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Avoiding Chemo When Using MammaPrint? Featured

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Meet Robyn Stoller:

In March of 2000, my 37 year old husband Alan was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma.  We had his kidney removed and other than 3-4 follow up appointments and scans a year, that was it.  It was relatively simple.  We had such a beautiful life with three phenomenal, healthy, thriving children.  Life was perfect!

Then we came to the summer of 2009 and everything changed.  I can not remember how long Alan had this large lump on his right arm, but I think it was there ever since I had known him (15 years).  Many doctors, including his oncologist, looked at his arm and said, “Do nothing.  It’s a simple lipoma and unless it is changing, just leave it. It will require major surgery to remove and it’s not worth going through that for something that is nothing.”  How wrong all these medical professionals were.

In the summer of 2009, Alan decided for no apparent reason that it was time to get this lipoma removed.  And that is when our world changed. Hello pleomorphic rhabdomysarcoma, good bye happiness.  Nothing was as it appeared to be.  And it got worse and worse from there.  It was pure luck and an incredible support system that helped my husband and I better navigate this terrifying cancer journey.

As if fighting cancer wasn’t hard enough, we had to find treatment alternatives- both medical and non-medical; travel assistance to get from Houston to DC after Alan had brain surgery; trying to find what we felt was good, sound nutrition information; how to appeal insurance decisions; negotiating payments to doctors; etc.  This took tremendous time and energy that was desperately needed to fight the cancer and raise a family.

Fast forward to today….  Alan passed away on July 12, 2010.  So now, I am a 43-year old widow (ugh…I hate that word) raising our 3 amazing kids. Alan & I spent many hours talking about the wonderful things we were going to do after he overcame his cancer. It never occurred to me that the cancer would be the victor.

I’ve learned a lot along the way about cancer, about people, about life. I’ve learned about things I never even knew existed. When I ask myself what can I do with the lemons that have been thrown my way, I know what Alan would say. He’d say, “Make Lemonade.”

There are a ton of amazing resources available to help people fight cancer.  I hope to make it easier for others on this journey by making it easier to find what’s out there.  That’s what CancerHAWK is all about.  CancerHAWK is my lemonade.

By the way, today is the 16th year anniversary of mine and Alan’s first date.  We always celebrated this day.  It was the day that changed me for the rest of my life… for the better of course!!!  So it seems only apropos that today is the day I officially launch CancerHAWK.  I love you Alan, always and forever!

 

 

Study Shows 1/2 of Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients Can Safely Avoid Chemo When Using MammaPrint


If you have been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, talk to your doctor about The MammaPrint breast cancer test.  

According to the recently published RASTER Study, The MammaPrint breast cancer test (developed by Agendia) can accurately determine which early stage breast cancer patients are at low risk of breast cancer recurrence and can therefore safely choose not to undergo chemotherapy. Furthermore, the study suggests that half of early-stage breast cancer patients may be able to safely avoid chemotherapy.

Here’s the dealio (as my daughter always says)…

427 breast cancer patients were studied over 5 years. Of the 219 patients who were determined to be ‘low risk’ based on the MammaPrint test, 85% chose not to have chemotherapy. Of those patients, 97% were disease-free after 5 years. Of the 208 patients who were determined to be ‘high risk’, 81% chose chemotherapy and 91% were disease-free after 5 years.  This is the first breast cancer genomic study to include 5-year outcome data.

The MammaPrint test analyzes 70 critical genes identified in breast cancer metastasis (3x more genes than previous-generation testing); can be used on both hormone-receptor-positive or hormone-receptor-negative early stage breast cancers; and has been FDA-cleared in the US.

For more information, visit Agendia.com.  If you don’t have insurance or your insurance company doesn’t cover MammaPrint testing, contact the Agendia Cares Program as they may be able to help.  To compare MammaPrint against other genetic assay tests such as Oncotype DX or Mammostrat, speak with your doctor and visit BreastCancer.org.

(Sources:  Agendia PR ; BreastCancer.org, MedScape, European Cancer Organization)

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