Katie Thurston no longer needs chemotherapy after getting a second opinion about her breast cancer
The 'Bachelorette' star previously revealed her breast cancer had spread to her liver and is classed as stage 4 and although she was due to start chemotherapy, a biopsy on her breast, lymph node and liver confirmed her cancer is HER2-negative and she can proceed with an alternative treatment plan
15 April 2025
She explained in an Instagram video: "Imagine you are 24 hours away from starting your first chemotherapy treatment, you have a port installed, you have a chemo bag ready to go, and then you get a call from your doctor that says, 'Hold on' ...
"...Why's this important? Because of the type of cancer I have, this actually allows for an alternative treatment plan. This means no chemo. I now have the option to do hormone-blocking therapy instead of chemotherapy."
"I'll be taking a drug called Kisqali, which is a targeted oral therapy, Letrozole, which is an anti-estrogen pill, and Zoladex, which is a once-a-month shot that will shut down my ovaries and help reduce estrogen. The current approach that we're taking is going to give me the best chance at long-term control with less side effects.
"Could I need chemo in the future? Maybe. If this treatment stops working or if the cancer grows again, it's an option we'll revisit. We will closely monitor the treatment plan and make sure it's working for my body."
Previously, Katie explained she had undergone IVF treatment ahead of starting her planned chemotherapy.
She told Us Weekly magazine: "Chemo does impact your reproductive health. It does raise the risk of you not being able to conceive.
"Knowing that we wanted kids in the future, we thought, 'OK, let's do IVF just to have that option.' We dedicated two weeks before doing anything else breast cancer-wise to doing IVF...
"[Some] doctors almost frown upon it or they want to put fear in you and say, 'No, you need to take care of this cancer.' So a lot of women don't even know that you can take 10 days to dedicate time to your reproductive health and your future family plans. We were able to retrieve 17 eggs and of those 17, six became embryos."
Thurston praised her husband Jeff Arcuri for supporting her throughout the process, saying: "He's been to every single appointment with me so far. He's done every single shot that's involved with IVF."
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