When Cancer Treatment Leads to a Secondary Cancer: Survivor Shares Her Story of Angiosarcoma

September 23, 2022
Sailaja Darisipudi
Sailaja Darisipudi

Sailaja Darisipudi(she/her) has previously led communications for nonprofit organizations fighting against gendered violence and worked as an educator. She believes passionately in fighting for gender equality, destigmatizing mental health, making quality health resources available across socio-economic statuses and decreasing the gap between public education and the complexities of the American health care system. At Rutgers University, Sailaja studied public health, wrote and edited for newspapers such as RU Examiner and EMSOP Chronicles and accumulated an alarming number of parking tickets. When not working, Sailaja can be found getting lost (literally and metaphorically) in new cities, overanalyzing various romance books and streaming shows and ordering all the vegetarian items at different restaurants. You can also find her on Twitter at @SailajaDee.

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Sonya Collins

Seven years after completing breast cancer treatment, Angelia Carpenter was shocked to discover she had angiosarcoma, a rare cancer that may have been associated with her breast cancer treatment.

When Angelia Carpenter was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma in 2009, she thought she knew what to expect. After all, her mother was diagnosed with the same cancer just four years ago. She went to the doctor and followed the recommended steps.

But everything changed seven years later, when she noticed what she thought was just a pimple on her breast.

In this week’s episode of “Cancer Horizons,” the 62-year-old Missouri resident recounts her experience of being diagnosed with secondary angiosarcoma after undergoing breast cancer treatment, traveling to multiple oncologists to seek treatment for her extremely rare cancer, writing a book with her family about her experiences and more.

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