GETTYSBURG, Pa. —A York County mother is turning a terminal cancer diagnosis into a mission to help others.Trisha Lane was first introduced in WGAL’s “Power of One” series one year ago, when she shared her fight with stage four metastatic breast cancer. Lane, a mother of three, learned she had cancer in 2020. One week later, she was told it had already spread.Since then, Lane has continued treatment while sharing updates on social media and advocating for more research into metastatic breast cancer.“Even just recently, you know, I shared with my online presence that I was no evidence of disease,” Lane said. “And I know that that was very confusing for people because many thought that I was cured, no longer in treatment—you know, no longer living with cancer. And that’s just not the reality of somebody that’s living with metastatic breast cancer or stage four breast cancer. We will always be in continuous treatments. We will always be fighting this battle, and things can change very quickly.”A changing scan, but treatment continuesLane said earlier this year her scans showed no evidence of disease, but more recently there has been a small progression. She said treatment has helped keep it under control.“I have had a small progression on the treatment, but we’ve bumped up the dosage, and it seems like it’s kind of holding things in place,” Lane said. “I go in every three months for a CT scan, and we just make sure that the spots aren’t getting any larger. And right now, it’s not. So I’ve been focusing on just living life in between those scans and those appointments.”Lane said the disease and treatment take a constant toll, even when she appears healthy.“It’s killing not just the cancer cells, but my healthy cells as well,” Lane said. “For a lot of people, they think that I’m very healthy because I have hair, I’m not frail. I look, for all intents and purposes, like a young 37-year-old woman. I look like I’m out doing the things that I love and I’m active, but it affects my body in a way that is much more silent.”Hope, legacy and advocacyLane said her legacy is her activism and her three children. She was first told she would have only one to two years to live, but she is approaching six years since her diagnosis.“The projected prognosis is that I’m going to live a lot longer and that we are going to just take it day by day,” Lane said.Breast Fest fundraiser this weekendShe is also preparing for a charity event this weekend to raise money and awareness for metastatic breast cancer research.The annual golf outing and fundraiser, called Breast Fest, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10, at The Links at Gettysburg on Mason Dixon Road. The event runs from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will include morning and afternoon shotgun scrambles, coffee and doughnuts, lunch, a silent auction, raffle baskets and an awards ceremony.The event supports metastatic breast cancer research and families affected by terminal cancer through Cancer Culture, a nonprofit founded by Lane.More than 175 golfers are signed up this year.“I think cancer is something that, even though I personally don’t have it, it touches everybody,” said Carrie Mosley, a volunteer for the event who’s known Lane since elementary school. “It’s touched my life through loved ones—obviously through friends like Trisha—and I just think it’s an important cause for people to get involved in.”Lane said she hopes people leave inspired to help. “Every little thing helps with something like this. I hope that people leave feeling empowered to help,” she said. “I hope that the cancer community that is here feels empowered, knowing that we do have volunteers and we do have loved ones that care about them and want to show up for them.”Why metastatic breast cancer research matters Metastatic breast cancer occurs when cancer cells break away from where they first formed in the breast and travel through the blood or lymphatic system to another part of the body. It most commonly spreads to the bones, lungs, liver or brain.Even after reaching another organ, it is still breast cancer. For example, breast cancer found in the lungs is treated as metastatic breast cancer—not lung cancer. Likewise, breast cancer that spreads to the bones is not bone cancer.Although treatments can slow or stabilize metastatic breast cancer, the disease remains difficult to treat.“Unfortunately for metastatic patients, those cancer cells remain,” Lane explained. “Once they become resistant to that medication, they will start to circulate again, and they will start depositing cancer in other areas. That’s why this is such a devastating diagnosis—because it isn’t curable. It does mean that it is a terminal diagnosis.”The National Cancer Institute says metastatic breast cancer may stop responding to a medication over time, requiring a patient to move to another treatment. Some drugs may also have difficulty reaching cancer in certain parts of the body, including the brain.The survival gap illustrates the challenges patients like Trisha face. According to the National Cancer Institute, the five-year relative survival rate is 99.3% when breast cancer is found only in the breast. When it is diagnosed after spreading to a distant part of the body, that rate drops to 31%.These statistics are based on large groups of patients and cannot predict an individual person’s outcome. They also may not fully reflect the impact of newer treatments.“Metastatic breast cancer is the only form of breast cancer that is terminal,” Lane said. “It’s the only form of breast cancer that is going to kill somebody. That’s why it’s so important that we’re funding better treatments and curative-intent research.”Trisha said she would consider being able to manage metastatic breast cancer as a chronic disease a victory.“I think that anybody would take living with this as a chronic disease as a win,” she said. “Even if we couldn’t find a cure, just knowing that I am going to be here for my children—to get them raised—and I don’t have to question that.”Recent progress shows why research—and funding for that research—matters. The goal is not only to help people live longer with metastatic breast cancer, but also to prevent breast cancer from spreading in the first place and ultimately find lasting treatments for every patient, from every walk of life.Trisha said meaningful change requires an entire community.“It’s not the power of me,” she said. “I’m one of many, but it takes each person to come together. So, it’s the power of them. It’s the power of you individually and how you can render aid to your community and to the people who need it the most.”Source: National Cancer Institute. Survival rates cited are for women diagnosed from 2013 through 2019.Power Of OneYou can watch Tasmin Mahfuz’s previous Emmy-nominated Power of One stories on Trisha’s journey in four parts.
