ANDREA MARTIN
Founder of The Breast Cancer Fund
Andrea Martin is a true hero who has dedicated her life to helping women with breast cancer. In January, 1989, two weeks after losing her sister-in-law to breast cancer, Andrea was diagnosed with an advanced tumor in her right breast and nodes. She was 42, had taken a negative mammogram four months earlier and was the first woman in her family to contract the disease.
After struggling through a dozen conflicting recommendations, Andrea chose an aggressive treatment regimen to fight the stage 3 cancer: six rounds of high dose chemotherapy, a mastectomy, 6 weeks of radiation, then 8 rounds of another chemotherapy protocol.
The grueling year of treatment and side effects ended in February, 1990. One month later, committed to a future of working for the advancement of women, Andrea joined Dianne Feinstein's bid for the governorship of California.
Two months into the gubernatorial campaign, Andrea found a tiny lump in her remaining breast. It was diagnosed as a new primary with none of the aggressive characteristics of the first, and a lumpectomy was recommended. She opted for a mastectomy and returned to the campaign two weeks later, using tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy.
While working for Feinstein, Andrea also began raising money to fight breast cancer. She conceived of and produced WoMen Helping Women in October, 1991, the first public event on breast cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Attended by 350 guests, including Governor and Mrs. Wilson, Feinstein and other California leaders, the event raised over $55,000 for the community's breast cancer project.
Andrea repeated the event in 1992, this time under the auspices of The Breast Cancer Fund, a national public trust nonprofit that she established with a committed Board of Directors to innovate and accelerate the country's response to breast cancer. The Fund operates through a wide variety of activities to raise awareness and new sources of funding for cutting-edge projects in breast cancer research, education, advocacy and patient support.
In early 1995, Andrea joined 16 other breast cancer survivors in a successful climbing assault on 23,000-foot Aconcagua in the Argentine Andes. The climb was the centerpiece of a national campaign undertaken by The Breast Cancer Fund to raise hope, awareness and funding, and has been followed by two other major mountain climbs up Mt. McKinley and Mt. Fuji in 2000. This landmark effort, like all the activities of The Fund, is based on Andrea's belief that death from breast cancer can be eradicated in our daughters' life times and that until the means for cure and prevention are found, those at risk for and surviving breast cancer - which is all women - must be educated and supported completely.
In May 2001, Andrea was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. This shocking news led her to announce in September that she was stepping down from her role as Executive Director after almost ten years at the organization’s helm. She continued to work with The Fund as a member of the Board of Directors. Andrea passed away on August 6, 2003.
