Breast Cancer Patient Gains Years With a Good Quality of Life Due to Advanced Clinical Trial at Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center
In September 2020, Michele Bauman, then 62, went for a routine checkup with her gynecologist. During the breast exam, some serious areas of concern were discovered in her breasts, and further imaging revealed that Michele had stage IV metastatic breast cancer.
With the help of her son, who researched the best options for her treatment, she was referred to Amy Tiersten, MD, Clinical Director of Breast Medical Oncology at the Mount Sinai Health System. Because metastatic breast cancer—cancer that has spread to other parts of the body— is not treated with surgery, Michele began an advanced treatment plan immediately. The treatments, part of a range of advanced clinical trials at the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center have given Michele years with a good quality of life.
As her initial treatment, Michele was enrolled in the ASPIRE clinical trial in October 2020. The trial evaluated a novel treatment combination (anastrozole, palbociclib, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab) for patients with hormone receptor–positive (HR-positive), HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Two of the medications were administered intravenously, and two were taken orally. The regimen combines endocrine therapy with two medicines that target the Her2 receptor allowing patients to avoid chemotherapy in their initial treatments. The results were encouraging, and Michele remained on the ASPIRE trial from October 2020 through August 2022. During that time, her cancer responded well to treatment, allowing her to continue to avoid traditional chemotherapy. “Her disease responded and remained stable without progression for two years," says Dr. Tiersten.
When Michele's cancer eventually showed progression in her right breast in 2022, she underwent radiation therapy. Because the progression was limited to the breast, Dr. Tiersten and her team were able to continue much of Michele's treatment regimen rather than moving immediately to a new therapy. She remained on anastrozole, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab following radiation, while discontinuing palbociclib (the drug that was being studied in the clinical trial).
In March 2023, Michele began treatment with a targeted chemotherapy that works differently from traditional chemotherapy: “Trastuzumab deruxtecan is an antibody drug conjugate,” Dr. Tiersten explains. Antibody-drug conjugates are a potent form of chemotherapy attached to an antibody so it makes the chemotherapy more targeted to the tumor cells and has fewer side-effects than traditional chemotherapy.
The treatment proved highly effective. Michele's disease remained responsive and stable for nearly three years. In early 2026, when imaging detected another slight progression of her cancer, her care team adapted her treatment plan again, demonstrating the growing number of options now available to patients with metastatic breast cancer.
"Dr. Tiersten is really amazing," Michele says. "She told me there are so many alternatives available. They're doing research every day, every month, every year. She assured me that we will just keep going."
As with many patients undergoing long-term cancer treatment, Michele has faced emotional challenges along the way.
"About six months ago, I told Dr. Tiersten that I was struggling in my personal life. I'm separated from my husband, and although we're on good terms, I'm doing this alone: I come home and nobody's here," Michele says. "Dr. Tiersten recommended a therapist from Mount Sinai, and she's been phenomenal. She's given me great tools to help me get through my feelings or the challenges, and to help put me in a better place. I'm really happy that I talked to Dr. Tiersten and she connected me with her."
Six years after her diagnosis, Michele continues to see Dr. Tiersten every three weeks. Her current treatment regimen combines several targeted/biologic therapies. Remarkably, despite living with metastatic breast cancer since 2020, Michele has never required traditional chemotherapy. She also undergoes regular PET scans, which produce 3D images of your tissues and organs.
"You only really find out what's going on through a PET scan," Michele says. "If Dr. Tiersten sees the tiniest, the slightest change, she reacts. But she's very calm and lets me know the best way forward for treatment. Whatever she says, I do."
According to Dr. Tiersten, Michele's outlook remains positive. "She's just recently had a PET scan, which shows her disease is under very good control, and she's tolerating treatment really well,” says Dr. Tiersten.” She has a good quality of life, and many future treatment options."
Michele says she is grateful for the high level of compassion and professionalism shown by the Mount Sinai care team involved in her treatment.
"They are so compassionate, and they make me feel like when I'm there, it's going to be okay,” Michele says, adding that upbeat staff members “put you in a good place the moment you walk in.”
“And I have four grandchildren, six and under, and they're my life,” Michele says. “When I see some of the nurses and the team, they ask me, 'How are your grandchildren?' It goes a long way when somebody asks you. I get it. I try to be that person to other people as well."