The Yvon Michel Foundation is partnering with the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) Foundation to support an innovative new research project led by Dr. Peter Metrakos, Head of the Cancer Research Program at the Research Institute of the MUHC (RI-MUHC).

Dr. Metrakos is exploring new ways to combat breast cancer that has spread throughout the body. Women whose cancer has metastasized have a much lower survival rate than women whose cancer has not spread. This research project aims to discover ways to make metastatic breast cancer respond to existing cancer drugs and thus improve survival rates.

Support from the Yvon Michel Foundation will allow Dr. Metrakos to recruit a team of specialists to undertake this important research. By funding this vital work, the MUHC can improve the chances of survival for women with metastatic breast cancer. The five-year survival rate is currently at 22 per cent. But Dr. Metrakos’ research could change this catastrophic statistic.

Fondation Yvon Michel

From left: MUHC Foundation president Julie Quenneville, Liliane Jacques, Dr. Thomas Mayer, Marie-Eve Dicaire, Jean Pascal, Yvon Michel Foundation President Stéphanie Drolet, Dr. Peter Metrakos, and Yvon Michel

“The MUHC is the best research hospital in Quebec, and with the Research Institute on the ground, it is well equipped to make a difference in the lives of women with metastatic breast cancer,” says MUHC Foundation President, Julie Quenneville. “We thank the Yvon Michel Foundation for this partnership and we are confident that it will help to improve the treatment and recovery of patients with metastatic breast cancer.”

For Stéphanie Drolet, president and founder of the Yvon Michel Foundation, helping women recover from metastatic breast cancer is a very personal goal. She knows firsthand just how deadly the disease can be. Having lost her mother to metastatic breast cancer when she was a young woman, Stephanie’s mission is to provide hope to women with the illness, and to fight to ensure that others do not lose a loved one, as she did.

“I supported my mother for almost two years as she fought for her life,” says Stéphanie Drolet. “Unfortunately, the disease was fierce and left her no chance. At age 50, my mother passed away. Until the end, I kept hope, I hoped with all my strength for a miracle that never came. Today, I want to make a difference in the lives of women with metastatic breast cancer, and help them hold on to hope.”

More than 280 people gathered at Club Le Mirage on Thursday October 10 in support of the Yvon Michel Foundation’s vision to beat metastatic breast cancer once and for all. Thirty athletes, including boxers Marie-Eve Dicaire and Jean Pascal, joined the evening to support the Foundation in its fight.

Thanks to this annual fundraising event, the Yvon Michel Foundation is contributing $100,100 to enable Dr. Metrakos to launch his research project aimed at improving survival rates for women with metastatic breast cancer.