Katie’s Story: Taking Control of Breast Cancer Care
Katie Thurston is a busy woman. After rising to fame in 2021 as a contestant on season 25 of The Bachelor, she was the star of season 17 of The Bachelorette, began a stand-up comedy career, got engaged, and was planning a cross-country move from Los Angeles to New York City to start the next chapter with her fiancé. But that was just the beginning.
In February 2025, at age 34, Thurston was diagnosed with early-onset breast cancer, with no family history of the condition.
A few months after getting a second opinion and updated treatment plan from Columbia, she’s busier than ever as she stays involved in her care and uses her media platform to spread awareness about breast cancer in women under 40—all while enjoying her 30s in New York.
The road to an initial breast cancer diagnosis
Thurston first noticed a lump in her breast in the summer of 2024. She’d had a harmless, benign cyst removed from the same breast at age 20, and though this new lump was painful, she wasn’t initially concerned.
“The first thing a lot of people do is go to the internet and search their own symptoms, and I read that breast cancer isn’t painful,” Thurston says. “I read that your menstrual cycle and exercising can cause your chest to hurt. Because I had a benign cyst in the past in a very similar spot, I assumed it was just coming back.”
As a physically active woman in her early 30s, with logical explanations for the lump and the pain, Thurston “didn’t have the slightest thought that it was breast cancer.” “I viewed this lump as a chore,” she says.
Six months later, with the upcoming move to New York fast approaching and plans to start a family, Thurston decided to see a local doctor for what she thought would be another cyst removal and was referred to get a breast ultrasound. “I knew from my past experience that during the breast ultrasound, they quickly have a pretty good idea if a lump is a concern or not,” she says. So when she was told she needed to have a mammogram that same day, she suspected something was wrong.
A few weeks later, in early February, she got the call that a biopsy of the lump indicated stage three, triple-positive breast cancer. “Triple positive” means the cancer uses three specific molecules to grow: the HER2 protein and the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Knowing what drives the cancer’s growth is key to choosing the most effective treatments.
A second opinion at Columbia
Thurston and her family were devastated and overwhelmed. The next few weeks involved a lot of important decisions: whether the move was still on, where to transfer her care, what fertility preservation option to choose, and more.
Thurston and her fiancé followed through with their plan to move to New York, and she began treatment at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. There, her new care team performed more comprehensive scans to get the full picture. They also performed new biopsies and retested those taken by her previous providers to confirm her initial diagnosis.
Columbia’s results showed that the cancer had spread to her liver and was not triple positive as previously thought—it used only the two hormones estrogen and progesterone to grow. These findings changed her diagnosis to stage four, hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, and her doctors at Columbia recommended a different course of treatment.
“I get goosebumps thinking about it,” Thurston says. “When someone is diagnosed for the first time, I always encourage them to get a second opinion and not to rush into decision-making, because as much as cancer is very scary, cancer didn’t happen overnight, and neither should your decisions.”
Today, Thurston feels empowered and in control of her care. “What I love about Columbia is that they are constantly reminding me that I'm the captain of the ship. They support me. They'll help navigate. They provide their opinions and feedback. But at the end of the day, my treatment is my decision, and they're here to support that,” she says. “I feel very confident in the care I’m getting.”
Raising awareness about early-onset breast cancer
Shortly after her diagnosis, Thurston decided to share her story publicly.
“I was able to find people who had similar diagnoses, what their treatment was like, tips and tricks for surviving chemotherapy, and I realized just how helpful that was for me being newly diagnosed,” she says. “I know I have a huge platform of primarily women in that age group of 20s-40s, and I felt like I owed it to them to share.”
When she’s not travelling the world, Thurston provides regular updates on her treatment, symptoms to watch for, family planning considerations, and general guidance on navigating the health care system. She also started the Boobie Broadcast channel on Instagram, where people can share their experiences with breast cancer and ask questions.
Thurston hopes that by telling her story, young women will feel empowered to take control of their health, and health care providers will become more aware of the rapid rise of early-onset breast cancer.
For young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, Thurston is passionate about being a source of education and comfort. “There are going to be days that you feel so confident and powerful and great, and ready for whatever comes your way. And then there will be days where you’re the saddest you've ever felt,” she says. “Feel the feelings, but also enjoy the fact that you're here today and that you have a life to live. You owe it to yourself to live that life.”