Breast Cancer Success Stories

In 2008 I was a 44-year-old mother of two children who discovered lemons sized lesion in her left breast. I went to my doctor who immediately sent me to a surgeon who performed a core biopsy which unfortunately was triple negative, i.e. estrogen and progesterone receptor negative and HER-2/neu negative. I went to the Internet to look up the prognosis of a triple negative breast cancer of that size and I was shocked to discover that I had been given a death sentence. A friend told me about Dr. William Grace in New York City. Although I lived on the Eastern end of Long Island which meant two hours of travel time to New York City to see Dr. Grace, I decided that my life was worth the time. Dr. Grace recommended lumpectomy with the tumor being sent to Dr. Weisenthal for chemosensitivity testing. I elected for bilateral mastectomy and immediate reconstruction because of the triple negative status and the terrible survival of triple negative breast cancer patients.

Dr. Grace told me that bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction is a procedure that has never demonstrated a survival advantage and in at least two recent reviews have demonstrated adverse survival but I went with my surgeons recommendation for the multiple advanced procedures which my insurance covered and which I hope would lead me with a greater survival. Unfortunately at the time of my mastectomy I was found to have 29 positive lymph nodes which meant that I had stage III breast cancer and very little likelihood of survival. However Dr. Weisenthal analysis demonstrated that I had extreme sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine, cyclophosphamide and taxanes. Dr. Grace recommended first 3 dose dense months of therapy every two weeks with continuous oral Xeloda, gemcitabine and cyclophosphamide. Upon completion of that I was given Taxotere and epirubicin every two weeks for three months. I have now watched my children grow into adulthood and I have been privileged to live disease-free for nearly eight years after my diagnosis. I owe my survival to Dr. Grace and Dr. Weisenthal.

Denise W.

In 2003 I was a 55-year-old immigrant Russian mother of two grown children and a grandmother when I developed a 1 inch cancer in my right breast. I was told did not need chemotherapy despite the fact that I had two positive lymph nodes and because I was estrogen and progesterone receptor positive I was given tamoxifen for five years. However, two years after I started tamoxifen I had abnormal liver function studies and a CAT scan demonstrated that I had metastasis to liver. I was placed on Cytoxan, Adriamycin and 5-fluorouracil to which I had no response was told that palliative care was in order. I got a second opinion from Dr. Grace who recommended that the cancer in my liver be removed surgically and that the tumor be analyzed by Dr. Weisenthal for cytometric testing. I underwent a partial hepatectomy and the tumor was analyzed to be estrogen and progesterone receptor negative and HER-2/neu positive. A CT scan demonstrated no disease outside of my liver. Dr. Weisenthal's analysis was used for her to chemotherapeutic regimens which consisted of Herceptin, gemcitabine and cyclophosphamide every three weeks for three months and Herceptin, Taxotere and epirubicin every three weeks for the next three months. At the end of the six months of chemotherapy my CT scan was free of cancer and I have been free of cancer for the next 13 years! I have sent many of my Russian friends and acquaintances to Dr. Grace who has used to Dr. Weisenthal where these amazing physicians have performed similar "miracles".

J.V.

Four years ago I was a 78-year-old grandmother and and what I thought was good health until I developed redness and inflammation in my right breast. I went to my local Chinese physician who recommended a course of antibiotics but the condition didn't change but only got rapidly worse. After six weeks of antibiotics my family recommended that I see Dr. Grace as there was a fear that I had an aggressive malignancy of the breast. On my first visit Dr. Grace told me that I likely had inflammatory breast cancer of the breast with a nine cm (nearly 4 inches) right breast mass and 14 cm (nearly six cm) of the rough skin and redness extending from the mass in all dimensions. I asked him whether a mastectomy would be advised in detail me there was no way that surgery alone could offer me any chance of cure because the disease was so extensive and likely in a microscopic form to be elsewhere in my body. He told me that the only chance of eradication of the disease was to give the appropriate systemic chemotherapy which would be based on a pathologic biopsy as well as a much larger biopsy for cytometric testing (chemosensitivity and chemotherapy resistance testing). Dr. Grace performed a core biopsy on the first day which demonstrated negative progesterone receptors, very weak estrogen receptors and overexpression of HER-2/neu (a chemotherapy resistance gene). As a result of this testing I was told that hormone such as tamoxifen or Femara would not likely provide any lasting control over my disease. The following week I came back for multiple core biopsies of this large 9 cm lesion which largely replaced my relatively small right breast and the specimens were sent to Dr. Weisenthal.

