Why it's So Important to Speak Up About Health Concerns
- A mom of two from Oxfordshire, England, is fighting Triple Negative Breast Cancer after initially mistaking persistent breast pain for mastitis [inflammation] while breastfeeding. Now she’s pursuing advanced treatments to extend her life for her children.
- “Triple-negative” means the cancer is not fueled by any of the three main types of receptors: estrogen, progesterone, or the HER2 protein. Because of this, the cancer won’t respond to certain common therapies.
- In addition to surgery and radiation, chemotherapy is a mainstay of treatment for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. Different chemotherapy combinations may be used to treat this aggressive form of cancer.
- In some cases, like Helen Christopher’s case, immunotherapy — which harnesses the body’s immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells — will be used for triple-negative breast cancer.
- One of our experts recommends performing a monthly breast self-exam to look for breast cancer symptoms. Talk to your doctor if you notice one or more of the following symptoms: a new lump in the breast, new swelling in the breast, changes to the nipple (such as puckering), flaking or redness in the breast or nipple, discharge (including blood) coming from the nipple and pain in the breast.
- It’s crucial to know your body and always address any concerning changes to your health. If you feel like your symptoms are being dismissed, don’t be afraid to seek out multiple opinions.
Sharing her story in a GoFundMe she created, which has since raised more than $36,000, Christopher explained, “I’m a mom of two boys, currently on palliative treatment for aggressive inflammatory triple negative breast cancer.
Read MoreRELATED: Be Pushy: Why Being Your Own Health Advocate is So Important
Further sharing her story with Kennedy News & Media, according to People, Christopher admitted she put off seeing a doctor about the breast pain—which began in the spring of 2024—because she felt embarrassed about still breastfeeding her 3-year-old son.
“I breastfed my eldest for three years, and this one for three years, so I just felt very confident that it was mastitis again or maybe a blocked duct,” Christopher told Kennedy News.
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Offering more insight into why she waited for the pain to worsen before getting checked, she said, “I had times where the medical professionals have been a bit judgmental about extended breastfeeding.
“I was like, ‘I know I’m going to go and it will be something like a blocked duct, someone will tell me not to breastfeed and it will just be an annoying conversation that I don’t need to have.'”
Expert Resources for Advanced Breast Cancer Patients
- Debt Collectors Are Hunting Half of Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer — Help Us, Please!
- Chemo Plus Immunotherapy for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment Options Explained
- How To Treat Metastatic Breast Cancer: The Drug Trodelvy Shows A Promising Boost In Survival Rates
- My Life with HER2 Low Metastatic Breast Cancer
- A New Treatment Combination Shows Promise For Hard-To-Treat Triple-Negative Breast Cancer — What New Data Means For Patients
- Immunotherapy and Triple Negative Breast Cancer
- Treatment Sequence for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
However, Christopher, who described the pain as “gnawing” and “continual” said she chose to get a scan in July 2024 when her discomfort worsened while wearing a sports bra.
That scan led to her diagnosis. She recounted, “When I received the cancer diagnosis it was earth-shattering news … we weren’t ready.
“You never think it is going to happen to you. It was really, really surprising but not in a good way.”
Christopher ultimately had a mastectomy on her breast in January 2025, and then chemotherapy. Despite believing to have been in remission, followup testing showed cancer in her lymph nodes and neck three months later.
She explained, “When you have cancer the first time around you are on a curative pathway so the idea is that they’re treating you to a point where you are cured. When it comes back at that point it is no longer curative, you are then on a palliative pathway.
“It is no longer about ‘Can we get you better? No cancer.’ It’s about how many years can we keep you alive and comfortable. That’s incredibly hard news to deal with when you’ve got two young children and you want to be there to bring them up.”
We can’t help but admire Christopher for her ongoing determination to beat the disease, as well as her gratitude for anyone who have donated to her GoFund Me.
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She took to Instagram this week to share an update, writing, “Thanks so much to all who have donated and shared. It mean’s so much to see the universe continue to provide for this journey. I’ve had a pretty rubbish 3 weeks of viral illness and side effects – though the cancer is still going in the right direction – and that’s all that matters.
“I’m back to normal energy over last couple of days and *loving* the spring sun and blossom. Off to Germany tomorrow for some more immunotherapy and have some more exciting treatments on the horizon. *also* been thinking up how best to share what I’ve learnt so far – everything is so personalized it’s not possible to share a protocol – but there’s things I can do to help others on this path.”
Christopher decided to make an Instagram account dedicated to sharing more cancer advice and offered anyone with questions to send her a direct message.
The loving mom has also been candid about how she’s been coping with her body image through treatment, bravely taking to Instagram to share how she looks without hair on her head, or eyebrows.
She wrote alongside a photo of her two months into chemo, with hair, and more recently, without hair, “Body image has never bothered me too much as an adult. Maybe because I was fortunate to be vaguely content with what nature had given me.
“Chemotherapy super speeds up aging. I’m generally OK about accepting it. I’ve got okay with taking my hat off in the sauna or if kids grab at my hat in public. My self worth isn’t fully tied to my appearance, through luck and having done some of that work. Mostly I potter about thinking I look the same and then being confused when people look at my with sympathy and hold a door for me.”
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Christopher continued, “However, I’m not sure I’m down with losing my eyebrows! I think chemo’s done enough now! I hope I’ll get to look like ‘me’ again. I can’t handle drawing eyebrows on and kids smudging it all over my face.
“I think the solution is radical acceptance. I’ve clearly tied up more of my happiness to self image and accepted beauty norms than I thought. Anyone who is further ahead than me on this, please share tips!”
