Big. Bold. Powerful.

I attended a Get Started meeting with the DFW 3-Day representative this weekend. I learned quite a bit of what to expect this year, being involved with this life-changing event. The main theme I came away with:

Big. Bold. Powerful.

I want to share some of the research that Susan G. Komen fund raising has done. Nationally, Komen has funded research leading to:

• Discovery of the first breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA1) and a test for women to learn about their inherited risk. This has led to very early detection of breast cancer in some women and prevention in others.

• First use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to discover some cancers that are not visible on mammograms. And while mammograms remain our most effective screening tool, Komen is investing in newer imaging technologies, such as molecular breast imaging (MBI), which may detect cancers that MRIs and mammograms miss.

• Anti-angiogenesis research that demonstrated that breast cancer tumors need a blood supply to survive. This led to development of drugs that stop tumors from making new blood vessels, and in many cases, from progressing.

• Evidence that most breast tumors are driven by hormones, and that drugs such as Tamoxifen are very effective treatments for women whose tumors are estrogen sensitive.

• Discovery of aromatase inhibitors, a newer class of hormone treatments.

• Discovery of the pathways that some cancer cells take in the body, leading to treatments to potentially stop the spread of cancers to other organs.