Cincinnati, Ohio. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — A woman is being diagnosed every 14 seconds with breast cancer. Every 11 seconds a woman dies from it. I want to introduce you to one woman who did everything right. She had mammograms when she was told to. But because of the laws and regulations, didn’t have MRI’s. And because she, like 40 percent of other women, has dense breasts. The cancer inside her multiplied and grew before she was diagnosed.
“I have a lovely life. I have wonderful husband, five kids, and worked really hard,” said Young.
Michele Young exercised, ate right and…
“I did have mammograms, so I thought I was safe,” said Young.
But then, unexpectedly…
“I was stage four and told to do my bucket list,” explained Young.
Michele believes her cancer went undetected for years, due to her dense breasts. Mammograms, the only screening covered by her insurance missed it. Mammograms measure density in the breast, but in breasts that are already dense, mammograms can’t distinguish a tumor from normal tissue. Only an MRI can do that. But most insurance won’t cover it.
“Not giving people the screening they deserve, it’s inhumane,” said Young.
Michele, a lawyer, took action. First, she became a major force behind Ohio House Bill 371, which did pass. It requires insurance companies to expand access to advanced breast cancer screening for women with dense breasts.
Then, she created the Pink Eraser Project, bringing together top researchers across the world asking them to focus on one thing.
“We could create a vaccine for breast cancer with all the safety rules of the FDA with everything being checked carefully, within five to 10 years,” explained Michele Young, breast cancer survivor, Pink Eraser project.
Cleveland Clinic oncologist Tom Budd is part of a U.S. team of investigators, scientists and doctors, creating a breast cancer vaccine.
“The dream would be if we could immunize patients and prevent them from getting breast cancer in the first place,” explained Tom Budd, MD Oncologist, The Cleveland Clinic.
Today, Michele is in remission, and is focused on erasing breast cancer.
“I get to change more lives, and I get to be changed,” said Young.
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, MD Anderson, Dana Farber, and the University of Washington are working together to create a vaccine in the next five years. The pink eraser project encourages anyone interested in ending breast cancer to make a tax-deductible donation to https://give.roswellpark.org/pinkeraserproject
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Bob Walko, Editor, Matt Goldschmidt, Photographer
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