Breast Cancer VACCINE Awareness Month
How is it October again? The air is crisp, the leaves are changing and we are about to see pink EVERYWHERE. Don't get me wrong, I love to see support go out to breast cancer patients. I can safely say my breast cancer would have been a much different journey without the outpouring of love I received from friends and complete strangers alike. As I wrote to my own newly diagnosed friend just today, "You are not alone." It is a comforting thought, until you realize how true it is. We are not alone because 1 in 8 women in this country will go through breast cancer. That's someone diagnosed with breast cancer every two minutes. This week it included my friend. Who will be in that unfortunate group tomorrow? Chances are some will be young. Women born in 1990 have a 20% increased risk of breast cancer compared to women born in 1955. I am contacted by an alarming number of young women who are already going through this disease.
The other reality that we sometimes gloss over in the cheerleading for survivors every October is that 114 still die of breast cancer every DAY. A survivor recently told me, "If we crashed a small jetliner every day, we would figure out a better way to fly a plane. 114 deaths from breast cancer is the equivalent of a jetliner crashing every day. "
So, won't you please help us find a better way to fly the plane?!
Cancer vaccines are showing great promise to be that better way. The Cancer Vaccine Coalition is about to help fund a collaborative Phase 2 trial for a vaccine called STEMVAC in metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I introduced the two hospitals that are now working together and bringing vaccines to a diverse population thousands of miles apart, meaning more access for patients and faster enrollment and results.
This fall, we also plan to fund expansion of a trial that is showing promising results for Her2+ breast cancer. By funding a variety of trials at multiple institutions, while bringing top researchers together to collaborate and share, we can move the science forward, faster. For now, many of the vaccine trials are in combination with other treatments like chemotherapy, but we dream of a future where vaccines could prevent disease in the first place.
Patients who have already gotten the vaccines as part of clinical trials report few side effects and tell us the shot changed their outlook on survival. Those who haven't yet gotten a vaccine tell us they want a shot... not just the vaccine, but a shot at LIFE.... A shot at all of those milestones like birthdays and weddings, graduations and holidays, and a shot at not worrying that their cancer has come back EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Most of us are all too AWARE of breast cancer. It has taken our family, disfigured our friends and left many of us with scars others cannot see. So please join us in making this breast cancer VACCINE awareness month. By spreading the word, you are helping us reach patients and donors who can help.
Five years ago this month, I was undergoing my first chemotherapy treatments. BY MY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CAN WE HAVE BREAST CANCER VACCINES TO MARKET??? With your help, I (and, more importantly, researchers) believe we CAN.
Let's stand up for each other, and INSIST on better options and outcomes. We deserve better. So, when you see all of that pink in October, think of CVC and remember the HOPE that vaccines are bringing. None of us is alone, and, together, we can build a cancer-free future.
With love and HOPE,
Kristen
