EVERY OCTOBER FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS, PINK RIBBONS SPROUT AS THE SYMBOL OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH.

IT'S A GOOD TIME TO TAKE STOCK OF THE LATEST IN BREAST CANCER RESEARCH AND THE EXPERIENCE OF PATIENTS.

ALI ROGIN SPOKE WITH DR.

ARIF KAMAL, THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY'S CHIEF PATIENT OFFICER AND A DUKE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL PROFESSOR.

AND KRISTEN DAHLGREN, A FORMER NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT WHO'S A BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR AND THE FOUNDER OF THE CANCER VACCINE COALITION.

ALI: THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME.

ARIF, I'D LIKE TO START WITH YOU.

WE HAVE AS A COUNTRY BEEN COMMEMORATING BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH FOR 40 YEARS NOW.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR MILESTONES YOU SEE THAT WE'VE ACHIEVED OVER THAT TIME?

DR.

KAMAL: YEAH, 40 YEARS IS PRETTY REMARKABLE AS WE THINK ABOUT IT.

STARTED IN 1985, I WOULD, YOU KNOW, REALLY CENTER AROUND THE NUMBER 40, ACTUALLY, FOR A LOT OF THE GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

BREAST CANCER MORTALITY HAS REDUCED BY OVER 40% OVER THAT PERIOD OF TIME.

IN ADDITION, WE'VE NOW REDUCED THE AGE OF WHICH WE RECOMMEND STARTING MAMMOGRAMS, NOW DOWN TO THE AGE OF 40.

IN ADDITION, WE'RE STARTING TO SEE OTHER AREAS OF DISPARITIES AND GAPS CLOSING AS WELL.

MAMMOGRAM RATES, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE AT ALL-TIME HIGHS ACROSS MULTIPLE COMMUNITIES.

NOW WE'VE STILL GOT SOME ROOM TO GROW, BUT A LOT HAS HAPPENED OVER A COUPLE OF DECADES OF TIME.

ALI: AND TO THAT POINT, ARIF, STICKING WITH YOU, WHERE DO SOME OF THE MAIN CHALLENGES STILL REMAIN?

DR.

KAMAL: YEAH, WELL, AGAIN, I'LL STICK TO THE NUMBER 40 HERE FOR A MINUTE.

SO BLACK WOMEN, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE 40% MORE LIKELY TO DIE OF BREAST CANCER WHEN MATCHED STAGE PER STAGE WITH WHITE WOMEN.

IN ADDITION, WE'RE STARTING TO SEE SOME AREAS AND POCKETS OF MAMMOGRAM LOW RATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

IN ADDITION, WE'RE TO SEE SOME OF EXPERIENCE BE VARYING ACROSS DIFFERENT POPULATIONS.

FOR EXAMPLE, SOME DATA FROM THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY LOOKED AT LONELINESS AND SOCIAL ISOLATION.

AND WE FOUND THAT BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS ONLY REPORTED ABOUT 40% OF THEM HAVING ADEQUATE SOCIAL SUPPORT DURING THE COURSE OF THEIR CANCER TREATMENT.

SO, WE'VE GOT SOME WORK TO GO.

ALI: KRISTEN, YOU COME AT THIS FROM SO MANY INTERESTING PLACES.

YOURSELF, YOU WERE DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE TWO BREAST CANCER IN 2019, AND FOLLOWING THAT, YOU'VE COMMITTED YOUR WORK TO PURSUING A VACCINE FOR BREAST CANCER.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE THIS MORE THAN JUST YOUR OWN PERSONAL BREAST CANCER JOURNEY?

KRISTEN: I WAS A NETWORK CORRESPONDENT.

AND I WAS 47 WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED.

I WENT THROUGH MY TREATMENT, BUT IT WASN'T EASY.

AND AS SOON AS I LEARNED, AS PART OF MY REPORTING, THAT THERE WERE BREAST AND OTHER CANCER VACCINES IN DEVELOPMENT.

I WAS BLOWN AWAY AND I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT AT FIRST.

ONCE I LEARNED THAT THESE ARE NOT JUST PIE IN THE SKY, DOWN THE ROAD TREATMENTS, THEY ACTUALLY ARE IN CLINICAL TRIALS AND SEEING INCREDIBLE RESULTS.

I HAD TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

AND SO, I DECIDED TO PUT TOGETHER A COALITION OF TOP DOCTORS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY.

WE'RE BRINGING THEM TOGETHER FOR SOME COLLABORATIONS.

THESE RESEARCH TRIALS TAKE A LOT OF FUNDING.

SO, WE'RE RAISING MONEY TO HELP ACCELERATE THE PROCESS.