The following week I was scheduled to have a port placed in my left chest which would be connected to the first chamber of my heart. I was told this was the safest way to administer chemotherapy which often be the best chance of survival or cure. Dr. Weisenthal's analysis demonstrated that I was sensitive to epirubicin with Taxotere, Navelbine with lapatinib and gemcitabine with oxaliplatin. For two months I was treated with Herceptin, epirubicin and Taxotere every two weeks which gave me nearly complete disappearance of a large mass in my right breast. The next two months I was treated with Herceptin, Navelbine and lapatinib every two weeks. At the end of four months there was no evidence on physical exam of any disease on my breast or chest wall. Finally I was given two months of Herceptin, gemcitabine and oxaliplatin in a dose dense fashion every two weeks. I was extremely fatigued and exhausted from the treatments as I was 78 years of age! However at the completion of chemotherapy biopsies demonstrated no evidence of disease anywhere in the breast or chest wall. I was then referred for radiation therapy to the right breast and for the last four and a half years my PET scan, blood cancer markers and physical exam have been entirely within normal limits. It me about three months to recover my usual vigor but now I feel blessed to have been treated for a disease which almost uniformly kills every breast cancer patient who receives the diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer!

S.Y.Y

Just after Christmas in December of 2011 and began to feel discomfort in my left armpit and I noticed that my left breast began to feel warmer and heavier than my right breast. I originally thought I had an infection in my breast as it became progressively more red and inflamed. The skin over the outside portion of the left breast became dimpled and red resembling the skin of an orange. I have a mother who had seen Dr. Grace for advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and her treatment had been successful and my mother had remaining in complete remission for over ten years. I made an appointment to see Dr. Grace and at the time of my initial exam a six cm deep mass was evident in the upper outer quadrant of my breast with palpable lymph nodes in my axilla. The skin changes which made my breast skin read and dimpled extended over 65% of the breast. At the conclusion of my visit, Dr. Grace told me that I had inflammatory breast cancer! I have heard of inflammatory breast cancer and I understood that it was nearly impossible to eradicate. Dr. Grace however offered me hope because of the advances in cytometric live tumor assays which could determine which chemotherapy would be most effective against my cancer.

A core biopsy was done of the breast in Dr. Grace's office on the first day which demonstrated on my return one week later, that the hormone receptors were negative, the cancer was high grade (extremely aggressive) and determined that this breast cancer overexpressed a chemotherapy resistance gene known as HER-2/neu. Dr. Grace on the second visit recommended multiple biopsies of the large mass in my left breast. These biopsies were to be sent in tissue culture fluid to Dr. Larry Weisenthal who would analyze my cancer and determine the best anticancer drugs to be used in my highly aggressive breast cancer. I consented to biopsies and after anesthetizing the breast, Dr. Grace performed 25 core biopsies which he placed in tissue culture fluid and sent in a special contained in Dr. Weisenthal. Dr. Grace then recommended that a port be placed in my right chest to safely administer chemotherapy.

The following week I had my port placed in my right chest and the week after I return to Dr. Grace to get the analysis by Dr. Weisenthal. The most common initial drugs that are used in the treatment of this disease, Cytoxan and Adriamycin, were resistant in my analysis. The most active chemotherapeutic agent was Taxotere, followed by Navelbine given in combination with high doses of tamoxifen and a lung cancer drug called Iressa which have to be purchased in Canada. All these agents were to be given with Herceptin because of the overexpression of the HER-2/neu chemotherapy resistance gene. I was initially given Herceptin with Taxotere every two weeks in a dose dense fashion for a total of two months. I noticed that my breast improved substantially in those first few weeks. Unfortunately I loss all my hair! The next two months I received Herceptin, Navelbine, high dose tamoxifen and Iressa with the two latter drugs being given on the day before, the day of and the day after chemotherapy with Navelbine and Herceptin. After two months of this treatment my breast was completely normal but repeat biopsies of the breast demonstrated that one of the biopsies demonstrated residual microscopic disease deep in the breast. The new drug for HER-2/neu overexpressing breast cancers, Perjeta had just been released so I received the on label therapy of Perjeta, Herceptin and Taxotere. At the completion of two months of therapy repeat biopsies demonstrated that I was free of disease. I was then scheduled for regional chemotherapy infusion of the breast through the mammary branch of the axillary artery and the internal mammary artery with Herceptin, and Abraxane. Afterwards I was treated with involved field radiation therapy to the breast which caused some inflammation in my breast and some fatigue but was tolerable. five years later I am now alive and disease-free from advanced inflammatory breast cancer!

Eileen C.

In the fall of 2010, my husband died of Lou Gehrig's disease leaving me with an eight-year-old girl to support and raise. My health was the last thing I thought about until March of 2011 when I found a large mass in my left breast. I went to my physician who referred to a surgeon who did a biopsy and confirmed my worst fears that I had high grade ductal carcinoma of the breast which was regionally advanced. The cancer was estrogen receptor positive and progesterone receptor and HER-2 new receptor negative. The Ki-67 was 27% (that is the percentage of cells that are dividing actively). A PET scan was performed which demonstrated the large left breast mass and positive axillary lymph node metastases. The surgeon recommended mastectomy as the lesion was quite large and deep.

