When Her Breast Cancer Returned, Jill Found Hope in a Clinical Trial

Jill is no stranger to triple-negative breast cancer. She’s faced this little-understood form of the disease twice. After her cancer returned and spread, doctors said she only had months to live.

Jill’s doctors knew she needed highly specialized care to have a chance at survival. So, they referred her to Jane Meisel, MD, co-director of breast medical oncology at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Dr. Meisel enrolled Jill in an innovative immunotherapy clinical trial.

Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses your body’s immune system to fight cancer. Your immune system protects you from harmful things, like viruses. But cancer cells can often hide from it. Immunotherapy helps your immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Today—five years after finishing treatment—Jill is disease-free. And the therapy she received is now a new standard of care for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

A Difficult Diagnosis

Unlike most breast cancer types, triple-negative breast cancer cells don’t have the receptors for the estrogen and progesterone hormones or the HER2 protein that help cancer grow and spread and that breast cancer therapies usually target. That makes this form of the disease historically challenging to treat and more likely to return.

That was the case for Jill, a Lutheran pastor. Her long, anxiety-ridden experience with triple-negative breast cancer started over 10 years ago with her first diagnosis.

“When I got diagnosed, we had just come back from sailing in Maine—we had chartered a 40-foot sailboat,” says Jill. “When I first felt the lump, we went from this real high to this unbelievable news.” Jill’s care included a double mastectomy and chemotherapy. She also underwent 37 rounds of radiation.

Jill went into remission, but she spent years clouded with worry about whether her cancer would return. Four years later, it did. She developed a lingering cough, and an X-ray revealed she had 30 centimeters of tumors scattered throughout her lungs, esophagus and lymph nodes in her breastbone area.

It was Stage 4 metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, and there was no cure.

A Clinical Trial Treatment

With that diagnosis, Jill’s doctors knew chemotherapy and radiation wouldn’t be enough to treat the disease. At the time, outcomes from standard treatments for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer were poor. Pursuing an innovative therapy was the best—and only—option.

Jill knew if she didn’t do something different than the standard of care, her outcome and her lifespan could be quite limited. And she was a woman in the prime of her life. She had young kids. She had a meaningful job—lots to live for.

At the request of the referring physician, Dr. Meisel enrolled Jill in a phase 3 clinical trial. The trial compared chemotherapy alone to a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Participants who received the full combination treatment were given an immunotherapy drug along with one of three types of chemotherapy.

Jill traveled to Winship every week during the two-year trial and never missed an appointment. She underwent an additional 90 rounds of chemotherapy. Her results were remarkable.

"After the first six weeks of treatment, I went for a scan. My 30 centimeters of tumors were down to 15 centimeters. Another six weeks, and they were down to seven,” she says. “By 18 weeks, we were down to 3.5 centimeters. Within the first year of the trial, I was down to a very minute amount that doctors determined was probably dead tissue.”

According to Dr. Meisel, Jill’s tumors seemed to melt away—a response to the medication that was semi-miraculous. And Jill wasn’t alone.

“Researchers found that, for patients who met certain criteria, immunotherapy improved outcomes significantly when paired with chemotherapy. Patients were living longer,” she says about the clinical trial. “The improvement was so great that now, for that subset of triple-negative breast cancer patients, immunotherapy plus chemotherapy has become a new standard of care.”

Comforting, Supportive Care

While the medication provided in the trial was effective, Jill credits the caring, attentive staff at Winship for the mental and emotional boost she needed during treatment. “When you’re in and out of those doors every week, you get to know the people,” she says. “To know that you have somebody who cares about you and knows who you are in that process.” She emphasizes, “Never did I feel like I walked through the door and I was just a number or I was just a pathology. It was a place of healing. It was a place of caring people.”

Dr. Meisel says dedication to high-quality, personable patient care is a common characteristic at Winship.

“From the doctors, nurses, medical assistants, pharmacists, social workers and the people who schedule appointments, everyone puts patients at the center of what we do,” she says. “Everyone really cares about our patients and wants them to do well, feel well and feel comfortable with their experience with us.”

The Importance of Screening

One in eight women will receive a breast cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives. Annual mammogram screenings (or breast MRI screenings for high-risk patients) can detect cancer cells before they develop into tumors or lesions. These early-stage cancers are easier to treat. They have better outcomes and a lower chance of coming back.

“One of the things we know is that if you have breast cancer that’s detected on screening—as opposed to a mass you find yourself—you’re more likely to live longer, have a higher chance of cure, and you’ll also probably get to cure with less treatment regimens,” Dr. Meisel says.

Most women should have their first screening mammogram at age 40. If you are at high risk, you should talk with your doctors about starting to screen earlier. Factors that put you at high risk include:

• Dense breast tissue
• Family history
• Genetics

Even though regular breast cancer screenings are essential and potentially lifesaving, fitting one into a busy schedule can be difficult. Jill hopes her story will be a helpful nudge, reminding more women to schedule the exam.

“So often we’re focused on everyone else—caring for our children, for our spouses, for our families—that sometimes we don’t make that a priority and we skip those mammograms, or we don’t ask the questions we need to ask,” she says.

“If someone decides that by hearing my journey, they’re going to make their appointment and go see their doctor, then I’m happy to tell my story a thousand times over.”

Visit Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University for more information about breast cancer screening and treatment.

About Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University

Dedicated to discovering cures for cancer and inspiring hope, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is Georgia’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a prestigious distinction given to the top tier of cancer centers nationwide for making breakthroughs against cancer. Winship is researching, developing, teaching and providing novel and highly effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, treat and survive cancer. Cancer care at Winship includes leading cancer specialists collaborating across disciplines to tailor treatment plans to each patient’s needs and type of cancer; innovative therapies and clinical trials; comprehensive patient and family support services; and a personalized care experience aimed at easing the burden of cancer. Winship is Where Science Becomes Hope ®.

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