Triple-Positive Breast Cancer Research Saved My Daughter’s Life

Debbie Legault is the mother of a young woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27. Catch up on Debbie’s blogs here!

My daughter, who was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in 2019, is alive today because of science. Researchers created projects to investigate the impact of drugs on cancer cells, engaged brave souls to participate in clinical trials to test their efficacy and, by doing so, came up with chemotherapy medications that killed my child’s cancer. My debt of gratitude to everyone involved in this process cannot be measured.

My mother taught me that there are three things you don’t talk about at gatherings: religion, how to raise other people’s children and politics. I have taken that to heart and rarely, if ever, engage in those subjects when I write for CURE. However, in honor of my daughter’s presence on Earth right now, there have been recent developments that will take me right up to the edge of one of those topics today.

Research is expensive, and most research projects rely on grant funding to pursue their ideas. When the Cancer Moonshot was launched, my hope for a cure in the event that my child’s cancer recurs skyrocketed because it would mean more funds and attention being paid to the development of visionary treatments and diagnostic tools. Since most people will either be directly or indirectly affected by cancer in their lifetimes, I was sure everyone would be able to understand how important this work is and get behind it 100%.

The National Cancer Institute (an agency under the National Institute of Health) and its partners were responsible for studying the effectiveness of tamoxifen and Herceptin (trastuzumab), both drugs that my daughter was given as part of the breast cancer treatment plan to prevent recurrence. Her oncologist called Herceptin a “game changer” in his management of HER2-positive breast cancer and told her that without it, she would likely have seen her back in his office within 18 months because her cancer had recurred. As I mentioned above, going from theory to application includes the “tested on humans” part, and at some point, women with HER2-positive breast cancer put their futures in the hands of scientists, and they lived longer because of it. Despite recognizing the impact, the knowledge that the recent suspension of research funding would bring this process to a halt was overlooked. Consequently, the hopes of those relying on a clinical trial for a chance to survive their cancer were left in limbo.

These are not nameless, faceless beings on a list. These are someone’s mother, father, brother, sister or child. By a stroke of a pen, their lives were thrown into chaos. Some were potentially on the very edge of qualifying for a clinical trial because of the size of their tumor or results of bloodwork, and even a short pause could have meant that they would no longer qualify, that what could be their last chance would be taken away. I cannot even begin to imagine the despair and shock that these families experienced. Patients with cancer lose control over so many aspects of their lives, and this was one more decision taken away from them by someone they will never meet.

It seems to me that some things should be protected from the changing political landscape, and this is one of them. When lives hang, quite literally, in the balance, it should be understood that regardless of individual beliefs, we can all get behind the work of saving people from death by cancer. My child being able to walk into my arms when she comes to visit is a good thing. Watching her laugh at her toddler’s antics is a good thing. Seeing her dad’s pride in her accomplishments is a good thing.

Cancer research is a good thing. Period.

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