Shortly after she was diagnosed with melanoma in January, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan found herself in a Seattle Cancer Care Alliance waiting room. She anxiously glanced around. Her fellow patients spanned all ages and spoke multiple languages, but they all had the same look in their eyes: a mixture of hope and fear.
On Wednesday, March 13, Durkan visited Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to learn about advancements that could help tip the scales toward hope.
“It’s so important to show the research underway into treatments and prevention, because they really do raise hope,” said Durkan, who lost her mother and oldest brother to cancer. “For me, one of the untold stories is the role Fred Hutch and other institutions in Seattle play in designing the treatments of the future. The level of discovery here is astonishing.”
Today, Durkan describes herself as cancer-free. She underwent surgery to remove a melanoma tumor on her knee in January, amidst snowstorms and fears of Viadoom gridlock.
But she knows she was fortunate to catch her cancer early, to live in a city with a comprehensive cancer center, and to have good health insurance. So, she came to Fred Hutch with two questions: What are you doing to bring advancements in screening, treatment and prevention to everyone, and what can the city do to help?
