Christine Hodgdon and Raquel Campoy live with metastatic breast cancer

One in eight women will develop breast cancer, and 30% of them will go on to develop metastases. The numbers are stark and threatening. But two women, one on each side of the Atlantic, are working hard to make those statistics less frightening. By raising the voices of patients and supporting research, they aim to help find a cure for metastatic breast cancer, or at least to make it a chronic condition. These are their stories.

For American Christine Hodgdon, life changed abruptly at age 34. At the time, she was working as a conservation biologist at a non-profit protecting the habitat of endangered species. “It was an amazing job; I was so happy. But I felt two lumps on my side,” she recalls. At that point, she didn’t know it, but she had triple positive metastatic breast cancer.

On the other side of the ocean, Raquel Campoy was born in Cambrils, “a beautiful little town in Tarragona where I had a wonderful life.” Her dream was to move to Madrid, a city she had always been fascinated by, and work. “I made it happen, I started as an account executive at an event agency, met the perfect partner, and we decided to start a family,” she says. After having a son, her daughter was born. “I felt so lucky; I had everything I had ever dreamed of,” she emphasizes. But while breastfeeding, she was diagnosed with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Both Christine Hodgdon and Raquel Campoy speak plainly about a disease that devastates you, physically and mentally. If any cancer patient knows what it’s like to face death, those with metastases see its dark jaws up close, waiting with their teeth. There is only one hope, and it’s called research, to save lives and to buy time.

The two women met in Madrid at the CRIS Symposium on biomarkers, therapeutic tools that are transforming cancer diagnosis and treatment. As activists, they are unstoppable.

Hodgdon created Storm Riders Network, where she shares the latest developments in breast cancer, treatments, and clinical trials. And she co-founded GRASP, with Julia Maués, an organization that connects patients and researchers to speed up progress in improving treatments and eradicating cancer. Campoy, together with the CRIS Against Cancer Foundation, launched the #Dame5más campaign. “We’re asking for very little, but it means so much. Five euros for five more years of life,” she explains. So far, she has raised €84,967 from 2,038 people who want to help her buy more time. All proceeds go to research.

“Lola Flores was a genius; she invented the first crowdfunding in history when she asked every Spaniard for one peseta to pay her taxes. If everyone gave me five euros, imagine what we could do for cancer research!” she remarks.

You have metastatic breast cancer

The first time Christine Hodgdon went to the doctor about her lumps, she was told not to worry because she was too young to have breast cancer. “I hate those words. That absurd idea delayed my diagnosis by eight months,” she says.

When the diagnosis finally came, it was crushing: triple positive metastatic breast cancer. But that wasn’t all, she was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “I just celebrated 10 years since my diagnosis, on April 7. I’m 45 now, and I’m still alive thanks to medical advances,” she emphasizes.

Her organization GRASP has become internationally recognized as a voice for patients. They are dedicated to bringing together the lived experiences of those with cancer with the researchers studying it. “That way we can make faster progress because they learn first-hand about our experience,” she explains.

“There are treatments doctors consider excellent, but even if they save our lives, we patients suffer greatly because of harsh side effects. It’s crucial for researchers to know that,” she stresses.

In 2020, literally, the day after her daughter was born, problems with breastfeeding raised red flags for Raquel Campoy. As soon as her gynecologist felt her breast, she asked for an ultrasound and then a biopsy. “She gave me a pill to stop milk production and said: ‘Raquel, we need to act quickly because this is going to be breast cancer,’” she says.

Raquel was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, one of the most aggressive cancers, and she already had multiple bone metastases. In just a few months, like a real-life nightmare, the cancer had also spread to her brain. “I kept thinking, this can’t be real. How can I break this news with my baby in my arms?” she remembers. She adds, “At home, I also had my other son waiting for me, a one-and-a-half-year-old.”

During the day, she tried to stay positive, but the worst moments came at night when she read bedtime stories to her son. “You can’t help but wonder, how many more times will I get to put him to sleep?”

Raquel remembers a doctor who encouraged her to live in the present. “The game we have to play is this one, don’t jump ahead because we’re not there yet.” That helped her. But what helped most was taking control of her life and trying to stand up to cancer.

Looking for a place to help, she came across the CRIS Against Cancer Foundation. “I liked them because their goal is research, and that directly means more time to live. I want to see my children grow up, go to their First Communions,” she says. She doesn’t even dare to say that she would like to see them get married and become a grandmother.

The importance of family

Both Christine and Raquel emphasize the importance of your environment when dealing with metastatic breast cancer. “I’m very fortunate to have a super strong support network with my family, my husband, and my friends,” Raquel explains. “Many women with cancer are abandoned by their partners. My husband has always been by my side. Although he doesn’t like to talk about it, I don’t know whether out of optimism or out of fear that things will go badly for me again and I will leave them alone,” she reflects.

Christine recalls how her family stuck together with her illness “like a loving army.” “They only broke down when I was diagnosed; they cried and I kept asking questions,” she remembers. She also felt supported by friends. Today, she feels thousands of patients by her side, like a network, and also by doctors and researchers. “I never imagined how much they would enjoy engaging patients,” she notes.

A future without cancer

Although she acknowledges being very concerned about Trump’s cuts to healthcare and research funding, Christine is clear that she will continue to work harder than ever for patients. And meanwhile, she’s enjoying her days in Madrid, a city she confesses she is in love with. “I went for a run in Retiro Park, to have a drink on a terrace… How beautiful it all is,” she says with a smile.

Because if there is one thing people with metastatic cancer know, it’s the need to enjoy today. To achieve a tomorrow, they need more research. Raquel points out, “without it we will not be able to see our children grow up.” That’s why she is working to raise funds so that metastatic breast cancer can become a chronic illness. But she admits that, “my real goal is for it to be cured.”

Christine adds, “I feel like I could have died in 2015, but I didn’t, I survived. Now I have to continue to work to improve patients’ lives, and maybe, just maybe, if we commit to more research, we can live in a world where cancer doesn’t exist.”

Translated from the original Spanish article published by El Español (April 11, 2025)