Pinpointing pain: Is it cancer or cancer treatment?

Financial Toxicity Among Single Mothers With Metastatic Breast Cancer

A study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium highlighted financial toxicity in underserved/underrepresented single mothers living with metastatic breast cancer, and how the situation can affect their physical, mental, and emotional health.

In this exclusive MedPage Today video, Maryam Lustberg, MD, director of the Center for Breast Cancer at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, discusses the challenges faced by these women and the resources available to help them get back on their feet.

Following is a transcript of her remarks:

We know that individuals diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer face a tremendous amount of financial burden due to treatment costs, transportation costs, as well as the inability to be able to work at the same level that they were previously working prior to diagnosis. There is a group of patients who are actually single mothers who are facing this metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, and I think obviously this group is particularly vulnerable and the foundation Infinite Strength is really aiming to specifically help this group of individuals during this very difficult time period.

These are young moms who have young kids at home. Obviously there's childcare costs and expenses associated to raising children, and then when faced with an incurable illness that itself has its own costs and expenses and time away from home, it really creates a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety. We've had women come to us who are facing losing their homes, or they're currently homeless while facing this metastatic breast cancer diagnosis.

So it's hard enough to be dealing with the illness, and then to have the financial burden on top of it makes it extraordinarily difficult. And so our mission is to specifically fundraise to help these young moms and their kids be able to live longer and better, to be able to get to their treatments and really have as much support as they can during this very difficult time.

Infinite Strength Foundation as a nonprofit is now nationally available for qualified applicants, so single moms with children who are facing the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer who have financial need can apply through our website. The application will be screened and eligible patients will be able to qualify for financial assistance to help them get back on their feet. And the funds could be used for food, housing, or other needs as they focus on their health.

We have helped over 100 patients in the last year, and our goal is to double the number in the coming year. So we will be actively fundraising throughout the country to be able to help this most vulnerable population.

Greg Laub is the Senior Director of Video and currently leads the video and podcast production teams. Follow

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These Celebrities Are Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer

The Beverly Hills 90210 actor revealed in 2015 that she was undergoing treatment after a breast cancer diagnosis. In 2016, following a second round of chemotherapy, she bravely documented the process of shaving her head on Instagram.

"After my second treatment, my hair was really matted, like in dreadlocks. And I went to try and brush it out, and it just fell out," Doherty told ET. "We did stages. We did a pixie. And then we did a mohawk, which was my favorite look. And then, finally, we had to get the shaver thing and just buzz it off."

Though her cancer went into remission in 2017, she would share in February 2020 that it had returned as stage IV. In spite of her diagnosis, she filmed the Beverly Hills 90210 reboot, which aired in 2019, viewing it as an opportunity to prove that she could continue to work despite her health struggles. "One of the reasons that I did 90210 and didn't really tell anybody [was] because I thought, people can look at that [as] people with stage IV can work too," said Doherty, who also continued to document her treatments on social media in a raw and honest way. In January 2023, a CT scan showed that cancer had spread to her brain. Brain radiation treatments and surgery followed—with Doherty bravely sharing photos and thoughts from the procedures via Instagram.

"The fear was overwhelming to me," she wrote on Instagram in June when recalling the procedures. "Scared of all possible bad outcomes, worries about leaving my mom and how that would impact her. Worried that I would come out of surgery not me anymore. This is what cancer can look like." The good news: She made it through and continues to share her journey and use social media to inspire others to keep going one day at a time.

"I'm not signing off," she told Elle in 2020. (On the contrary, she's signing on, with her just-launched podcast, Let's Be Clear.) "I feel like I'm a very, very healthy human being. It's hard to wrap up your affairs when you feel like you're going to live another 10 or 15 years."

One Man's Breast Cancer Diagnosis Inspires Groundbreaking Treatment Tool

Being diagnosed with potentially fatal metastatic breast cancer inspired one man to gather a team of diverse professionals to create an AI-based tool that analyzes a patient's symptoms using a smartphone, providing oncologists with a means of providing an individualized treatment care plan to patients with metastatic cancer.

