FOCUS ON: RESEARCH
Novel Breast Cancer
Treatment Gives
Patient Hope
For patients battling metastatic triple-negative
breast cancer ( TNBC ), one of the most aggressive
forms of the disease, options are often limited.
oyce O’Shaughnessy, M.D., an was detected. PEComa is an especially
oncologist on the medical staff at rare soft tissue tumor known to develop
Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer from cells called perivascular epithelioid
Center at Dallas and the holder of the cells (PEC), which surround and feed off
Celebrating Women Chair in Breast of blood vessels. Carrie opted for a double
Cancer Research, has worked tirelessly mastectomy and a radical hysterectomy
to help move research and treatment followed by six rounds of chemotherapy.
options forward for these patients.
“I remember the nurse navigator telling
negative breast cancer, Carrie sought
me to think of my breast cancer like a out others with similar diagnoses for
get novel treatment approaches turtle in relation to melanoma, which is like suggestions on the best doctors to see.
and clinical trials to TNBC patients,” a jaguar,” Carrie said. “Even though what Dr. O’Shaughnessy said. I had was an aggressive form, it was slow survival for women diagnosed with
to progress. But all I could think about was stage 4 TNBC is less than two years, but
fight against metastatic TNBC is Carrie wanting to see my children graduate from she had faith. Four years after receiving
Adams of Fort Worth. The 52-year-old high school. I knew I had to approach the a treatment customized for her, Carrie
mother of two was diagnosed with triple cancer hard and keep moving forward.” is cancer free and considered to be an
“The goal here is to aggressively
One of her newest partners in the
negative breast cancer in April 2011 and
was also found to carry a BRCA2 mutation.
Carrie’s diagnosis prompted her
Carrie was well aware that the median
exceptional responder.
Carrie’s Journey
After several years in remission, Carrie
“The hypothesis is that something
about the therapy she received in 2011
oncologist to recommend she undergo learned in January 2014 that her breast sensitized the cancer cells and made our
a CT scan as an added precaution. cancer had returned as a lung metastasis. course of chemotherapy more effective,”
During the testing, a uterine PEComa Now living with stage 4 metastatic triple- Dr. O’Shaughnessy explained. “We started
Carrie Adams and her husband Kent have come a long way since her initial diagnosis in 2011.
with a priming agent once used to treat
bone cancer, followed by chemotherapy.
The combination was able to repair
Carrie’s cancer cells in the lung, causing
them to become more fragmented and
more vulnerable to being killed.”
“I am so incredibly blessed and
grateful to be alive and healthy to watch
my children grow, and to enjoy empty
nesting with my amazing husband.
Why can’t there be more exceptional
responders like me? The only way to find
out is through the type of research that
Dr. O’Shaughnessy and Baylor Sammons
Cancer Center are doing,” Carrie added.
Progress Relies on Philanthropy
Through philanthropic support, a
new clinical trial to try to replicate Carrie’s
success for other women with metastatic
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THE COMPASS / BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE FOUNDATION NEWS / WINTER 2018