Funding Life-Saving Cancer Research

RACHEL’S STORY


Being told that my breast cancer had spread was the worst news imaginable. At the age of 39, I felt like I had everything to live for. I loved life, my children, friends and family. I certainly didn’t want the children to lose their mother, like I had.

Almost two years ago, I sat opposite my specialist while the most devastating words came out of his mouth as he revealed I had secondary breast cancer. He told me I would have just weeks to live without treatment, and a maximum of one year with treatment.

As a single mother of two beautiful children, Ava, 10, and Alexander, 7, it was unbearable. In that surreal moment, I remember thinking about the contents of my fridge at home. There were things in there with a longer expiry date than me!

Three years prior to this, I had been diagnosed with primary breast cancer and discovered I was carrying the BRCA2 gene, a hereditary genetic fault that has a very high risk of breast cancer.

Despite the gruelling treatment, including a double mastectomy, I wasn’t worried about myself, but I was afraid of what this could mean for my siblings and my children. I had already lost my own mother to breast cancer and as I shared my news with relatives, I began to learn of all the other women in my family who had experienced breast cancer. An aunt, my great grandmother, a great aunt — instances of the disease went back four generations. Unfortunately, my gorgeous sister Jane has also since been diagnosed with breast cancer.

 

NATIONAL BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION


The National Breast Cancer Foundation funds research into hereditary, or familial, breast cancer, which can be identified by the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, to help prevent breast cancer developing in high risk women, such as Rachel.

NBCF-funded Professor Georgia Chenevix- Trench is investigating risk-reduction treatments that could help prevent women having to undergo the extreme surgical option of a double mastectomy.

This procedure involves removing both breasts to ensure there are no more cancer cells in the breast and that the cancer cannot spread. Professor Chenevix-Trench says the current options for risk-reduction treatments are imperfect because they only reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 50 per cent, and have side effects.

She believes a new medication could be useful for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. It could particularly help with the kind of breast cancer that is most common in women who carry a fault in the BRCA1 gene, or who like Rachel, are diagnosed at a young age.

“We have identified a drug, already shown to be safe in treating patients with an inherited blood disorder, which can block the action of a new breast cancer susceptibility gene,” said Professor Chenevix-Trench.

The aim of her ongoing research is to test the effect of this drug on breast cancer cells grown in the laboratory to determine if we can justify carrying out a clinical trial.

 

SDA CONTINUES ITS SUPPORT


Over the past 18 years, the SDA has raised $331,362 for life-changing research into better diagnosis, treatment and prevention of breast cancer which it was recognised for last year when awarded the NBCF Commitment to the Cause Award.

This year, the SDA continues our long-term support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation so they can fund vital research such as the research currently being undertaken by Professor Chenevix-Trench.

 

HOST A PINK RIBBON BREAKFAST!


This October, thousands of Australians will host Pink Ribbon Breakfasts. Since the first Pink Ribbon Breakfast was held in 1998, the annual event has raised more than $20 million for life-changing breast cancer research, funded by NBCF.

Hosting a Pink Ribbon Breakfast is a fun way to bring together friends, family and colleagues and raise money at the same time. For more information or to register, visit pinkribbonbreakfast.gofundraise.com.au