A scientist and researcher working on her Ph.D., Toni Greene was only 28 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in April 2007. A week after her diagnosis, she learned that the cancer had metastasized, or spread to her bones. “My doctors told me that I only had three to five years to live. I refused to accept that,” Toni said.

Toni spoke with her oncologist about the various options available to treat her breast cancer, and then went home and researched more about potential treatment options herself. Toni felt that conducting such research helped her be as aggressive as possible in finding the best treatment option for her disease.

Toni’s treatment regimen consisted of seven months of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by a bilateral mastectomy. After her chemotherapy and surgery, Toni showed no evidence of disease.

However, Toni learned that microscopic tumor cells may still be present in her body, and it was possible that those cells could cause a cancer recurrence. Her oncologist told her about a clinical trial that was examining a new way to remove even the microscopic tumor cells, so she enrolled in the trial once her chemotherapy was complete. “I wanted to do everything that I could plus some,” Toni said. “I knew that participating in this trial would help me do everything in my power to make sure that my cancer never came back.”

In the trial, Toni provided doctors with a sample of her own stem cells. Her doctors removed any microscopic tumor cells that might have been present from the stem cell sample. Toni then checked into the hospital, where she received a very high dose of chemotherapy that was intended to destroy her bone marrow which makes stem cells. She then underwent an autologous stem cell transplant, which means her bone marrow was replaced with her own treated stem cell sample instead of stem cells from another donor. Toni stayed in the hospital for 22 days so doctors could continually monitor her progress.

Toni is still cancer free, and she said that she would not change anything about her experience participating in a clinical trial. “It’s so important for people to be informed about all of their treatment options,” Toni said. “Every cancer treatment available today is because someone participated in a trial.”

Last Updated: March 31, 2009