CLEVELAND -- You may have watched the story of Anastacia's courageous battle with breast cancer on ABC's "20/20." Well Cleveland has its own star in that battle. She's a Perry woman who is fighting her cancer and helping others at the same time.

NewsChannel5 health reporter Alicia Booth reported on how Diane Wylie is doing.

At 35, Wylie never imagined she'd be fighting for her life. She was battling the fastest-growing and most deadly breast cancer there is.

"I didn't know what chemotherapy was. I thought they were going to put me in a room and I didn't know what they were going to do to me. I was scared to death. I had nightmares," Wylie said.

But Wylie's nightmares turned to hope when she decided to join a clinical trial for a new drug, Booth reported. When Wylie gets the chemotherapy that most patients in her position would get, she's also getting Bevacizumab, a new drug that's being tested. And so far, in Diane's case, it's doing exactly what it's supposed to, Booth said. Within weeks, Wylie's tumor had shrunk from 9 inches to 3 inches, Booth reported. It was news that delighted her oncologist.

"It's a very difficult disease to cure and standard therapies haven't been all that successful," said Dr. Beth Overmoyer from University Hospitals.

Wylie still has a long road of treatment ahead of her. But her battle isn't nearly as tough as she thought it would be," Booth said.

"For the most part, I'm living my life the same, I'm not letting it change me," Wylie said.

But everyone treating her knows that her willingness to test this new drug could very well change the way doctors treat breast cancer in the future. Overmoyer calls patients like Wylie heroic.

"They are not only treating themselves, but also really advancing the knowledge of breast cancer treatment," Overmoyer said.

Inflammatory breast cancer is one of the few that actually causes pain in the breast. And it can grow overnight.

If you have any questions about breast cancer or want more information about the clinical trial and how to get involved, call the hotline at University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center at (800) 641-2422.

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