hormones estrogen and progesterone help some breast cancers grow. Doctors refer to these types of cancers as hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers. Receptors are proteins on the surface of breast cells that receive messages from estrogen, progesterone, or both, telling them to grow. Treatments that block these hormones may help stop the tumor.
Testing the tumor sample from a biopsy helps to determine whether hormone therapies such as tamoxifen (Nolvadex) or anastrozole (Arimidex) might work against the cancer. Women with breast cancer that is fueled by estrogen may take one of these drugs as part of their treatment.
Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy
Immunotherapy and targeted therapies are newer forms of treatment. Immunotherapy boosts your body’s own immune response to help it stop the cancer.
As their name suggests, targeted therapies target certain substances that help the cancer grow. For example, drugs like trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta) treat breast cancers that have too much of a protein called HER2 on their surface.
Screening For Breast Cancer
The medical community has a broad consensus that women have annual mammograms between the ages of 45 and 54. However, an independent panel of experts called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is saying that women should start getting mammograms every other year at the age of 40, suggesting that this lowered the age for breast cancer screening could save 19% more lives.
For women aged 55 and older, the American Cancer Society recommends getting a mammogram every other year. However, women in this age group who want added reassurance can still get annual mammograms.
Women with a strong family history of breast cancer, have dense breasts, have a genetic mutation known to increase the risk of breast cancer, such as a BRCA gene mutation, or a medical history, including chest radiation therapy before age 30, are considered at higher risk for breast cancer.
Experiencing menstruation at an early age (before 12) or having dense breasts can also put you into a high-risk category. If you are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
Breast density is determined through mammograms. However, women with dense breasts are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer because dense breast tissue can mask potential cancer during screening. 3D mammograms, breast ultrasound, breast MRI, and molecular breast imaging are options for women with dense breasts for a more precise screening. It is important to ask your doctor about your breast density and cancer risk
Which Mutations Are Important to Look for in Breast Cancer?
When it comes to genetic testing, which it’s unclear whether Hyland carries a gene that makes her more prone to the disease, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene changes are still the most important ones to look for in breast cancer.
Together, they are responsible for about half of all hereditary breast cancers. In a person without mutations, these genes prevent cells from dividing haphazardly and uncontrollably. Mutations prevent these genes from doing their job and can allow unchecked growth of breast, ovarian, and other tissues. This voracious growth paves the path for cancer development.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations increase the risk of developing breast cancer by up to 85% during their lifetime. To break it down, only 13% of all women will develop breast cancer during their lifetimes. If they carry the mutations, their risk increases to 45%-72%, depending upon their exact mutation.
The presence of such mutations can have a significant impact on the treatment options for women carrying them. “Presence of a BRCA1/2 gene mutation (or others associated with high risk) may impact surgical decision-making in a patient who is newly diagnosed with breast cancer,” Dr. Julie R. Gralow, the Chief Medical officer and the Executive Vice President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, previously told SurvivorNet.
“It should not really impact treatment of the current cancer (eligibility for lumpectomy versus mastectomy), but the presence of such a mutation carries a very high risk of developing a second breast cancer, so bilateral mastectomy is a reasonable consideration to reduce the risk of second cancer,” says Dr. Gralow.
Recent research has also identified other mutations that may increase the risk of breast cancer. These include changes in PALB2, ATM, CHEK2, KRAS, CDH1, TP53, PTEN, and numerous other genes. Modern genetic testing panels can look for mutations in more than 80 genes simultaneously.
Where can you get help after undergoing genetic testing?
It’s unclear whether Hyland underwent genetic testing and whether it helped her be more proactive with breast cancer screening.
“If someone gets a genetic test result back, it’s really important for them to know what this is. (What does this) mean for them? Put it into context,” Dr. Elisa Port, a surgical oncologist at Mount Sinai, previously explained to SurvivorNet.
WATCH: Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer
Genetic counselors help patients during this critical phase of understanding.
“What does it mean for their family members? For their relatives? Genetic counseling to follow up genetic testing is a really, really important part of the whole process and is not always available in the direct-to-consumer type avenue.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your doctor can refer you for genetic counseling based on your personal and family health history.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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