Most AnCan’rs have never participated in our Advanced Cancer Care Partners Support Group. While relieved that you’re not counted in this group, you are missing a gem. The group is chock-full of compassion and practical suggestions. One of the reasons for that was our remarkable Co-moderator, Pat Washburn, GRHS.
Pat absolutely radiated love and compassion while being none too short of gumption. That’s a polite Britishism for “piss and vinegar,” defined as ‘shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness. ‘ After her dear husband, Marlyn, died in 2017, 5 months after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Pat made it her mission in life to make the world aware of Male Breast Cancer.
She took Marlyn’s car, had it decorated with his photo and Male BCa awareness icons, then took to the road. North, south, east, and west she travelled – every year. People stopped her at gas stations and restaurants; she made the local newspapers and TV stations everywhere. And always it was the same message. “Men get breast cancer, too!”
The world was her oyster, and Pat took the campaign to Europe on several occasions, including Spain and Scandinavia. Her travels were not just about awareness – she visited ‘her men’ and their care partners wherever she went. She also went out of her way to meet the AnCan’rs she’d met through our Group, most recently Alexa and Brian, on her way to Houston. See who else you can recognize below…
By and large, Pat paid for all her advocacy on her own dime. A couple of the male breast cancer organizations with whom she was affiliated did not treat her well. AnCan first met Pat when she reluctantly co-moderated our now-defunct Male Breast Cancer Support Group, disembowelled by one of those groups. Reluctant because Pat thought she’d be intruding on the men, BUT they loved her. At the time of her passing, AnCan was working with Pat and Bill Harris to reinstate the group – we still hope to in Pat’s memory (anyone interested, please reach out to me at rd@ancan.org).
Except when travelling or attending one of her Grandies’ or Great Grandies’ school or sporting events, Pat was always present to support Her Majesty, The Queen of DeNile – our Care Partner Lead Moderator, Susan Lahaie. So when she failed to show at a meeting on Aug 18, we reached out. Pat had been hospitalized after fainting on her face, diagnosed with multiple pulmonary embolisms; she looked like the Lone Ranger. During her hospital stay, those clots travelled to her brain, and Pat suffered a second, fatal stroke last week, elected hospice, and died on October 2nd.
All of us at AnCan are deeply saddened and wish her entire family much comfort. Pat’s entire family doesn’t do it justice. She was truly a matriarch with 35-40 Grandies and Great-grandies. In time, Pat’s memory will always be a warm, embracing memory to all who knew her.
Pat Washburn’s obituary can be found here.
Below is the Virtual Celebration of Life for Pat Washburn, held on November 2nd, 2025
Empowered Patient Podcast: Virtual Support Groups Remove Barriers Encourage Sharing Honest Experiences to Fight Misinformation with Rick Davis, AnCan
AnCan founder, Rick Davis, was recently featured in the Empowered Patient Podcast with Karen Jagoda. This show explores the cutting edge of healthcare, highlighting innovations in generative AI and the latest breakthroughs in therapeutics and vaccines, and explores a shifting landscape where providers, pharma, and payers are prioritizing patient empowerment.
Rick explains, “The mission is to make each person and each patient a better advocate for themselves. That’s really what we try to do, and we do that through empowering patients with peer knowledge. We introduce patients to other peers who have been through what these people are facing right now, not only patients, but also their care partners, and through their experience, we hope that these patients and care partners will become more expert in managing their own situation.”
“Many years ago, when I was facing similar realities, a very wise and understanding voice in cancer sat me down and said, “Hope shifts in cancer.” In the beginning, we are optimistic that our loved one will respond to treatment, and our HOPE is high….as some treatments work and then they don’t, our HOPE shifts to understanding what the outcome might be….and then as the cancer moves to overcome any possible response, HOPE shifts again..this time to comfort and peace for our loved one.”
–Laurie Singer (Care Partner & Pancreatic Cancer Support Group Moderator)
Interpreting Prostate Needle Biopsies in Today’s World
Interpreting Prostate Needle Biopsies in Today’s World
Dr. Jonathan Epstein, MD, Advanced Uropathology
Reliable biopsies are critical to selecting the right treatment at all stages of prostate cancer – we’re talking needle tissue, not blood, btw. Get it wrong and you may get too much or too little treatment.
Reading pathology is part art and part science! AnCan Advisory Board Member, Dr. Jonathan Epstein is globally acknowledged to have the best eye in the genitourinary pathology world. AnCan frequently refers men to him for a 2nd opinion. His presentation will include:
Getting the most out of a 2nd Opinion
The relevance of cribriform, intraductal, ductal, & small cells
What ASCO is to cancer doctors, AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) is to cancer researchers. When AACR held its annual convention in April, a small number of patient advocates were invited to participate as part of AACR’s Scientist-Survivor Program.
Representing AnCan, I was one of 42 advocates chosen from more than 200 applicants. The AACR has long recognized the need for patient involvement in cancer research — the SSP program began 28 years ago.
It’s a convention within a convention. Every day we heard from lucid and charismatic speakers, some of them presenting slides that they would later present at the convention. Talks included
State of the Art of Precision Oncology – Edward Kim, a chief physician at City of Hope
Very Early Cancer Detection Assays – Caris Life Sciences president David Spetzler
Drug Discovery and Development – Paul Workman, of the Institute of Cancer Research in London
Evolution of Resistance – Carlo Maley of Arizona State University
Each talk was inspiring, but my favorite was Workman’s. A legendary figure in cancer drug discovery, he argued that by probing deeply into how a drug works before clinical trials, researchers can identify in advance which patients are most likely to benefit. Many drugs written off as failures actually work remarkably well for a small subset of patients. Yet those patients will never get the treatment, because the drug was judged on its lack of effect in the wider population.
We were split into 6-person groups, each assigned a mentor scientist. In my group, that was Jeremy Mason, a young computational biologist at UCLA.
Advocates were required to present a poster at one of the general poster sessions. Mine showed AnCan’s unique benefit to cancer patients and others with chronic illness. Anchoring the poster was a quote from Dr. Paul Schellhammer, AnCan-er and past president of the American Urological Association:
I will comment that the level of diligence, expertise, and discussion rises to the level of an academic GU cancer conference / tumor board.
Most overwhelming for me was the passion and hard work of my fellow advocates, whose efforts included raising millions of dollars for research funding, helping create a research institute for a rare cancer, harnessing programming skills to codevelop AI with a cancer researcher, and initating an early-detection campaign for gay men at risk of anal cancer.
By and large, Pat paid for all her advocacy on her own dime. A couple of the male breast cancer organizations with whom she was affiliated did not treat her well. AnCan first met Pat when she reluctantly co-moderated our now-defunct Male Breast Cancer Support Group, disembowelled by one of those groups. Reluctant because Pat thought she’d be intruding on the men, BUT they loved her. At the time of her passing, AnCan was working with Pat and Bill Harris to reinstate the group – we still hope to in Pat’s memory (anyone interested, please reach out to me at rd@ancan.org).
