(WHDH) — They were diagnosed with ovarian cancer 34 years apart, but for Debbie First and Lisa Kane, their stories resonate deeply with each other.
Kane and First were brought together not just by the diagnosis but by their desire to help others. Both women share similar stories to start, but their journeys reflect the progress that they’ve made and the progress made with the way the disease is treated.
“It’s still a scary diagnosis and we can’t take that away,” said Dr. Susana Campos of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “But I try to talk to individuals when they come in to talk to them about how much more we have today to offer them than we did in the past.”
Campos is the oncologist for First, and she says there’s a real need for an accurate ovarian cancer screening tool to catch the disease earlier. But she also says there’s hope in treatment.
“Patients with ovarian cancer are seeing a tomorrow, and that is the message that we like to get through,” she said.
For more on the story and to hear from the survivors, check out the video above.
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