‘Smart bomb’ cancer treatment will let Brampton woman celebrate Christmas with grandchild for first time

A Brampton woman will be spending the holidays with her grandchild for the first time, thanks in part to what one doctor calls a specialized “smart bomb” cancer treatment.

Silvana Tibollo is a retired teacher who lives in Brampton who was diagnosed with breast cancer some 12 years ago. After a decade of chemotherapy, Tibollo said she was “in the clear” while still going for regular screenings every year.

But after a fall in 2022 and injuring her ribs, doctors found Tibollo’s cancer had returned and metastasized in her liver.

Neither a heavy drinker nor a smoker, Silvana was floored when she got the news.

“That was quite shocking, it was like getting hit by a Mac truck the second time around,” she told INsauga.com, calling the new cancer discovery “quite critical.”

Coming out of the pandemic, Tibollo said her second cancer diagnosis was a stressful time, and that going through cancer treatments feels like “every minute counts.”

But that’s when the new grandmother from Brampton said she met “her first angel” in Dr. Christine Brezden-Masley, who introduced her to a new treatment that has improved Tibollo’s “quality of life and quantity of life,” the doctor says.

The drug is called Enhertu and instead of “shotgun” chemo treatments, it works like a “smart bomb” by targeting tumours with the Her-2 protein to deliver a high-dose, concentrated chemotherapy, Brezden-Masley told INsauga.com.

“It really selects the bio-markers on a tumour,” she said, adding that Enhertu is “more precise” in targeting cancer cells.

Now Tibollo’s outlook is looking good, and goes to Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital for treatments every three weeks.

“I went from having a walker and a cane, and the last few days I haven’t, so that’s another push forward,” she said. “Once I get into my car and I’m driving, I’ll be fine.”

Calling herself a “Christmas elf,” Tibollo says she goes all-out for the holidays, putting up to five trees in her house. In past years, the cancer kept her from her regular seasonal celebrations. But this year will be all the more special, she’s getting ready to spend the Christmas season with her first grandchild, who was born this summer.

“The holiday time was always precious for me,” she said, adding that she’s hoping to get back to travelling.

Enhertu has already been available for patients with tumours showing high levels of Her-2 proteins, but the drug is now also available to patients like Tibollo with low or ultra-low Her-2 levels.

Like traditional chemotherapy, Enhertu can cause unwanted side effects, like lung toxicity, nausea, and hair loss, but Brezden-Masley said Tibollo’s case is “a great example of when you tailor the right therapy to the right person at the right time.”

Tibollo said her diagnosis and treatments have been hard on not just her physically, but mentally as well. It’s also taken a toll on the family, but Tibollo says the fight against cancer is “mind over matter,” and told others going through treatment to “stay hopeful.”

“As hard as it is, ask for help,” she said. “Or let somebody know it’s not a good day for you…and let them know why. The compassion part of our humanity is extremely important.”