One strike against pancreatic cancer
BY: Mickey Goodman
The diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer was devastating to Debra Bradley, managing director of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Buckhead office. Even more shattering, she was not a surgical candidate because of the location of the tumors. “I immediately got a second opinion and was fortunate to be eligible for a clinical trial at Emory Winship Cancer Institute,” she says. “The results of the treatments are nothing short of miraculous.
After nine rounds, there is no evidence of the disease.” After recovery, Bradley became involved in the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) and last year she traveled to Washington, D.C. for Advocacy Day, where she met with legislators on Capitol Hill. The unified effort paid off when Congress increased research funding from $50 to $60 million. She returned to Washington again in June to continue the work.
Bradley’s husband proposed to her after she was diagnosed and they appeared on NBC Nightly News on Valentine’s Day to discuss not only their love story but the need for funding. “There are no screenings and no tumor markers, and blood tests are not conclusive for the third leading cause of cancer deaths,” she says.
On November 9, Bradley and hundreds of others will head to Chastain Park for the annual PurpleStride 5K, one of PanCAN’s largest annual fundraisers.
For information and to donate to PanCAN, visit pancan.org.
