Vanessa, a travel nurse from Memphis, Tennessee, had her life meticulously planned: building her career across the country and saving for a home. That all changed with a stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis, the most aggressive subtype. The news forced her to put her life on hold and focus entirely on treatment. Even as a nurse, she found herself in unfamiliar territory. “I’ve taken care of patients my whole life,” she says, “but I didn’t really know what breast cancer truly entailed.”
Treatment began quickly, but then came the news every cancer patient dreads: the cancer had spread, and Vanessa was now facing metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. “When I found out I had metastatic breast cancer, it was just an awful feeling to know you have to go through treatment again,” she recalls. Triple-negative breast cancer tends to grow and spread more quickly than many other types. For about half of women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, their first treatment might be their only opportunity to keep the cancer from growing, making it critical to choose the best option on day one.
This subtype also occurs more often in younger women and appears at higher rates in Black and Hispanic women. For these communities, access to the latest education isn't just helpful—it's a matter of survival. Like many living with metastatic breast cancer, Vanessa wanted to clearly understand her treatment options and what questions to ask her doctor. She quickly learned that treatment options historically have been limited to chemotherapy-based therapy, which impacts cancer cells more than normal cells.
Her doctor suggested a clinical trial for a newer class of medicine called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Unlike traditional chemotherapy, ADCs are designed to find specific markers and deliver medicines more directly to cancer cells. Until recently, ADCs were used later in treatment, after other options had been tried. Now, patients may be able to receive an ADC as their first treatment after a metastatic triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis.
Innovations like ADCs have already made a difference for many people living with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer by helping to keep cancer from growing. For Vanessa, that means being able to better plan ahead, knowing her good days and her bad days—whether that's the next girls' trip or time with her family. However, not all ADCs are the same; safety and efficacy can vary for each ADC. While not every patient will be eligible, understanding when they may be considered and how treatment can impact daily life can help patients feel more informed when discussing treatment options with their care team.
“When selecting treatment, it’s important to consider patients’ goals, wishes and needs so that we can try to realistically plan around those,” says Vanessa’s medical oncologist, Dr. Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD, Director of Clinical Research at West Cancer Center and Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “All patients are different and may qualify for different ADCs.” Dr. Vidal encourages patients to feel empowered to have open conversations with their care team and ask questions, such as what treatment goals make the most sense at their stage of care.
Every person’s experience is different, but many people living with metastatic breast cancer remain on treatment for life, with the goal of helping manage disease and slow progression while maintaining quality of life. While the physical and emotional impact of treatment could be difficult at times, Vanessa kept going. She leaned on her close friends and family to help her keep “faith over fear” by focusing on the positives and planning outings around her treatments. Vanessa encourages others living with metastatic breast cancer to stay positive, ask questions, and advocate for themselves during treatment conversations. “You definitely have a fight in front of you, but you can get through this,” she says. “You have to do your research and get answers.”
To see how Vanessa and others living with metastatic breast cancer navigate ADC treatment for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, visit Expose-MBC.com/ADC.