AND THEN, WE'RE OUT THERE TALKING ABOUT IT SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW WHAT'S AVAILABLE.

WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THESE TREATMENTS THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN THE 1800'S AND IN THE MID-CENTURY.

AND THERE REALLY IS THIS FUTURE DOWN THE ROAD AND IT COULD BE CLOSER IF WE GET BEHIND THIS IDEA THAT OUR IMMUNE SYSTEMS REALLY CAN FIGHT OFF CANCER.

ALI: AND SPEAKING OF THAT RESEARCH, KRISTEN, STICKING WITH YOU, HOW HAS THAT RESEARCH IF AT ALL BEEN AFFECTED BY SOME OF THE CUTS WE'RE SEEING FROM HHS, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO THINGS LIKE MRNA PLATFORMS FOR VACCINES.

KRISTEN: RIGHT, SO, YOU KNOW, THE HEAD OF NIH WENT ON TV AND SAID OUR CONCERNS AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IN THE MRNA SPACE CUTTING RESEARCH DOES NOT APPLY TO CANCER VACCINES.

THOSE ARE REALLY PROMISING.

WE NEED TO PURSUE THAT RESEARCH.

LOOK, CANCER IS NON-PARTISAN.

IT DOESN'T CARE WHICH WAY YOU VOTE.

IT IMPACTS ALL OF US.

I THINK IF THE GOVERNMENT GETS BEHIND THIS TYPE OF FORWARD THINKING AND MODERN MEDICINE, WE REALLY COULD CHANGE THINGS AND SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT ENCOURAGING OUR GOVERNMENT TO DO MORE AND MORE RESEARCH IN THIS SPACE BECAUSE IT COULD BE WORLD-CHANGING FOR SO MANY OF US.

ALI: AND YOU BOTH SPEND A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE.

SO, WHAT WOULD YOUR MESSAGE BE TO SOMEBODY WHO HAS BREAST CANCER ON THE MIND RIGHT NOW, EITHER BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING THROUGH A DIAGNOSIS OR THEY ARE FACING A SCREENING.

ARIF, LET'S START WITH YOU.

DR.

KAMAL: THE REALITY IS TODAY, MANY PEOPLE, EVEN WITH ADVANCED DISEASE, DON'T REQUIRE OR NEED CHEMOTHERAPY THAT MAKES THEM LOSE THEIR HAIR OR STAY IN BED FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.

OFTENTIMES NOW, THE AVERAGE PERSON WITH CANCER IS SOMEONE WHO MAY BE NEXT TO YOU ON A TRAIN OR MAYBE WITH YOU AT WORK.

AS CANCER BECOMES AN EXPERIENCE FOR MANY PEOPLE THAT LAST NOW, YOU KNOW, OVER MONTHS AND POTENTIALLY EVEN YEARS, IT MEANS WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO REFORM THE ONCOLOGY DELIVERY COMMUNITY TO THINK ABOUT THESE JOURNEYS NOW BEING MEASURED OVER MARATHONS INSTEAD OF SPRINTS.

KRISTEN: YEAH, I LIKE THAT BECAUSE THIS IS, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE DO HAVE THESE LONG LIVES AHEAD AFTER A CANCER DIAGNOSIS.

I KNOW FOR ME, I'M AWARE OF CANCER EVERY DAY, AND I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT YEAR-ROUND AS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE AWARE OF.

FOR ME, AS A PATIENT, I WORRY ABOUT RECURRENCE, AND IT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, GETTING ADDITIONAL TREATMENTS, MORE INTERVENTIONS THAT COULD PREVENT RECURRENCE IS SO IMPORTANT.

I ALSO FOUND MY OWN BREAST CANCER.

I HAD HAD A MAMMOGRAM IN MAY OF 2019, AND JUST FOUR MONTHS LATER, I SAW A DENT IN MY BREAST AND I INSISTED ON MORE SCREENING.

IT TURNED OUT I HAD DENSE BREASTS.

I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANT AND THAT I COULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE SCREENING AFTER THAT INITIAL MAMMOGRAM BECAUSE OF THAT.

IF WE CAN DO EARLIER DETECTION AND BETTER SCREENING AND THEN WE CAN HAVE MORE INTERVENTIONS AND THINGS THAT MAKE A BETTER OUTCOME AS FAR AS TREATMENTS, WE REALLY COULD GET THIS DISEASE EVEN MORE UNDER CONTROL THAN WE HAVE OVER THE PAST 40 YEARS.

ALI: SUCH IMPORTANT MESSAGES.

DR.

ARIF KAMAL AND KRISTIN DAHLGREN, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

KRISTEN: YOU BET.