Ten years ago, doctors gave Sarah Lee a timeline instead of a future. After diagnosing her with de novo, stage four metastatic breast cancer at just 41, they told her she was unlikely to see her 50th birthday.
Today, she’s 51. She’s completed 13 marathon events. She’s walked 100 kilometres across northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago. And her cancer, against the odds she was first handed, is stable.
Sarah’s story didn’t begin with running. It began, like so many cancer stories do, with chemotherapy – long appointments, harsh side effects, and an oncologist’s advice that exercise might help her get through it. So she started running. At first, it was simply a way to get herself to treatment. Somewhere along the way, it became something much bigger.
“The strength and determination I get from running helps me tackle the challenges that metastatic breast cancer throws at me from time to time,” Sarah explains.
Thirteen marathons and a pilgrimage later, that determination has carried her further than anyone – including, perhaps, Sarah herself – once thought possible. Her story is not one of ignoring a diagnosis or outrunning it, but of building a life alongside it: finding movement, purpose and community in the middle of uncertainty.
Sharing the journey
On Wednesday 16 September, Sarah will share her experience as part of Breast Cancer Trials’ Q&A – Metastatic Breast Cancer, a free online panel discussion running from 5pm to 6.30pm AEST. Moderated by journalist and author Annabel Crabb, the panel brings together clinicians, researchers, and people living with metastatic disease to talk openly about what a diagnosis like Sarah’s really means – and what’s changing.
Joining Sarah on the panel are:
- Dr Nicholas Zdenkowski, Medical Oncologist
- Dr Andrea Smith, a researcher in supportive care in metastatic breast cancer who also lives with the disease herself
- Professor Lisa Beatty, clinical psychologist and developer of the Finding My Way online resource for people navigating cancer
The discussion will cover the realities that don’t always make it into awareness campaigns – the latest research and clinical trials, the difficult decisions around treatment, and practical guidance for living well with an incurable diagnosis, as well as support for the families and loved ones walking alongside them.
Why research still matters
Sarah’s decade of stability is, in part, a reflection of just how far treatment has come – and how far it still needs to go. Breast Cancer Trials, which has run clinical trials research into breast cancer treatment and prevention since 1978, says continued research is critical to changing outcomes for people like Sarah.
“We need to be able to detect breast cancer as early as possible, because the chance of a cure is highest when the cancer is still confined to the breast,” says Dr Zdenkowski, Medical Adviser at Breast Cancer Trials. “We need treatments that stop breast cancer from spreading beyond the breast, or that effectively eradicate cancer cells that have spread.”
Every breast cancer treatment available today exists because of clinical trials research – work that, according to Breast Cancer Trials, now spans more than 1,000 researchers across 118 institutions in Australia and New Zealand.
A space for honesty, not just hope
For Breast Cancer Trials CEO Karen Price, the value of the Q&A lies in holding both truths at once: the seriousness of a metastatic diagnosis, and the genuine, growing possibility of living well with it.
“Whether you’re living with metastatic breast cancer, caring for someone who is, working in healthcare, or simply want to better understand this disease, this Q&A offers trusted expert advice, real-life experiences, and practical information to help you navigate the path ahead,” Price says.
That’s ultimately what Sarah’s story offers too – not a promise that things will be easy, but proof of how much life she can still live. A marathon at a time. A step of the Camino at a time. Ten years, and counting, past a deadline no one ever expected her to reach
