The video features a group of men—family members, friends, a clinician, and community advocates—sharing personal experiences and perspectives on breast cancer. They discuss the prevalence of the disease (1 in 8 women), the profound impact on families, and the essential role women play as the backbone of households. The speakers highlight local Susan G. Komen efforts in Charlotte, including fundraising events like Laugh for a Cure, and emphasize the nationwide reach of Komen races. They explain the significance of the "Pink Tie Guy" movement as a symbol of commitment to the cause. The dialogue also contrasts the promise of emerging, genomics‑driven targeted therapies with the current economic barriers many patients face, underscoring the need for both research funding and immediate community support. Throughout, the speakers convey hope, resilience, and a call to collective action to eradicate breast cancer.
Chapters
One out of 8 women today or sometime in their life will be diagnosed with breast cancer. My wife actually was one of those women, Jeanne, and we have also had some close friends that have gone through this experience as well as some very close friends recently, or one close friend that we lost to this disease in the recent past. So therefore, as a co-survivor, I'm very much aware of the experience that this is all about and what kind of experience people go through.
Cancer strips away the veneer of all the things that aren't important in people's lives, you know, whether their garage door is working, you know, whether they made the mortgage payment this month, and it really cuts down to what's truly important. And you learn those lessons through your patients if you pay attention.
Certainly the statistics are powerful. It's 1 in 8, and when it walks through your door, it hits you like a hammer.
Like so many others, you know, people in our family have been affected by breast cancer. My wife Gwen's only sister, Jan, contracted breast cancer 8, 9 years ago, and it was just seeing Gwen go through That, not to mention her sister, showed me, you know, how this touches people's lives and how badly we need to find a cure.
Women are just the backbone of our families, and to protect our families, I think we have to make sure that we do all we can to protect the women.
The women are kind of the nucleus of the family, so if they're affected or not around or down, then, you know, children and other members of the family are affected.
You know, I treat a lot of breast cancer and breast cancer patients. They're an incredibly inspiring group of individuals and people, and, you know, one thing that's particularly notable about breast cancer patients is the way they work together and pull each other up.
What's great about Susan G. Komen is that there are local efforts, and here in Charlotte, as a matter of fact, Komen Charlotte, which takes care of 13 of our surrounding counties, Works tirelessly and is one of the most significant contributors to the national kind of efforts that go on. So through events like Laugh for a Cure, as an example, funds are raised to support these 13 counties and the needs of the people in these 13 counties.
That's one of the beauties of this. It's not just in Charlotte. It's not just in one particular location. It's all over the United States. I mean, when we have our race, it's just one out of, I'm sure it's several hundred, I don't know the number, but I'm sure it's a lot more than even 100 races that happen every year. That's people coming together to make a difference. And yeah, you can't beat that.
One of the things that was apparent to me early on in our partnership with Komen is the amazing community support that Komen provides for not just the women that are battling the disease, but also the families that are, that are also impacted.
I think that being a Pink Tie Guy actually just represents commitment, that I am actually committed to this cause and committed to helping find a cure and saving lives.
Pink Tie Guy means a great deal to me because of the company that I'm in. Some of the people that you and I have talked about are very inspirational to me. They give a lot and they don't ask for a lot in return, and I'm proud to be associated with those guys that have made such an impact in our community with the fight against breast cancer.
The bottom line for the Komen Foundation is to eradicate cancer. Just get rid of it. I think that it can be done.
I really do.
There are naysayers out there that say that, no, there's always going to be one form or another, but I just don't believe that.
Breast cancer is a disease we're really starting to get a handle on. I mean, there's the, there's the big picture that, you know, we're learning breast cancer isn't just one disease, but as we sequence the genome, which has now become possible, you know, not today, but tomorrow we'll be treating breast cancer at a very personal, specific level with targeted agents that'll be much better than what we use today. I think Komen understands the importance of that research and experience for tomorrow, but just as importantly, they understand that we're dealing today with patients. And I'm dealing with patients not where we're looking at futuristic targeted therapies, but I'm looking at patients who don't have the money to come here for their treatment because they can't pay the gas I have patients who aren't getting their mammograms because they lost their job. So there's that dichotomy of needs, and, you know, I guess I would inspire people by saying, you know, I think the economics of the last few years have taught us that we all could be next. You know, we could all be that person who's having difficulties, and Komen helps us get through those times.
It's difficult to have that hope and to have that focus for a long, long time and not let it waver. And it does waver, but we have 2 young children, so there is no choice for us but to have hope and to look forward to the next drug to keep Jen going. So in our lives, it's directly— that source of hope comes directly from our children. And it's a double-edged sword. You feel like here you are, a life-threatening disease, that you could possibly leave these 2 young children behind, but they're the reason that you're going to fight and beat this disease.
