DALLAS, Dec 8: Mary Kay Inc., the United States-based direct selling skin care and colour cosmetics company and its company-sponsored foundations, recently hosted a virtual meeting between two cancer research scientists, the Dallas-based Dr. Joyce O’Shaughnessy, and the Madrid-based Dr. Eva Ciruelos.
Dr O’Shaughness is the Women Endowed Chair in Breast Cancer Research at Baylor University Medical Center and Chair, Breast Cancer Research at U.S. Oncology while Dr Cruelos is Breast Cancer Unit Coordinator, University Hospital and HM Hospitals and Chair, SOLTI Group on Breast Cancer Research.
Both lead their own research teams in their respective home countries focused on investigating the rare and aggressive form of cancer in women: triple negative metastatic breast cancer (TNBC).
Despite being separated by thousands of miles, the two have collaborated for years on TNBC research in their fight to find solutions and a cure for this devastating disease.
The two leading researchers who are experts in their respective fields sat down to discuss the importance of global scientific collaboration, in which they stressed the urgency for researchers worldwide to share their findings and advances to pool results.
”It is not a matter of having the best idea, but of arriving together to obtain the best treatment for each patient, and this is something that must permeate the medical, clinical, and pharmaceutical industries. The incidence of breast cancer in women is seeing an upward trend in the world, and today we can say that one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime,” said Dr. O’Shaughnessy.
”Without continuous collaboration among all the experts, it would be impossible to arrive at specific diagnoses,” said Dr. Ciruelos. ”It is vital to follow up each patient’s treatment in a personalised way; only then will we be able to detect why the same treatment for people with similar characteristics works for some, but not for others.”
They confirmed their frustration with the differences and inconsistencies they see in access to therapies, drugs, and treatments within various countries and called for unity in offering more consistent treatment for all patients regardless of their place of living.
The two researchers, who spoke of funding challenges in cancer research, expressed their gratitude to the Mary Kay Ash Foundation and Fero Foundation for making their life-saving work possible.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy said, “In 1985, we were terribly frustrated by the lack of therapeutic options for women with cancer. Today, we are seeing great advances on this front and I’m very optimistic for the success of the next generation of researchers.”
— BERNAMA