Birth of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance
This week marks 11 years since my breast cancer diagnosis. My feelings are mixed. On the one hand, I’m keenly aware, and constantly appreciative, of the fortune of being alive and, as far as I know (knock on virtual wood), free of the disease. That’s great, of course, but I’m lucky – so far at least, still vying not to be cast off by some strange turn of statistical, informed roulette. I can’t help but think, especially today, of my countless BC “sisters” with metastatic disease.
October 13 is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. In 2009, the U.S. Congress voted to designate this day for attention to the particular needs of people with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Although it’s been unofficial since that year, the day has been adopted by several breast cancer agencies as a time to rally in support the cause – and needed research – for people affected by MBC. For people who are living with MBC, the immediate goals are not so much to prevent breast cancer, or necessarily to cure it, but to find better treatments so they can live longer and fuller lives.
The number of women living with metastatic breast cancer is unknown. Almost all deaths from the disease occur in people who have advanced or metastatic (Stage 4) cases. This year, some 40,000 women and 400 men will die from breast cancer in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, cancer is the number 1 cause of death in women between the ages of 35 and 64 years. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths among women. Almost all deaths from breast cancer occur in women with Stage 4 disease. The World Health Organization reports that approximately 458,000 will die from breast cancer this year, around the globe.
These are the kinds of numbers that can be hard for some people to face, or think about too much. Deaths from breast cancer amount to 110 people each day in the U.S., or 1,255 each day, around the globe. I’m thinking of a lecture room of women every day in the U.S., or a train’s worth.., every single day, on average. Hard to envision. But it’s almost impossible not to get the message if just one woman, perhaps at the table over a lunch meeting, tells you about her daily life with relapsed or otherwise metastatic disease, and no end of treatment in sight.
If you break the deaths down by age group, as does the American Cancer Society in its most recent report on Breast Cancer Facts & Figures, you’ll find these numbers in Table 1: over 1,000 women die of breast cancer each year under the age of 40 years; an additional 4,780 die under the age of 50; almost 12,000 die between the ages of 50 and 64; the remainder of BC deaths (nearly 23,000) occur in people age 65 and older. The overwhelming proportion of cases arises in women, although there’s a trend of more cases in men. The median age of a breast cancer diagnosis is 61 years; this is largely a disease of middle-aged women.
Some encouraging news on the research front, besides new drugs in the pipeline and ongoing trials, is the formation of a new, cooperative coalition of breast cancer charities that will work together to address the problem MBC. The new Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance includes a spectrum of pink and gray agencies, young and old, working together. The main thing is to promote knowledge and research about breast cancer metastases – to reduce formation and growth of metastases, and to treat those affected with better, less toxic meds.
I’m delighted to see an example of BC agencies working together, constructively. Sure, each group has its particular priorities and “personality,” if you will. But we all want to end misunderstanding, and we all hope to improve the lives of people living with Stage 4 disease. Breast cancer is not “easy.” It’s serious and life-destroying. The more research and scientific attention that we devote to men and women with metastatic breast cancer, the more likely will be an extension of their survival, and improved quality of what lives they’ve living, now and hopefully in the future.
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