ANN ARBOR, Mich. – One in eight women could be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lifetime. Tess Downie is one of those women.
While treating her cancer, Downie made a decision that would potentially help save the lives of future breast cancer patients -- even if she couldn’t be saved.
Downie was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer in 2013. She has been declared cancer-free for six years now, but it wasn’t an easy path to get there.
“Spent about seven months in chemotherapy and then I had a radical mastectomy, but because the fact that my cancer was so invasive, it actually went to my skin. Mine had metastasized to my lymph nodes so it was very, very, aggressive” Downie said.
Downie’s doctor, Dr. Reshma Jagsi, the deputy chair of the department of oncology at University of Michigan Health System, knew they would need to aggressively treat Downie’s cancer.
“We're able to clear many, many women, but the disease Downie had was tough and we needed to intensify what we ordinarily had to have our best shot at curing her,” Jagsi said.
That’s when Downie volunteered herself to take part in a clinical trial -- with no guarantee it would cure her. She hoped, if anything, it could possibly help save the lives of thousands of other women fighting this cancer.
“When one participates in a clinical trial, one is actually doing a service to others in the community, because regardless of how that trial turns out, the knowledge that is gained goes on to serve others and Downie knew that. Downie wanted to serve her daughters, her friends, her sisters, others around her, her community, and that's so important,” Jagsi said.
The treatment took a toll on Downie's body but the University of Michigan Health System was able to learn a lot from those difficult side effects.
“It takes considerable courage to say, 'I'll be one of those first human beings to see if we can combine this agent with radiation,' and that's what Downie agreed to do. And so we learned how we can safely and tolerably combine the medication with radiation. We know she got the medication, we know what dose she got, and we know that she has no evidence of disease,” Jagsi said.
While difficult, Downie wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Did I have a horrendous response to the clinical trial? Absolutely. Have I ever regretted it? Never,” Downie said.
Downie praises Jagsi for her dedication and passion for finding a breast cancer cure, and the care she has for her patients before and after treating them.
She says she’s also grateful to the women with breast cancer who came before her and participated in clinical trials, as well, because she says it allowed her a better chance in winning her battle against cancer. Downie feels she is just paying it forward.
“I think it's always been women fighting for women in all sorts of things,” Downie said. “If I could play one small piece of helping them determine a treatment plan and if the drug worked with the radiation and it helped another woman have less complications, then why not?"
The American Cancer Society said “Dr. Jagsi’s work has been funded by ACS and is really emblematic of the progress we can achieve when we champion women.”
The current American Cancer Society’s ResearcHERS campaign is a movement that engages and encourages women to raise money that directly supports women-led cancer research.
The campaign has already raised more than $700,000 nationwide in hopes of supporting further works of women including Jagsi.
To learn more or to donate to ResearcHERS, click here.