I went to see Dr. William Grace who recommended that the lesion, which was quite large and deep would be amenable to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and that chemotherapy could be based on Dr. Weisenthal's analysis. Several core biopsies were performed by Dr. Grace a day and sent to Dr. Weisenthal for analysis. two weeks later for the placement of a chemotherapy port, I return to Dr. Grace's office who told me that the result of Dr. Weisenthal's analysis was that my cancer was sensitive to epirubicin, Taxotere and Avastin. This was clearly not the standard therapy of Cytoxan and Adriamycin! Dose dense therapy was started within a week with epirubicin, Taxotere and Avastin. Within two months there was no longer a palpable mass and multiple biopsies performed after four months demonstrated no evidence of disease. A PET/CT scan demonstrated no residual disease. I underwent five weeks of conformal radiation therapy and I was well for five years when a screening mammogram and ultrasound demonstrated a subcentimeter lesion in the general area where the original tumor had been seen. A biopsy demonstrated that this was a new lobular carcinoma of the breast which was low grade. This second cancer in my treated and radiated left breast me that the only possibility to treat this new cancer was mastectomy. However I was put on a combination of hormone and targeted therapies by Dr. Grace which stabilized the disease. I was able to find a team of the breast surgical specialist were able to remove the tumor, which was very deep in my left breast, with good margins and I was able to have immediate intracavitary radiation therapy. I am now able to look and feel normal with both my breasts thanks to work of Dr. Weisenthal, Dr. Grace and others.

V.V.

I first met Dr. William Grace in 2010 when I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer but had already undergone bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction when I first met him. There was no tissue available to do chemosensitivity testing. Dr. Grace at that time told me that the standard treatments of Adriamycin and Cytoxan with or without a taxane was not a very effective regimen for triple negative breast cancer and that there was little evidence that the standard therapy would improve my chances for survival. He recommended the use of a platinum-based chemotherapy which consisted of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin given every two weeks for two months to be followed by epirubicin and Taxotere given every two weeks. I underwent a four months of dose dense chemotherapy and I was well until 2014 when a rising CA 27-29 was found on a routine blood test and a subsequent PET/CT scan and MRI of the brain demonstrated a solitary right lower lobe metastasis and a solitary right parietal lobe metastasis

Dr. Grace insisted that I undergo video-assisted thoracoscopy to have the right lower lobe lung lesion removed as well as to undergo craniotomy to have the right parietal metastasis removed. I did this and was pleased that I spent very little time in the hospital for either procedure and had no complications due to the excellent care I received at Lenox Hill Hospital. The chemosensitivity data demonstrated that I was still sensitive to gemcitabine and a platinum and sensitive to a newly developed combination chemotherapy of Navelbine, Iressa and high dose tamoxifen. I was also sensitive to the new drug Eribulin. Dr. Grace had a deep venous access device (port) placed in my chest again for the chemotherapy and I started on gemcitabine and cis-platinum alternating with Navelbine, Iressa and high dose tamoxifen. He did this so that he could use dose dense chemotherapy acknowledging that the gemcitabine and cis-platinum would be quite toxic and on able to be born in a dose dense fashion without cumulative toxicities. I actually tolerated the regimen quite well and Dr. Grace accommodated me by treating me on an administrative day in his office so I could continue my practice. After four months of chemotherapy with the alternating regimen and I was placed on Eribulin which I also tolerated well. For the last two years repeated PET/CT scans and cancer markers indicate that I am still cancer free and very grateful to the skills of Dr. Grace and his colleagues at Lenox Hill Hospital and of course the excellent science of Dr. Weisenthal.

Dr. Anne S

In early August of 2014 I found that I was having increasing difficulty swallowing food which by the end of August I was only able to swallow liquids and very small pieces of solid foods such as bread or scrambled eggs. I have been recently widowed and my adult children lives overseas in London and New York.  I lived very comfortably as my husband had been successful newspaper publisher in Cairo, Egypt. I went to my general practitioner who told me that I likely had carcinoma of the esophagus. He told me that Cairo was in chaos and that given my resources I should go to Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. I booked the next available flight to Washington DC and within a day I was at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. They did a CT scan of my chest abdomen and pelvis and when I saw the world famous oncologist he told me that my cancer was too far advanced for therapy! The cancer had already spread to my lungs, bones and liver and that my liver was nearly completely replaced. He recommended that I return to Egypt for terminal care. I would not satisfied with this so I went to New York City where I went to New York Hospital where they performed a PET/CT scan and came to the same conclusion that I should return to Cairo for terminal care. I then decided to go to Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where they reviewed all the films and the pathology reports and told me that they agreed with Johns Hopkins and New York Hospital that I should return to Cairo Egypt for terminal care after placement of a feeding gastrostomy tube for hydration and nourishment.

