Dear Friends, Sandwiched between Breast Cancer Awareness Month and “the holidays” is November, the month in the breast cancer community that reminds us all that breast cancer doesn’t only occur during one month of the year. There is so much more work we need to do to end breast cancer altogether. Last week, Dr. Love, Stephanie (our amazing development director), and I spent a couple days in the San Francisco Bay Area where good friends of Dr. Love opened their homes and invited us to meet their friends. The guests at the first event were mostly venture capitalists who have deep knowledge of biotech and understand taking risks in business. The second event was hosted by a dear friend Dr. Love has known since college, who invited her friends, and they invited their friends and daughters, too many of whom have had – or now have – breast cancer. Two very different groups of people, but they all shared the same reaction to Dr. Love’s message of what we need to do to discover the cause of breast cancer so we can prevent it, and her conviction that we can do this in our generation! Some were astounded by the fact that we still do not have a complete understanding of the anatomy of the human breast ductal system. Others were indignant that the numbers of women who die from metastatic disease have not significantly changed despite our community’s great success at raising awareness and promoting early screening. All vigorously supported the mission of our Foundation: to find the cause and end breast cancer. But, here we are looking at the second to the last page of the 2014 calendar and we are no closer to ending this disease. Despite the many new treatments that are available and the many good and dedicated people working on finding a cure, until we find the cause and prevention, hundreds of thousands of people each year will be faced with the dreaded news of a breast cancer diagnosis. And, those women who have to endure the treatments will continue to suffer from the long-term side effects of their treatments. So, this November, I invite you to join us in fighting this disease from another angle. As the holiday season gets underway, you’ll see a lot of nonprofits asking for donations before and on Tuesday, December 2nd as part of #givingtuesday (and we’d love it if you included us in your giving), but we need you for more than that. Giving Tuesday is really about giving back and getting involved and we ask you to join us in facing the challenge of finding the cause. Join the Love Research Army, sign up for a study and forward one to your sisters and friends if you think they’d qualify, or check out the Health of Women [HOW] Study™ and learn how you can help us understand the factors that are at work in the development of breast cancer. However you chose to do it, join us. Because together, we can be the generation that ends breast cancer. Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season and a healthy New Year, Heather
