IOWA – A LEADER IN SAVING LIVES

by Christine Carpenter and Lori Seawel

Did you know Iowa has played an integral role in breast cancer research that is saving lives right here in the Cedar Valley? Some of our own Beyond Pink TEAM members credit the Breast Cancer Research Program as the reason why they are alive today. And they have retired Iowa Senator Tom Harkin to thank. Fran Visco, President of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, explained in a 2014 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer (October 18), “You know, there are many runs and races and dinners that raise money for breast cancer research - and they're all important. But real money, year in and out, comes from federal appropriations. So, we said that's what we're going to focus our efforts on. We were successful [winning some $300 million in their first congressional appropriation], but Sen. Tom Harkin, who was then the chair of the Appropriations Committee, said to me, ‘I can't do all of it in the domestic budget.’ So, we got $210 million in the defense budget.” As a result, the Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) was created in 1992 as the first program under the umbrella of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). You may ask how breast cancer research is relevant to military health. The December 2020 BCRP Report explains, “Female active-duty Service members have a 20%-40% higher incidence rate of breast cancer than the public. The incidence rate of breast cancer for active-duty women is seven times higher than the average incidence rate of fifteen other cancer types across all Service members. The outcomes of BCRP-funded research will ultimately benefit military Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and the general public.” The BCRP, a unique partnership among the public, Congress, and the military, has become a model program. The CDMRP has grown to encompass more than thirty-five similar targeted programs. Funds for the CDMRP are added to the Department of Defense (DoD) budget each year. Support for the Breast Cancer Research Program is allocated from those funds via specific guidance from Congress. Foundational to the program is the involvement of breast cancer survivors, alongside scientists, to decide how the money gets spent. The BCRP has awarded $3 billion in grants since 1992 to highly innovative research. In fact, the breakthrough drug, Herceptin, was discovered through the Breast Cancer Research Program. Herceptin is used for the treatment of HER2+ early-stage and metastatic breast cancers. Beyond Pink TEAM advocates Jill Hansen, Jacque Bakker, and Kristin Teig Torres attribute the BCRP’s initial research funding to develop Herceptin for saving their lives. Jill Hansen notes, “Herceptin was and still is a game changer [for me and] for so many women and men that has allowed us to survive and thrive past this horrible disease that continues to take the lives of our mothers, daughters, friends and other family members that we cherish.” “In 2009 I [Jacque Bakker] was told by my oncologist that I had HER2+ breast cancer, a type of breast cancer with a deadly prognosis. Then I was told that I would be given a targeted therapy called Herceptin, a drug improving and prolonging the lives of men and women with HER2+ breast cancer. I remember feeling like I could breathe after hearing this.” Kristin Teig Torres, a 10+ year survivor of HER2+ breast cancer, realized “breast cancer continues to take far too many lives. The large numbers are intolerable. Breast cancer is a political issue that remains an urgent health crisis. It will take action to prevent breast cancer and prevent death from breast cancer.” All three are thankful for retired Senator Tom Harkin’s work to create the BCRP and have joined Beyond Pink TEAM and the National Breast Cancer Coalition to advocate to keep this program funded. All Beyond Pink TEAM advocates lead busy lives with already jam-packed schedules of work, family, church, and volunteering commitments. The thought of one more commitment – or one more meeting – is intimidating for us. Yet they realized their health, and the health of their daughters and granddaughters, is at risk. So, they do what they can with the time that they to End. This. Disease. Will you join them? Citations for interview referenced in second paragraph and the BCRP report/program booklet referenced in the third paragraph: The Interview: Fran Visco. (2014, October 18). Retrieved March 25, 2021:   https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20141019_The_Interview__Fran_Visco.html Breast Cancer Research Program (Publication). (2020, December). Retrieved March 25, 2021, from Department of Defense – Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.