Trial Offers Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment Without Chemotherapy or Radiation

There are new medical breakthroughs in the battle against breast cancer that don't include chemotherapy or radiation.

Kayla Thompson was 27 years old and seven months pregnant with her second child when she noticed something in her breast.

"I felt a lump, and it was just right there, and I was like, 'That's interesting,'" Thompson said, who was told initially it was probably a fibroadenoma, a very common, non-cancerous breast tumor. But after giving birth to her daughter, Thompson went for more scans, and the radiologist suggested she undergo a biopsy.

"They called me and they were like, 'Well, you know, unfortunately, it is cancer,'" Thompson said. "I just felt like the room started spinning, and my mom, she froze and she panicked a little bit."

Thompson connected with David A. Riseberg, M.D., Chief of Medical Oncology and Hematology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

"We've learned that, for these hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers, women are better off — not only from a tolerance, but from efficacy — to do the estrogen-blocking medicine first and reserve the chemotherapy for later when the cancer is no longer sensitive to the estrogen-blocking medicine," Dr. Riseberg said.

Along with multiple lesions in her right breast, a single lesion on Thompson’s liver, which indicated she has Stage 4 cancer.

"I have a lot of faith in Christ. So, I was like, I'm going to keep my faith through this, but I was trembling inside and I was praying a lot," Thompson said. "There have been a lot of new drugs that have come out in the last 10 years."

According to Dr. Riseberg, Thompson is currently participating in a clinical trial, and so far, more than a year later, it's been going well.

"In the women who are estrogen positive and negative for the HER2 protein, there have been a lot of new drugs that have come out in the last 10 years that have really expanded the options that have allowed us to have women receive medication, which is generally well tolerated — sometimes, all oral, sometimes, a combination of a shot and something oral — but something that can allow a person to not be quite as focused on coming in for treatment all the time," Dr. Riseberg explained.

Thompson said that in a year, the lump didn't really change size or shape. But she said that as scary as it is, other women should get checked because the sooner one knows, the better.

View Mercy medical oncologist Dr. David Riseberg’s interview regarding treatments for metastatic breast cancer.