When Christopher Gregg was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in 2018, he started thinking of ways of improving his – and others' – cancer treatments. A neurobiology and human genetics professor at the University of Utah (the U) and member of the University's Huntsman Cancer Institute at the U, Gregg assembled a 20-strong team to create a tool to help oncologists decide the right treatment path for patients with metastatic cancer.

"On the first day, we decided to make a tool that would help oncologists determine the right medication dose and treatment for each individual patient, giving them both the best chance at eliminating the cancer and the best quality of life," Gregg said. "One of the biggest challenges for cancer treatment is that the drugs are toxic, so not only do we need to factor in the disease response but also how much of the medication their body can handle for a specific amount of time."

Although breast cancer rates are higher for women, the American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that, by the end of 2023, about 2,800 men in the US will have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and around 530 will die from it. When cancer is first discovered, doctors 'stage' it from zero to 4. Stage 4 cancer, which is what Gregg was diagnosed with, means the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body. The goal of treatment for metastatic cancer is often to slow or stop its spread. Treatment can include hormone therapy, chemo, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, as well as surgery.

Using the data from his own cancer treatment, Gregg and his team created a prototype AI algorithm that captures information about patient symptoms via a smartphone. Accurately measuring over 20,000 'micro-symptoms' in behavior, speech, and vocal patterns ranging from abnormal neurological phenotypes and eye movements to sadness in the vocal tone, the AI assesses how patients are faring during their treatment and predicts changes to future symptoms. Oncologists can use these predictions to adjust a patient's treatment, avoiding drug toxicity and dangerous side effects. In effect, the AI-based tool provides a tailored treatment plan for each patient and is designed to assist with any cancer treatment, not just treatment for breast cancer.

Greg and his team's tool won the 2023 Moffitt Cancer Center IMO workshop

University of Utah

Gregg and the team's tool won first prize at this year's 11th annual Moffitt Cancer Center Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) workshop, where mathematicians, researchers and clinicians from around the world gather to find innovative solutions for cancer treatment and care.

"My team at the Moffitt Cancer Center competition included 20 diverse experts from around the world," Gregg said. "Expert mathematicians, researchers, software developers, and clinicians worked together to create a solution for metastatic cancer care. The amazing this about this workshop is that it creates an environment that fosters collaboration between those who may not usually work together."

As competition winners, the team received a US$50,000 grant, which they'll use to continue to develop the tool. A clinical trial of the tool is scheduled to start in January 2024 at the Moffitt Cancer Center.

But Gregg didn't stop at developing a groundbreaking tool to aid metastatic cancer care and treatment.

"When I was diagnosed, I asked my oncologist at Huntsman Cancer Institute if there were any exciting new treatments that could be curative," Gregg said. "She said after a long career in oncology, she's seen many ideas and new medicines that didn't turn out to be curative. She thought the solution would come from learning how to use the medications we already have in a better way. I started to shift my attention that way."

Chris Gregg and his wife, Denise

Chris Gregg

Typically, if a patient with cancer responds positively to treatment, it's given regularly. However, over time, cancer cells evolve to become treatment-resistant, necessitating the introduction of a new treatment. In so-called extinction therapy, additional therapeutic agents are introduced in relatively quick succession. The goal is to cure the patient while never using a drug long enough to permit the evolution of resistance. Extinction therapy formed the basis of Gregg's first cancer treatment plan and has worked to effectively keep treatment resistance in check since his 2018 diagnosis.

"I'm doing really well right now," said Gregg. "I've continued to innovate and come up with ideas to control the disease. I've been off treatment for many months at a time and successfully been able to keep the disease stable. My goal is turning metastatic cancer, which is currently a lethal disease, into a manageable chronic disease that offers patients a high quality of life for a long time."

Source: Huntsman Cancer Institute

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