When it comes to breast cancer, knowing your HER2 status matters

(BPT) - Lauren, a 35-year-old wife and mother of three daughters, had just finished breastfeeding her youngest when she first noticed the lump on her breast. She shrugged it off as something that happens when nursing and figured it would go away on its own. However, six months later the lump was still there, prompting her to see a doctor who later confirmed a stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis. Despite aggressively treating her cancer for two years, including a double mastectomy and ovary removal surgery, a follow-up biopsy revealed the cancer had spread and advanced to stage 4.

More than 300,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Of those diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, nearly 30% will later develop metastatic breast cancer, meaning the cancer has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body. And, while metastatic breast cancer is not curable, it is treatable.