ALERT! October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and our Dig Pink Rally has already begun. After a visit to Congress, October 13th is delegated to be a special day for Metastatic Breast Cancer. Unfortunately, that is my diagnosis and gratefully after five years, I am still very much alive and hopeful. Metastatic Breast Cancer is the killer breast cancer and more and more women getting that diagnosis are younger women some in their 20’s. We must encourage scientists to give MBC more attention. Be vocal ladies, demand what you need to survive!
The problem with MBC is that there is no cure. Yes, it can be managed with drug after drug after drug. The metastatic cells are very smart and they learn how to mutate so that the drug that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Consequently, women with my affliction take one drug after the other to see what works. In the meantime, Millions of dollars are spent unnecessarily on drugs that don’t work for the patient. There is a tool, however, that is called Molecular Profiling, which can test your particular tumor makeup and target which drug will potentially work for you. It makes such good sense because each individual has their own DNA and genetic makeup so obviously the same drug won’t work on everyone. This is common sense so why isn’t Molecular Profiling done when first diagnosed instead of a last resort when there is less hope. I have had this test and it gave me a year of stability in my disease until my medical insurer refused to pay for one of the drugs. People, please get involved! Ask for Molecular Profiling if the drugs you are on cease to work. Ask your Oncologist about it.
Side-Out Foundation is bent and determined to fund research to find new and different ways to treat this horrible disease that affects 1 out of every 8 women.
