Carolyn Searles: Protecting Her Future Through Genetic Screening

Carolyn Searles and her husband, Andrew, live in the suburbs of Philadelphia with their daughter and infant son. Carolyn, 36, was diagnosed with stage IIB triple-negative breast cancer in 2025. But her journey with cancer began years before her diagnosis.

In 2019, genetic testing showed that Carolyn’s sister carried an inherited BRCA1 mutation, which increases risk for a number of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers. The finding prompted the entire family to undergo genetic testing. Carolyn, her other sister, and her father also tested positive, explaining the family’s history of cancer. Her father had prostate cancer, and her aunt had been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer 3 times, starting at age 34.

Carolyn, who was 29 years old at the time, suddenly faced decisions she had never expected to make at such a young age. To understand her risks and options, she met with genetic counselors at Penn Medicine and began alternating mammograms and breast MRI scans every 6 months. At first, Carolyn hesitated about undergoing a preventive double mastectomy; she wanted to have children one day and knew that the surgery would mean she could not breastfeed.

Two years later, however, her best friend’s diagnosis with inflammatory breast cancer created a new sense of urgency. “I felt like my body was a ticking timebomb, and if I could do something, I should,” Carolyn recalled. She chose to undergo a preventive double mastectomy in November 2021.

Life moved forward. Carolyn and Andrew married in 2022, and their daughter, Corinne, was born the following year. After facing fertility challenges when trying to have a second child, they were overjoyed to learn that they were expecting a son through in vitro fertilization.

Then, just after Carolyn’s 36th birthday, she discovered a golf ball–sized lump in her armpit. Within days, an ultrasound and biopsy confirmed stage IIB triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype often associated with BRCA1 mutations. “The world stopped,” she recalled.

The next day, as Carolyn sat holding ultrasound images of her healthy baby boy, her physician told her, “Your baby’s fine. His organs are formed. You can receive chemotherapy. You can have surgery. You can do everything but get radiation.” A team of specialists worked together to develop a treatment plan. Carolyn started chemotherapy within 2 weeks of diagnosis, and the tumor began shrinking within a week of her first infusion.

Throughout treatment, Carolyn received tremendous support. Family and friends helped with meals, childcare, and transportation, allowing her to continue working full-time while keeping life as normal as possible for her family.

To ensure that her son’s development was not affected, Carolyn’s physicians carefully timed her treatment. At 33 weeks and 4 days of pregnancy, Carolyn was induced and her son, Blake, was born healthy. Soon after giving birth, she resumed chemotherapy and began treatment with the immunotherapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Between appointments, she held her newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit whenever she could. “Cancer took a back seat because I had something beautiful to keep me going,” she said.

After completing chemotherapy, Carolyn underwent mastectomy completion surgery to remove tissue that remained after the original surgery. Follow-up testing showed a pathologic complete response, with no signs of cancer in the tissue removed during surgery. Today, she is in remission while continuing immunotherapy. “I feel more and more like myself every day,” she said. “Now I’m just a full-time working mom of 2 and trying to navigate that, which is a beautiful place to be.”

Carolyn believes genetic testing changed her life years before her diagnosis. It allowed her to understand her cancer risk, access specialized counseling, and begin intensive screening. Because she carries a BRCA1 mutation, Carolyn knows her journey is far from over. “I’ll be relying on ongoing research to help identify the most effective strategies for ovarian cancer prevention,” she said. Carolyn encourages anyone with a family history of cancer to learn whether genetic testing may be appropriate for them. “It’s scary to know the truth, but knowledge is power,” she said. “If there is something you can do to prevent cancer or reduce your risk, it’s life-changing.”

Drawing on her experience, Carolyn has lent her voice to advocacy efforts. She wrote to her member of Congress in support of the Constance C. McDaniel Medically Necessary Infant Formula and Donor Milk Act, introduced in May 2026 to help ensure access to infant formula or donated breast milk for mothers who medically cannot breastfeed.

Carolyn credits decades of research for giving her, Andrew, and their children a future together. Advances in genetic testing, risk-stratified screening for high-risk individuals, cancer treatment during pregnancy, and immunotherapy all played a role in her outcome. “Without research, my son and I might not be here today,” Carolyn said. “I want members of Congress to know how important it is for me and my family to continue to fund research.”