More women than ever are surviving breast cancer – 2.8 million in the U.S. to date – only to die of secondary brain tumors years after they’ve been declared cancer-free. In fact, almost 40 percent of women with HER2-positive breast cancer (around 20 percent of all breast cancers) will develop brain metastases.

Too many women – and their physicians -- are unaware of this risk. To make matters worse, current treatments for these tumors are limited, poorly effective and have a poor prognosis. City of Hope neurosurgeon and scientist Rahul Jandial, M.D., Ph.D., is working to change the outlook for breast cancer survivors. He treats cancer patients who have these secondary brain tumors, while also researching how the tumors spread. Some numbers:Metastatic brain tumors occur in 20 to 40 percent of all cancer patients. Women with HER2- positive breast cancer have even higher rates of brain metastases. Approximately 40 percent of all women with this type of breast cancer will develop a brain tumor. Patients diagnosed with brain metastases have only a 20 percent chance of surviving a year after diagnosis. This could be a great feature for breast cancer awareness month — or a broader public health story. If you would like to interview Dr. Jandial or one of his patients, Joan Rose-Hall, please let me know. In this video, Rose-Hall explains how Jandial helped save her life after her breast cancer spread to her brain, years after she thought she had defeated the disease.