My children had heard about Dr. William R. Grace so I went to his office on an emergency basis as I could barely swallow fluids. After Dr. Grace to my history he examined me and found a 4 cm mass in the lower inner quadrant of my left breast. He ultimately biopsied this and it showed that it was molecularly a breast cancer positive for HER-2/neu but negative for estrogen and progesterone receptor positive disease. He then admitted me to Lenox Hill Hospital where Dr. Gregory Haber removed tumor from the lower esophagus and sent this to Dr. Larry Weisenthal of the Weisenthal Cancer Group in Huntington Beach California. Tumor was also sent for molecular studies which demonstrated that the cancer was likely HER-2/neu positive breast cancer and not HER-2/neu positive adenocarcinoma of the lower esophagus. Dr. Haber then placed an esophageal stent which allowed me to eat nearly anything I wanted to without food becoming stock in my esophagus. Because I was in liver failure, he asked Dr. Robert Rosen, a famous interventional cardiologist to place chemotherapy into my liver along with Herceptin in an attempt save the function of my liver. I had a chemotherapy port placed and I was then discharged to be followed in Dr. Grace’s office. Within days I felt no more right upper quadrant pain and the lump in my breast was already beginning to shrink. The analysis from Dr. Larry Weisenthal returned in approximately 10 days and this demonstrated that I was sensitive to a considerable number of drugs with many drugs having synergism with others.

Dr. Grace gave me four months of chemotherapy every two weeks with the drugs Dr. Weisenthal found to be most active in my condition. Within 48 hours my bone discomfort disappeared. Within three weeks my breast mass was gone. At the end of four months of dose dense chemotherapy every two weeks, my chemotherapy was changed to take advantage of two new agents for HER-2/neu positive breast cancer. Dr. Grace administered the chemotherapy over eight weeks giving me six months of chemotherapy. I had developed some neuropathy from the chemotherapy but was happy to be alive! A PET scan was performed which demonstrated no evidence of cancer anywhere in my body! My cancer markers had gone from over 80,000 to single digits! At my scheduled upper endoscopy, 6 months from my first endoscopy, the lower esophagus was pristine with no evidence of cancer and the esophageal stent was no longer in the esophagus. The covered stent was in my stomach and easily retrieved. After endoscopy I was able to swallow normally and I had no more esophageal reflux. I have PET scans and upper endoscopies every six months and only been entirely within normal limits and my cancer markers remain normal! I have decided to move to New York City. I am incredibly thankful to Allah and Dr. William Grace for my new lease on life.

T.E.

In September of 1995, at age 58, I found a lump on my right breast near my armpit. I went to my physician who said me to a surgeon for a biopsy revealed carcinoma in situ. I ultimately had a lesion removed by lumpectomy which demonstrated no residual cancer and I have now received six weeks of radiation therapy. I was fine until 15 years later I developed a much larger rapidly growing lump in the scar of my original breast cancer. I went back to my original surgeon who told me he only option was mastectomy. I then went to see Dr. Grace told me that the lesion being greater than three cm, needed to be staged and he sent me for a PET CT scan. Thank goodness the disease was confined to the breast. Dr. Grace then aspirated multiple biopsies from the lesion and sent it to Dr. Weisenthal. Dr. Weisenthal's research determined that it was most sensitive to a combination of gemcitabine and Cytoxan and very sensitive to 5-fluorouracil. It was not sensitive to Adriamycin which would've been part of the standard therapy of Adriamycin and Cytoxan if I had gone to another physician. Dr. Grace then recommended that a port be placed in my left chest for chemotherapy and I was started on oral Xeloda which is a oral form of 5-fluorouracil which I could take by pill form on a continuing basis. Dr. Grace emphasized that low doses of 5-fluorouracil given continuously was not only less toxic but by far away to most effective way of giving this drug. Every two weeks he administered gemcitabine and cyclophosphamide. Before I even return for my second dose of gemcitabine and Cytoxan, three cm lesion had completely disappeared! After two months of treatment, Dr. Grace performed a biopsy which demonstrated no evidence of cancer. This was repeated after four months of treatment and again there was no evidence of cancer. Dr. Grace then told me after the completion of chemotherapy, since I could not receive any additional radiation therapy, that mastectomy would be the only standard solution for this problem. However, he offered me regional intra-arterial chemotherapy and close followup which might delay that time when I would need to have a complete mastectomy. He gave me one dose of 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine and oxaliplatin into the artery that went to that area of the breast and I have been completely free of disease for the past six years. I can't tell you how gratified I am with the work of Dr. Grace and Dr. Weisenthal. Why doesn't every person get this kind of analysis?

N.G.