Real Talk About Breast Cancer

[00:00:00] Adam Walker: In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, if you’d like to join the fight against breast cancer, please go to www.Komen.org to donate today. We need to talk about Black breast health. Black women are about 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women, diagnosed at younger ages…

Today, we’re getting real about the mental and emotional impact of breast cancer.

Although metastatic breast cancer cannot be cured today, it can be treated. Treatment focuses on extending life and maintaining quality of life, both of which were incredibly important to Sylvia Proctor as she was living with metastatic breast cancer. Unfortunately, Sylvia passed away from MBC just before Mother’s Day last year. Her daughter, Carlita McIlwain (MAC-ILL-WAYNE), remembers her mother as an entrepreneur at heart who successfully ran more than 10 businesses during her lifetime while also working full-time. Her life was defined by her devotion to her Catholic faith and her Native American/African American family. Carlita is here today to share her mother's story, which has fueled her passion to give back and help find the cures for breast cancer. It is her hope that her work will help future generations – both in her family and in her cultures.

Susan G. Komen knows that even one more day without a cure for metastatic breast cancer is one day too many when lives are at stake. MBC is the most advanced stage of the disease. Though there are treatments to extend life, there is no cure. That’s why this year, Komen is going one step further to raise an extra $1 million to fund the first ever MBC Excellence in Research Award. Here today to tell us about this $1 Million Challenge and some of the promising new research the grant could fund is Dr. Kim Sabelko, Komen VP of Scientific Strategy and Programs.

This is a promising time in metastatic breast cancer research. Many new treatments for MBC are under study and treatment is improving, allowing families more time with their loved ones. Today’s guest became a breast cancer researcher after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following her late sister’s MBC diagnosis and passing, she has dedicated her career to research that will help to identify women who are at especially high risk of metastatic breast cancer and to identifying lifestyle changes that may improve quality of life for women living with metastatic breast cancer. Here today to share their story in her sister’s memory and how her family history fuels her passion in searching for cures is Komen Scholar Dr. Julie Palmer.

The loss of a partner or spouse is a traumatic event in the moments leading up to the loss are traumatic as well. While family and friends can be strong sources of support for those with breast cancer, support for their loved ones and caregivers is also crucial. Today's guest lost his wife, Jennifer, to metastatic breast cancer when he was 38 years old. Here today to share their story a decade later and what his healing process has been like in those years since is Angelo Merendino.