Our Impact

If detected early, breast cancer can be controlled. It’s when the disease spreads, or metastasizes, that it often turns lethal. Metastatic cancer cells can lie dormant for years, even decades, only to “wake up” and find their way into different parts of the body, such as the lungs, liver, brain or bones. For those patients whose cancer metastasizes, there has been little hope for long-term survival. There’s nothing more important than stopping cancer in its tracks. We have committed $31 million to tackling metastasis through a multi-year, multi-institutional international collaboration. The first of its kind, the Evelyn H. Lauder Founder’s Fund will enable researchers to understand why some breast cancers spread faster than others and why some respond to certain therapies while other don’t. At the program’s center are major studies of the molecules that go awry in cancer cells to help us understand what makes the disease tick and how...

Every cancer is as unique as each patient. Thanks to research, we now know that no two cancers are the same and have evolved from a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment to tailored therapies and more effective drugs. With more personalized treatment comes improved outcomes.

Our researchers know that a treatment’s benefits, as well as its risks, differ for each person. The type of breast cancer, the stage of the disease and the characteristics of the tumor, along with one’s lifestyle and medical history, are all taken into consideration. Our aim? To find the least invasive, most effective option that will minimize adverse effects while maximizing success for each patient. We like to call this “outsmarting cancer.”