Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation [info@dslrf.org]
December 21, 2011
A Gift That Matters
With the season of giving upon us, I want to begin by thanking you for how much you have given to me this year by supporting the Dr. Susan Love Foundation and our primary goal: finding the cause and prevention of breast cancer.
I also want to thank you for your commitment to helping me get the message out that awareness is NOT enough. We’ve now had 25 years of breast cancer awareness—and we still don’t understand the cause or ways to prevent this disease. And the cure is NOT enough either. Not if it means surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy—all of which have side effects and cause long-term collateral damage to our bodies!
I am well aware that our goal—finding the cause and prevention of breast cancer—is a daunting task. But with your help we can do it; we have to do it. We don’t have to pass breast cancer on to another generation. We can end it!
I am often told: It is too hard to find the cause, it’s too complicated, cancer will always be with us, the best we can do is to make it a chronic disease. To those who think that’s the best we can do, all I can say is, your best is not good enough. This year, more than 280,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. And with all of the early detection and varied treatments we have available today, this year we still lost about 40,000 women to this disease—the same number of women we lost to breast cancer in 2005.
We can find the cause. We need to find the cause. I am more convinced than ever that the road that will get us there will require us to look at the areas of research that have been neglected by the grant givers, scientists, and universities because they seem too “out there” or “too risky.” But as we’ve seen time and time again, it’s big risk projects that have the potential for big rewards.
That’s why we at the Foundation are not afraid to take these risks. It’s why we proudly:
- Are planning a study looking into bacteria and viruses in the breast fluid. This important study has the potential to revolutionize our understanding and perspectives on whether there could be an infectious cause for breast cancer.
- Completed the first phase of a study in China on 1,000 women testing a possible home test for breast cancer risk.
- Completed and published a study looking at the difference between the lactating breast which makes milk and the “resting” breast which doesn’t.
- Are planning to make a model that will help us predict which environmental factors that appear carcinogenic in rats and mice actually get into the human breast.
- Completed a study testing whether low dose chemotherapy can be put into the breast duct through the nipple to treat DCIS. As we prepare the data for publication, we are planning to improve on this novel way of delivering drugs to where breast cancer starts.
- Launched the Army of Women, an initiative to recruit one million women interested in taking part in the research studies that will help us understand what causes breast cancer—and how to prevent it. To date, more than 370,000 women have joined our Army of Women, and have helped 52 researchers recruit for and accelerate their research. If you haven’t yet, join us today.
- Are preparing to re-launch the Health of Women (HOW) Study, the first-ever online study of an anticipated one million women. We will follow these women overtime to look at new risk factors for breast cancer. We will compare those without breast cancer to those who have it. And we will use new technology to explore the data for novel connections and hints.
This is the kind of innovative work that no other organization is doing. And it is an example of the disruptive thinking that is critical if we are going to break through the status quo and stop this disease. If you agree, then we hope that you will show your support for us this holiday season by making a gift to the Foundation by clicking here.
Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season.
Susan Love, MD President
A Message From Solutions for Women
The only cure for breast cancer is to not get it in the first place. Be proactive. Take care of your breasts and your overall health.
Avoid Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). You have other options to quench the need for estrogen and quite the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause.
HRT has proven repeatedly through clinical studies to increase the risk for breast cancer along with a 100% increase risk for blood clots and increased risk for heart attack and stroke.
If you are new to our blog and website, look around our site, call or email us with questions and speak with your doctor. Femmerol may all you need for your moderate to severe symptoms before, during and after menopause
Warmest regards throughout the Holiday Season and 2012!
Sabina Fasano, Founder