EUGENE, Ore. – Breast cancer researchers have developed more targeted therapy, allowing women with a certain type of breast cancer to receive a certain type of treatment.
Every week, 63 people are diagnosed with and 11 people die from breast cancer in Oregon and southwest Washington.
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Andrew Asato, the CEO of Komen Oregon, said Komen has put millions of dollars into research.
When they first started, he said it was one size fits all in terms of treatment. With research dollars, they’ve learned breast cancer is a very complex disease and targeted treatment works better.
“We’ve come so far and we’ve increased that five year relative survival rate when breast cancer is contained to the breast to 99 percent,” Asato said. “That’s phenomenal. We’ve reduced death rates by 37 percent, but we’ve not there yet. We still have a long wat to go but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Asato said community support helped more than 38,000 women, men and families last year with education, mammograms and access to treatment.
