x

Smart Living: Breast cancer survivor creates organization to develop vaccine

Smart Living: Breast cancer survivor creates organization to develop vaccine
3 weeks 2 days 8 hours ago Tuesday, September 10 2024 Sep 10, 2024 September 10, 2024 6:06 PM September 10, 2024 in News

Every 14 seconds, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.

One woman believes her disease could have been detected earlier if her insurance covered the MRI screening she needed.

Michele Young said exercised and ate right.

“I did have mammograms, so I thought I was safe,” Young said.

Unexpectedly, Young received a stage four breast cancer diagnosis.

“I was told to do my bucket list,” Young said.

Young 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. 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,” Young said.

As a lawyer, Young took action. She became a major force behind Ohio House Bill 371, which it requires insurance companies to expand access to advanced breast cancer screening for women with dense breasts. The bill passed.

Young then created the Pink Eraser Project, which brings together top researchers across the world 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,” Young said.

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,” Budd said.

Young is currently in remission, and focused on erasing breast cancer.

“I get to change more lives, and I get to be changed,” Young said.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, M.D. 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 online.

Watch the video above for the full story. 

More News


Radar
7 Days