The Cancer Frontier - Medical Pioneers

I've never been happier to be channel surfing like I was last Friday night. Mark was picking up take-out from Pei Wei and I was checking out the evening line-up, waiting for his return. I stumbled across a program on PBS called Need to Know. I tuned in just in time to see a 15 minute segment about clinical trials for Breast Cancer. Twenty years ago, this story about 3 doctors and their patients might have bordered on science fiction. If these trials are successful, the wave of the future for Breast Cancer patients will be:

• Hair loss kept to 20% during chemotherapy
• Cryotechnology instead of surgery
• Personalized treatment for individual patients using biomarkers

These advancements make Breast Cancer

• Easier to cope with
• Easier to treat
• and dare I say, Easier to cure

There are currently more than 700 clinical trials taking place involving years of research and millions of dollars. As a scientist (B.S. in chemistry & math), I understand the hit and miss nature of research. However, I did not understand the process to bring a treatment or a new drug to the market until I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer myself. Watch how Dr. Emily Senay's video segment from Need to Know touches on this and introduces you to 6 women who are modern day medical pioneers on the Cancer Frontier here. . .