Why Metavivor?
METAvivor is dedicated to the specific fight of women and men living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. At the time of METAvivor’s founding, no organization was dedicated to funding research for the disease and no patient groups were speaking out about the dearth of stage 4 cancer research. While more and more people have taken up the cry for more stage 4 research, METAvivor remains the sole US organization dedicated to awarding annual stage 4 breast cancer research.
METAvivor exists to sustain hope for those living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We are a volunteer-led, non-profit organization that funds vital research to help improve the longevity and quality of life for MBC patients. Passionately committed patients ourselves, we rally public attention to the urgent needs of the MBC community, help patients find strength through support and purpose, and make every dollar count as we work with researchers to extend and improve quality of life for MBC patients.
WHAT WE DO
Research
METAvivor is the only organization in the US that exclusively funds MBC research through a scientific peer-review process. We award research grants to individuals with a clinical or other doctoral degree who are actively engaged in areas of metastatic breast cancer research, and whose proposals show distinct promise in making a difference for the stage 4 breast cancer community.
Our mission is to transition metastatic breast cancer from a terminal diagnosis to a chronic, manageable disease with a decent quality of life.
Awareness
We bring attention to the specific issues of stage IV metastatic breast cancer, and raise public awareness about the facts of the disease. Each year, 200,000 Americans are diagnosed with breast cancer. Six to ten percent of these diagnoses are metastatic, or stage IV, and approximately another 30% of breast cancer patients develop metastatic breast cancer. Therefore, we believe that at least 30% of the funds given to breast cancer organizations should be dedicated to metastatic breast cancer.
Support
We know that a community of support is one of the most basic needs for anyone facing metastatic cancer. METAvivor began as a support group in Annapolis, Maryland, for local people living with metastatic breast cancer. Although we have evolved to focus primarily on public awareness and raising funds for metastatic breast cancer research, our original support program still remains intact as its own entity. We encourage people living with MBC to establish support programs in their own communities, and recommend taking our Peer-to-Peer Support Group leader webinar class.
OUR FUNDING
METAvivor is led by a small staff and volunteers, most of whom are living with metastatic breast cancer. We work to obtain grants and corporate sponsors to support our operational expenses. This allows us to ensure that donations can be entirely dedicated to our research grants that fund the cutting edge research that will ultimately save lives. Unless otherwise specified by the donor, 100% of every donation and 100% of proceeds from every fundraiser (after event expenses) goes into our research grants.