A New Milestone
- Actress Miranda McKeon, 22, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2021 at just 19 years old, but happily announced a new milestone — she has finished another phase of her treatment and is going off of Verzenio.
- Verzenio (abemaciclib) belongs to a class of drugs known as CDK 4/6 inhibitors, which control the spread of cancer cells. It is also known as targeted therapy.
- It is important to have a discussion with your doctor about the potential side effects to determine if using a CDK4/6 inhibitor is worth it for your specific health situation.
“I love adding to this series each month – today we celebrate the end of Verzineo (!!!!) bye girl <3,” the Anne With an E star wrote on an Instagram update this past week.
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Lupron (leuprorelin) is a type of hormone therapy, an ovarian suppression drug that stops the ovaries from making the hormone estrogen. McKeon has been openly going through medically induced menopause due to her treatment.
“It’s so gratifying to integrate difficult parts of my experience back into my life in a healthy way and hopefully one that you guys enjoy too.”
McKeon, who also posted photos from Coachella Music Festival with her girlfriends over the weekend, said she enjoys using her platform and breast cancer journey to “normalize conversations around women’s health,” describing it as “scary but so rewarding.”
Miranda McKeon’s Breast Cancer Journey
When first announcing her diagnosis, McKeon said a small lump “the size of a jellybean” in her breast initially caught her attention.
“I stepped away into the bathroom. I peed, fixed my hair, and performed the classic boob scoop a typical mid party practice,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “I brushed across a lump that was definitely not there before. It was the size of a jellybean but powerful enough to sink my stomach and set off emergency sirens in my head.”
After getting in for a mammogram, McKeon also underwent a biopsy and ultrasound. The tests confirmed her diagnosis of stage 3 hormone-positive breast cancer in June 2021.
The New Jersey native went on to have a double mastectomy, which is the removal of both breasts, and breast reconstruction.
“Navigating survivorship has been more complicated than I anticipated in some ways just being on different types of medications and also how to kind of integrate this experience into my life and work with it rather than working against it,” she told PEOPLE in a 2022 interview.
McKeon has said she has no family history of the disease.
HR+ Breast Cancer
Hormone receptors are proteins found on breast cells that pick up either estrogen or progesterone signals and promote cell growth. If the cancer has one of those receptors, meaning it is hormone receptor-positive (HR+), the hormones help the cancer to grow.
Breast tumors may be positive for estrogen receptors (ER+), progesterone receptors (PR+) or both (ER/PR+). About 80% of all HR+ breast cancers are ER+ or ER/PR+, according to Penn Medicine.
Learning More About CDK4/6 Inhibitors
There are three CDK 4/6 inhibitors available: palbociclib (Ibrance), ribociclib (Kisqali), and abemaciclib (Verzenio), which is what McKeon was taking.
CDK4/6 inhibitors assist in slowing down cancer growth in women with HR+, HER2- breast cancer.
Using Drugs Known as CDK4/6 Inhibitors to Reduce Chance of Breast Cancer Recurrence
Generally speaking, CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors are targeted therapies that fight off proteins known as the cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/CDK6).
These proteins control how fast cells divide and multiply, and for women with breast cancer, these proteins can cause cancer cells to grow uncontrollably.
How do CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors work to help fight advanced breast cancer?
Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, Head of Breast Medical Oncology at Valley Health System, previously spoke with SurvivorNet about CDK4/6 inhibitors and how it’s important to have a candid discussion about the potential side effects to determine if using a CDK4/6 inhibitor is worth it for your specific health situation.
“I think it’s a really hard decision for someone whose risk is a little bit lower to begin with, compared to someone who has a higher risk of recurrence,” Dr. Teplinsky said.
“And how you navigate that is really going to be an individual conversation between patient and doctor and balancing all of those side effects with the benefit.”
It is important to note that Verzinio is the first CDK4/CDK6 inhibitor to show significant decrease in reoccurrence, unlike its competitors.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
- Am I eligible to receive Verzenio?
- How will I feel during treatment?
- What are the most common side effects of Verzenio?
- What will my treatment cost?
- Will my treatment be covered by my medical insurance company?
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