Living With Cancer: Coping With Hair Loss & the Anxiety it Brings
Understanding Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of the disease and makes up for approximately 20 percent of all breast cancers. The treatment approach varies from patient to patient and may include a combination of different treatments.
Early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatments may use a combination of chemotherapy drugs.
Understanding Triple Negative Breast Cancer
For example, a CMF regimen is an abbreviation for combining chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil. AC stands for doxorubicin (Adriamycin) with cyclophosphamide, and ACT just indicates that a taxane drug is added to the regimen. Likewise, TC is an abbreviation for a regimen of Taxotere and cyclophosphamide.
RELATED: In Triple Negative Breast Cancer, New Drug Trodelvy Extends Life
In 2021, the FDA approved the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab for the treatment of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is already used to treat other cancers, including melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. Doctors heralded the FDA’s approval of pembrolizumab as a potentially paradigm-shifting advancement in breast cancer treatment.
For patients with stage 2 or 3 TNBC, adding the immune-boosting medication pembrolizumab to combination chemotherapy before surgery increases chances of living free of breast cancer, explains oncologist Dr. Sylvia Adams, director of the Breast Cancer Center at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.
She was one of several researchers involved with the pembrolizumab trials. “It changes the standard of care and should be discussed with all patients diagnosed with stage 2-3 TNBC,” she adds. “Yes, it’s a game-changer, though there is much more to be learned.”
The First Immunotherapy Approved For Breast Cancer Hope For Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Until recently, researchers hadn’t had much success using the therapy to fight breast cancer. That’s changing now. The IMpassion130 trial showed for the first time that a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy had a significant effect in treating metastatic triple negative breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancer is an extremely aggressive form of the disease, so this discovery is important.
Dr. Sylvia Adams explains, “The question now becomes, is it only triple negative breast cancer that can benefit from immunotherapy, or are there other subtypes as well?
“If a tumor has the PD-L1 protein in it, that means there’s already an inflammatory response, that the patient’s immune system already recognized the tumor and was starting to work against it. The benefit of identifying such a strong biomarker in the triple negative subset will allow us to actually test for the presence and responsiveness to immunotherapy in other subtypes of breast cancer.”
Is Your Cancer Really Triple-Negative?
Dr. Heather McArthur, Clinical Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Simmons Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has spoken with SurvivorNet on this relevant topic.
You might be told you have triple-negative breast cancer, that means that your cancer is not being fueled by any of the three main types of receptors: estrogen, progesterone nor the HER2 protein. But now you could be categorized as HER2 low instead of HER2 negative.
Breast cancer cells with higher-than-normal levels of HER2 are called HER2-positive, those with low levels of HER2 are (or were) called HER2 negative. Recently, however, researchers have looked to further expand this definition to include patients that have a minimal amount of HER2 expression but do not meet the classic definition for HER2-positive tumors. This group has been called HER2 “low” and is very important as it represents almost 50% of all patients with breast cancer.
This excitement stems from the fact that HER2-low breast cancers are targetable with a the FDA-approved Enhertu (Fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki). It appears that Enhertu is extremely effective for appropriate patients and can greatly improve their quality of life and help them live longer.
Therefore, it is exceedingly important to discuss with your physician about your HER2 status.
Treatment for Early-Stage Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Coping With Your New Body After Cancer Treatment
After breast cancer surgery, patients often struggle with the changes to their bodies that others can see, whether those changes are temporary or permanent, like hair loss and weight gain. However, survivors also struggle with changes that may not be as obvious — such as infertility — and these can create body image issues and make survivors feel vulnerable.
One way to prepare yourself for possible body changes during cancer treatment is to understand that changes are possible but also, frequently, temporary. This can also help build up your self-confidence. Your support group, filled with loved ones, can help you during this stage of your journey as well.
Psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin shares with SurvivorNet some additional tips cancer warriors can explore to help manage the emotional toll body changes can have during treatment.
Dr. Strongin encourages survivors to take ownership of the part (or parts) of their body impacted mainly by cancer treatment. She says that although they may represent “fear and pain,” they also represent “strength and courage.”
“Research has found that when looking in the mirror, we are more likely to focus on the parts of our body we are dissatisfied with, which causes us to have a negative self-view and lower self-esteem. Therefore, I would like you first to spend time gazing at the parts of your body you love, give them time, honor them, and then thank them,” Dr. Strongin said.
Dr. Strongin then suggests focusing on the part or parts of your body affected by the cancer or its treatment. She recommends creating a regular practice of accepting your body image because it helps you accept your cancer journey emotionally and physically.
“As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body. It may not happen immediately, but with time, you can begin honoring and thanking your new body,” Dr. Strongin added.
When to Screen for Breast Cancer
The medical community has a broad consensus that women should 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 now start getting mammograms every other year at the age of 40, suggesting that this lowered age for breast cancer screening could save 19% more lives.
The American Cancer Society recommends getting a mammogram every other year for women 55 and older. However, women in this age group who want added reassurance can still get annual mammograms.
WATCH: When you’re getting a mammogram, ask about dense breasts.
Women with a strong family history of breast cancer, 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 the age of 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 of developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
Questions For Your Doctor
- What stage is my cancer, and how does that affect my treatment plan?
- What are the recommended chemotherapy options for triple-negative breast cancer, and what side effects should I expect?
- Are there any clinical trials or emerging treatments I should consider?
- How will treatment affect my fertility, physical activity, or ability to work?
- What follow-up care and monitoring will I need
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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