Katie Thurston's Breast Cancer Journey
- It’s been one year since Katie Thurston was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, and despite ongoing treatment and plans for a double mastectomy, she remains hopeful to one day hearing “no evidence of disease.”
- She discovered the cancer after checking a painful lump while planning her wedding with comedian Jeff Acuri. Now, the couple is focusing on living fully, exploring fertility options through a surrogate, and enjoying life in their New York City apartment.
- Recently, Thurston shared that her tumor is continuing to shrink following her six-month scan, a hopeful sign in her stage 4 breast cancer treatment journey that her current treatment is working. She underwent her one-year scan this week.
- Originally scheduled for a double mastectomy (removal of both breasts), Thurston has chosen to delay the procedure after consulting with her doctors, citing the need to stay on medication without interruption. However, she’s hoping to undergoing this surgery later this year.
“I refuse to call it a terminal illness,” Thurston exclusively told People in a recent interview.
Read More“Currently on my first line of treatment and it continues to work. Until then, we wait for the cure because #stageivneedsmore. Happy #cancerversary to me!”
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Reflecting on how her breast cancer was discovered, Katie Thurston told People that she and her now-husband, comedian Jeff Acuri, scheduled doctor’s appointments while planning their wedding and beginning to think about starting a family.
“We thought, ‘Let’s get our health checked out,'” she said, noting how that’s when she decided to get a lump, which caused some pain, in her right breast checked.
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Admitting she had previously experienced a benign cyst and assumed this one would be the same, she said she began to worry when she had an ultrasound and the sonographer seemingly found something.
“For that earlier cyst, they told me right away what it was. This time she is not saying a word. The silence is so loud, and her machine, it makes a special beep when she stops moving it, you can tell she’s taking picture after picture,” she recalled.
“I’m trying to be calm, but I know. I know. I remember asking, ‘Are you allowed to tell me anything?’ And her voice was so sad. She basically said that she couldn’t, it had to be interpreted.”
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Since her diagnosis, Thurston admitted to People that it feels like she has lived “three lifetimes.” While her doctors have informed her that the cancer isn’t considered curable, she remains optimistic that her ongoing treatment will help limit its spread and reduce the size of her tumors.
Thurston, who also shared that she and her husband are considering using a surrogate for their frozen embryos, now avoids asking doctors about her prognosis.
“I’ve done my research, and there’s plenty of people who live many, many years, even at stage 4. I want to continue life like breast cancer never happened,” she said.
As Thurston and Acuri navigate what she describes as a “fast-track cancer version of fertility treatment,” she says they are genuinely embracing life and savoring their time together in their New York City apartment with their rescue dog.
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Katie’s Continued Treatment
Thurston previously shared that her treatment regimen includes three key medications:
- Kisqali (ribociclib): Approved by the FDA in 2017, this targeted therapy is used in combination with endocrine therapy to treat HR+/HER2- breast cancer. It works by slowing the progression of cancer, offering a more tolerable alternative to traditional chemotherapy.
- Lupron (leuprolide): A hormone therapy injection that lowers estrogen levels in the body, helping to prevent the cancer from growing.
- Letrozole: An aromatase inhibitor that reduces the body’s estrogen production, commonly used in postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer.
She is also hoping to undergo a double mastectomy (removal of both breasts) later this year.
As for why she’s waiting for that surgery, she told People in her most recent interview, “You have to stop taking your medication for four to six weeks before you do it, and that’s scary.
“We want to fight that tumor a little bit longer before pausing.”
When it comes to breast cancer surgery, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Choosing between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy is a deeply personal decision—one that depends on a range of medical and emotional factors.
“As a breast surgeon, my job is to help patients understand that their long-term survival with mastectomy is equivalent to that with lumpectomy and radiation,” says Dr. Sarah Cate, Chief of Breast Surgery at Stamford Hospital.
Still, many women request a double mastectomy (removal of both breasts), believing it offers the best protection against recurrence. But that’s not always the case. The size of the tumor, its genetic profile, and a patient’s family history all play a role in determining the most appropriate surgical path.
WATCH: Should I Have a Lumpectomy or Mastectomy?
“Mastectomy has very specific indications,” Dr. Cate explains.
“Some of the things that would predict a mastectomy are things like a large tumor size to breast ratio, or having cancer in more than one area of the breast, or having a genetic mutation.”
Katie Thurston, who recently shared her breast cancer journey publicly, is preparing for a double mastectomy. While this procedure is often part of treatment, it’s also used preventatively for women at high risk of developing breast cancer.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removal of the tissue,” says Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System.
“The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
WATCH: What Goes Into a Double Mastectomy
Today, most women choose to undergo some form of reconstruction, which can significantly extend the duration of surgery—especially when tissue is transferred from another part of the body.
“When you take tissue from another part of the body and transfer it to fill in the empty space where the breasts are, this is a very long operation,” Dr. Port says.
“It can take anywhere from six to 12 hours because it’s really like having a tummy tuck and then transferring the tissue and grafting the tissue, connecting the vessels, so those tissues have blood flow to live in,” Dr. Port adds.
For women with a strong family history or a known genetic mutation—such as BRCA1 or BRCA2—the decision to undergo a preventative mastectomy may be the most effective way to reduce their risk.
“Risk-reducing mastectomies are an operation where we take women at, usually, very high risk for getting breast cancer,” Dr. Port explains. “For genetic mutation carriers, who are the ones at the highest risk, there’s unfortunately only one way to actually prevent breast cancer.”
WATCH: Getting a Preventive Mastectomy
Women who test positive for a BRCA mutation typically face two options.
“One is what’s called high-risk surveillance, which means we check them every six months or so—mammograms, MRIs—with the hope that if, God forbid, they develop breast cancer, we pick it up early,” Dr. Port says. “But that’s not prevention, that’s early detection.”
“Early detection is a goal, it’s not a guarantee. For the woman who wants to be more proactive about actually preventing breast cancer, or as we say, reducing her risk, unfortunately, the only way to do that is to remove the actual tissue at risk, and that is the breast tissue,” she adds.
Treatment Options for Advanced Breast Cancer
Metastatic breast cancer (also called stage 4) means cancer cells have spread from the breast to other parts of the body, which may include the bones, liver, lungs, brain, and beyond.
Breast cancer spreads through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. The blood carries cancer cells to different body parts, where they grow as new tumors.
As the cancer spreads to other body parts, patients may experience additional symptoms depending on where the cancer has spread. Examples include:
- Bones: Severe bone pain or fractures
- Lungs: Difficulty breathing, chest pain, new cough
- Liver: Yellowing of the skin (jaundice), abdominal pain, nausea, and/or vomiting
- Brain: Headaches, memory loss, changes in vision, seizures
WATCH: Treatment options for metastatic breast cancer.
Although stage 4 breast cancer is not curable, several treatment options exist that can extend the life of patients. Treatment options depend on the stage, type of primary breast cancer, and whether hormone receptors are positive.
Treatment can include a combination of:
- Chemotherapy: Oral or IV medications that are toxic to tumor cells
- Hormonal therapies: Drugs that lower estrogen levels or block estrogen receptors from allowing the cancer cells to grow
- Targeted therapies: Drugs that target your tumor’s specific gene mutations
- Immunotherapy: Medications that stimulate your immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells
- Radiation: The use of high-energy rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors
- Surgery: To remove a cancerous tumor or lymph nodes (uncommon with stage IV; more common in stages I, II, and III)
- Clinical trials: Studies of new medications, treatments, and other therapies offer hope for better outcomes.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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