A Southampton mum who found a lump in her breast just hours after giving birth not only discovered it was cancer, but later found out she carried a faulty gene that could be passed to her baby.
Lina Pliskaitiene was told she carried the faulty BRCA gene and became gravely ill with stage 4 cancer which had spread to her pelvis, liver, shoulders and spine with some signs of disease near her heart.
But thanks to the work of Cancer Research UK’s scientists helping to discover BRCA genes in the 1990s and create a new family of treatments called ‘PARP inhibitors’, carriers like Lina can look to the future.
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Three months after taking a newly available PARP inhibitor that targets advanced breast cancer driven by the faulty BRCA gene, Lina’s scans now show no signs of active cancer.
Being in radiological remission has changed her life and now she’s backing a Cancer Research UK campaign to help fund more big breakthroughs.
Lina, 35, said: “There was a time when I was so poorly my nurses didn’t know if I was going to make it, but my new treatment has given me hope and precious time to do things with my husband and my daughter. I can’t believe it.”
Lina is sharing her story during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and 30 years since CRUK scientists were at the forefront of the discovery of BRCA genes. Faults in these genes increase people’s risk of developing certain cancers.
Lina had no idea she was a carrier herself when she discovered a lump while breastfeeding her newborn daughter in 2017.
After surgery, radiotherapy and four years on a preventative drug, the cancer had returned, this time Stage 4 and incurable.
Lina's oncologist at University Hospital Southampton, Dr Hugo De La Pena, told her about a new drug.
He said: “Lina has responded incredibly well to the PARP inhibitor, talazoparib, and when you look at the before and after scans, it is like day and night – the difference is remarkable and is clear to see. She is no longer in pain, her cancer markers have plummeted and because the drug is in tablet form instead of chemo, she has a much better quality of life."
Lina will continue to be monitored and her daughter, now seven, can be tested for the faulty gene at 18.
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