Lombardi Women Celebrate Breast Cancer Patients and Researchers

(October 4, 2024) — From its humble beginnings 18 years ago with a group of women at the Palm restaurant in Tysons Corner, Lombardi Women: Connecting for a Cure has grown into a fundraising powerhouse, netting more than $5 million in donations for breast cancer research at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The most memorable part of the 2024 event, held at Capitol One Hall in northern Virginia, was the stories shared at a panel discussion featuring a pair of breast cancer survivors and their doctors.

The September 26 Lombardi Women event was organized by co-chairs Meredith LaPier, Jennifer Bognet and Jennifer Drake. Through sponsorships, ticket sales and a silent auction, the event raised more than $290,000 for the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown Lombardi.

“We are so excited to see everyone, old friends and new,” LaPier said. “This evening, we have much to celebrate and still more to do with your help.”

Before the panel discussion, attendees recognized medical oncologist Candace Mainor, MD, recipient of the Davis-McDuffie Innovation in Breast Cancer Research Award. Named in honor of longtime volunteers Janet Davis and Barbara McDuffie, the award supports future leaders in breast cancer research with early stage ideas that have the potential to transform scientists’ understanding of the disease.

A Rapidly Changing Field

Lesli Foster, an award-winning journalist and weeknight anchor for WUSA9, the CBS affiliate station for Washington, DC, moderated the panel discussion.

“We have two important goals for tonight,” Foster said. “The first goal is to learn about the latest in research and education and patient care efforts in breast cancer, and so what you learn tonight may help you or someone that you love. The second goal is really to honor the women who are brave enough to share their personal stories with us.”

With new drugs and imaging techniques improving outcomes for patients, the field of breast cancer research is rapidly changing, said Claudine Isaacs, MD, Georgetown Lombardi associate director for clinical research and leader of the clinical breast cancer program.

“I really don’t know how to predict what we’ll be giving tomorrow, but I can say that what I’m saying today will be wrong tomorrow,” said Isaacs, who is also a Georgetown University professor of medicine and oncology who treats patients at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. “That’s a really wonderful and exciting place to be, because we keep on improving outcomes for patients.”

Lucy Maria de la Cruz, MD, chief of the breast surgery program at MedStar Georgetown, agreed with Isaacs.

“I graduated from medical school 20 years ago,” de la Cruz said. “I always say that the surgery we were doing 20 years ago is not what we’re doing today. The conversation that I saw as a medical student with a patient with breast cancer is not the conversation that I have today as a surgeon.”

A Surprisingly Enjoyable Journey

Panelist Alima Draughon, an elementary school teacher, was honored with the Spirit of Life Award, which recognizes exceptional individuals who have navigated the challenges of breast cancer while raising awareness in their communities.

Last summer, Draughon was breastfeeding her youngest child when she felt a lump under her right armpit. Her primary care physician referred her to a specialist who did a scan, then a biopsy, leading to her diagnosis in August.

“We were very shocked and surprised,” Draughon said. “I have no known family history of breast cancer. Also, I’m relatively healthy and active, I’ve never smoked, I’ve never drank, so I’m like, what in the world? Where did this come from? Maybe they called the wrong person.”

After coping with the initial shock, Draughon and her husband started doing research and meeting with different doctors. “When I met Dr. Isaacs, she had this optimism, she had this warmth and this confidence and she was very transparent about what the research was saying, what she could offer me in terms of a solution and a plan and it was just very comforting to have a plan,” Draughon said.

“Alima participated in a clinical trial that offered novel, cutting-edge treatment and also very close and more intensive follow-up,” Isaacs said. “So we were able to see through the preoperative therapy how the tumor was responding. And it responded great and it really shrunk down.”

Throughout her treatment, Draughon remained positive and present for her family. “Every step of the way, it’s like, this too shall pass,” she said. “I had my children. I had my husband, who was with me at every appointment. And it just felt like, OK, you know what, it’s doable and I can still live my life while having this. I’m still going to keep that normalcy for my children. We still have routines. We still celebrated birthdays, no matter how I felt.”

“The journey was, in a weird way, enjoyable,” Draughon added. “Because we made it that way.”

Trusting Your Team

Tara Abraham, MD, MPH, also received the Spirit of Life Award at the Lombardi Women event. As a gynecologist, Abraham had delivered de la Cruz’s son, so when Abraham was diagnosed with breast cancer, she reached out to de la Cruz.

“What was really important to me was that I wanted to know what she would advise,” Abraham said. “I knew what I wanted in my head as a gynecologist, but at the same time, I wanted to know, from her expertise, what would she do? And if you tell me that there’s a better plan, I will go with your plan. That is fine. But all that I want is the best outcome.”

De la Cruz encouraged Abraham to talk to other surgeons for their recommendations in addition to her own, stressing that she would not be offended if Abraham went with someone else.

“I’ve operated on six of my friends in the last three years,” de la Cruz said. “It’s not easy to operate on someone you care about, but you also know that if they go somewhere else, they may not get what I may be able to offer them. And I want them to be able to be their full self.”

Ultimately, Abraham chose de la Cruz as her breast surgeon. “One of the things that I do want to highlight was that through all of these consultations, I found out about nerve-sparing surgery, and that wasn’t every breast surgeon that mentioned that,” Abraham said. “That was something unique and I’d never heard of that before.”

“Of course you can get upset. It’s scary. But you have a whole team around you,” Abraham added. “You really need to rely on your team to help guide you through this process.”

Kat Zambon
GUMC Communications

Scenes From This Year's Lombardi Women Event