Alexa's Warriors Research Fund for Triple Negative Breast Cancer's Fundraising Page

Alexa Hu was diagnosed at age 36, in August of 2014. She is the mother of 2 beautiful girls, Ilaria, age 3 and a half and Vivienne age 23 months. Ilaria was only 2 and a half, and Vivienne 8 months old when Alexa was diagnosed. After treating a non-tender mass in her right breast as a blocked milk duct while breast feeding Vivienne, she called back when the mass did not improve. Since there was no change with this line of treatment, her doctor scheduled her for a mammogram. After her mammogram, she was told to go back to the waiting room. She was then immediately taken for an ultrasound guided biopsy of the solid mass that was seen on mamogram. Ever inquisitive and looking for answers, Alexa asked the doctor doing the biopsy what was going on. She said there was a solid mass in her right breast that appeared highly suspicious for cancer. This was confirmed to be a triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma from the biopsy specimen. Genetic testing then returned that she was positive for BRCA1 mutation. Alexa pushed forward, finding and participating in a clinical trial at Dana Farber with Dr. Sara Tolaney using cisplatin in the neoadjuvant setting for triple negative breast cancer. She had an amazing response with a greater than 95% reduction in tumor size. Neoadjuvant cisplatin was followed by bilateral mastectomy, 8 more cycles of chemotherapy with standard Adriamycin, cytoxan and taxol, and 6 weeks of radiation therapy. She never let the treatments affect her attitude and zeal for life, as she continued to focus on the success of the treatments, her daughters Ilaria and Vivienne, and moving forward with our lives. She had an amazing response to her treatment, and her team of doctors gave her the all clear on August 20, 2015. She had completed her treatments and was doing well. We were ready as a family to start life cancer free, with Alexa as a survivor.

We had been waiting for the news that she was cancer free on August 20 to officially start our reboot as a family. We were off to a great start with a trip to the west coast, and a renewed sense of priorities and family. All of this came to a sudden halt on September 25, 2015, when I took Alexa to the Brigham ED for severe headache. It was on that day, that we learned the worst possible news. She had metatstatic breast cancer to her brain and meninges. We were told at that time that prognosis with this type of metastases is very limited as there is little in the way of effective therapy. True to her spirit, Alexa continues to live with her trademark zeal despite several setbacks, surgical procedures, and hospitalizations.

November 23, 2015, Alexa has already surpassed the date given for her survival. She has been to Rome and back with her family, fulfilling a dream to travel to Italy with Ilaria and Vivienne. Alexa continues to fight and enjoy everyday with her family. While there are no additional treatments to cure her, and free her from the cancer, much work needs to be done to eradicate this cancer.

November 30, 6 am, Alexa ended her battle with cancer. As in life, Alexa dictated the terms of her departure. She fought and willed her body to make it to Rome, to enjoy some more time with Ilaria and Vivienne, and to make it to Thanksgiving. There is no denying that it was her spirit and fight despite a failing body, that allowed her to continue to live life to the fullest, even in the face of such adversity.

Over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Over 40,000 women will die of breast cancer in 2015. These are our wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, friends, and colleagues. BRCA mutations account for 20-25% of all hereditary breast cancers, and 5-10% of all breast cancers. Triple negative breast cancers account for approximately 10% of all breast cancers. It tends to affect younger woman, African american or hispanics, is more aggressive, and is more likely associated with BRCA1 mutations.

Triple negative means that this cancer does not exhibit any of the 3 available receptors for targeted therapies currently available. These include treatments targeted toward estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and hormone epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2). This leaves more traditional chemotherapy as the mainstay of treatment. While triple negative breast cancer may be very sensitive to chemotherapy, there is a higher likelihood of recurrence of disease when compared to cancers that are receptor positive. There is an important gap in targeted therapies that needs to be filled to help treat this highly aggressive cancer that is attacking young women.

Please join with Alexa in supporting the work of Dr. Sara Tolaney as she seeks to find new treatments to battle this aggressive cancer. Dr. Tolaney is focused on studying metastatic triple negative breast cancer and BRCA mutations to discover what combinations of drugs are most effective and least toxic for patients. She is working on multiple trials, which include one for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have a BRCA mutation that has already shown great promise and another for metastatic triple negative breast cancer. All gifts will be directed to help move these trials, and other trials like them forward to bring new treatments to patients. Gifts will also be directed toward funding research on needed biomarkers (substances that help to indicate the presence of cancer in the body) and investigating which biomarkers predict response to therapies.