When New York City-based jewelry designer Melissa Breitbart-Sohn was diagnosed with an advanced stage of melanoma (the deadliest malignant-tumor-causing form of skin cancer) back in 2005, she was told there was no cure. "The diagnosis felt like death to me, and my greatest fear was leaving my son [then three] without a mother," she says.
[post_ads]When Allure wrote about her back in 2007, her melanoma was in remission after she'd had multiple treatments and surgeries, including having 44 lymph nodes removed, entering an experimental vaccine trial that closed midway through, and receiving a controversial form of oral chemotherapy. But because the cancer had spread to her lymphatic system, doctors estimated there was a 30 to 50 percent chance it would return, and Breitbart-Sohn said the fear of relapse haunted her every day.
Which is why we are so thrilled to know that now it's nine years later and she is still cancer-free. Not only that, but she is optimistic—and her experience has inspired her to raise awareness about the disease and advance treatment research. Breitbart-Sohn's foundation, Live4Life, was created in 2006 with the goal of raising money for melanoma research. Partnering with companies like Fiji Water, Origins, and Elizabeth Arden's Red Door Spa, Live4Life has contributed funds to a Memorial Sloan Kettering research project that led to one of the first treatments for metastatic melanoma. FDA-approved ipilimumab (known by its brand name Yervoy) uses immunotherapy to target the body's own immune system against cancer cells, and it's the first drug to show improved survival in patients.
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"I feel like I have an obligation to give back," says Breitbart-Sohn, who also donates a portion of profits from her jewelry line, Emma & Me, to Live4Life. "My goal is to help women learn how they can protect themselves. If they stay out of the sun, it can save their lives," she says. And although she was never a sun worshipper herself, Breitbart-Sohn is diligent about slathering sunscreen on her son and herself every day. "You take a shower, you brush your teeth, you put on your sunblock. It's just part of it," she says. She wears UV-protective clothing from a line called Cabana Life (which is donating to Live4Life through the month of June), and she encourages women to get body checks every year, because sometimes, no matter how much you avoid the sun, it's just family history and "really, really bad luck," she says.
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[post_ads]When Allure wrote about her back in 2007, her melanoma was in remission after she'd had multiple treatments and surgeries, including having 44 lymph nodes removed, entering an experimental vaccine trial that closed midway through, and receiving a controversial form of oral chemotherapy. But because the cancer had spread to her lymphatic system, doctors estimated there was a 30 to 50 percent chance it would return, and Breitbart-Sohn said the fear of relapse haunted her every day.
Which is why we are so thrilled to know that now it's nine years later and she is still cancer-free. Not only that, but she is optimistic—and her experience has inspired her to raise awareness about the disease and advance treatment research. Breitbart-Sohn's foundation, Live4Life, was created in 2006 with the goal of raising money for melanoma research. Partnering with companies like Fiji Water, Origins, and Elizabeth Arden's Red Door Spa, Live4Life has contributed funds to a Memorial Sloan Kettering research project that led to one of the first treatments for metastatic melanoma. FDA-approved ipilimumab (known by its brand name Yervoy) uses immunotherapy to target the body's own immune system against cancer cells, and it's the first drug to show improved survival in patients.
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"I feel like I have an obligation to give back," says Breitbart-Sohn, who also donates a portion of profits from her jewelry line, Emma & Me, to Live4Life. "My goal is to help women learn how they can protect themselves. If they stay out of the sun, it can save their lives," she says. And although she was never a sun worshipper herself, Breitbart-Sohn is diligent about slathering sunscreen on her son and herself every day. "You take a shower, you brush your teeth, you put on your sunblock. It's just part of it," she says. She wears UV-protective clothing from a line called Cabana Life (which is donating to Live4Life through the month of June), and she encourages women to get body checks every year, because sometimes, no matter how much you avoid the sun, it's just family history and "really, really bad luck," she says.
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