Katie Thurston’s Breast Cancer Treatment Changes: How Does Hormone Therapy Differ From Chemo?

Former Bachelorette star Katie Thurston is sharing a major update on her cancer journey after having to put her treatments on pause.

Thurston, 34, shared in an Instagram video on Thursday, April 10, that her cancer has been “confirmed” as HER2-negative, which means, Thurston’s specific type of breast cancer “involves having cancerous cells in your breast that don’t contain high levels of the protein human epidermal growth factor 2,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. This is the opposite of most breast cancers, in which the HER2 protein fuels cancer growth.

“What this means is no chemo. Instead I’ll be on Letrozole + Kisqali + Zoladex as my first line of treatment,” her caption continued. “This is a custom plan based on being [/] having HER2-negative, Luminal B, hormone-positive breast cancer. Letrozole to block estrogen, Kisqali to stop cancer cells from growing, and Zoladex to shut down my ovaries.”

Thurston further explained that chemotherapy is not completely off the table.

“Could I need chemo in the future? Maybe,” she added. “If this treatment stops working or if the cancer grows again, it’s an option we’ll revisit. We will closely monitor the treatment plan and make sure it’s working for my body.”

The hormone therapy Thurston will undergo “works by stopping estrogen from fueling breast cancer cells to grow,” according to the American Cancer Society. Chemo, alternately, aims to kill the rapidly dividing cancer cells.

Thurston was diagnosed with cancer in February. The following month, the former reality star was finalizing her treatment plan while moving to New York City with now-husband Jeff Arcuri. (Thurston was also undergoing fertility treatments at the same time.)

Us Weekly broke the news on March 22 that Thurston and Arcuri, 36, had gotten married. They spoke to Us exclusively about tying the knot amid her health journey.

“I want to be able to be in the hospital with her and just be like, ‘My wife’s in there.’ There’s more power to that,” Arcuri told Us. “I don’t want to be not with you for any of this.”

Days later, multiple spots had been found on Thurston’s liver. She underwent breast, lymph node and liver biopsies, and got a port placed. By March 28, Thurston confirmed that the spots on her liver were cancerous.

“After days of waiting, unfortunately, I did find out today that my breast cancer has spread to the liver,” she shared on social media at the time. “It is fairly small, however it does put me at stage four.”

Thruston was initially set to start treatment in early April. However, her doctor put a pause on their plans.

“I was minutes away from taking my steroid for chemo prep,” she shared on April 4. “Instead, I am headed to my doctor to discuss how this happened, what testing is needed and what this means for my new treatment plan. Sounds like chemo is off the table now.”