Advanced Breast Cancer Support Community on Inspire Sees Continued Growth
For people with metastatic or advanced breast cancer, the Advanced Breast Cancer Support Community on Inspire has become an online safe haven where members share clinical information, practical advice and emotional support.

PRINCETON, NJ, December 02, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Members of the Advanced Breast Cancer Support Community on Inspire describe it as a safe haven for people with stage IV or metastatic breast cancer. The online community recently exceeded 3,000 members. In the past year alone, members of the community posted more than 35,000 messages on topics including treatment options, recurrence and clinical trials.

"It is a comfort to be able to reach out to others who understand what we are all going through. Such a simple and powerful thing," said one member, a woman from Ann Arbor, MI, who joined the community in early 2010.

"We have more than 100 online communities and the advanced breast cancer community is one of the most active and engaged," said Inspire CEO Brian Loew. "It is not surprising to see patients and caregivers refer to one another as 'sisters,' and describe how they shed tears of grief for members who die, and also shed tears of happiness at reading positive news from fellow members."

The free online community enables patients and caregivers to connect and share information about clinical trials, treatments, best practices, meetings, support services, insurance, employment issues, and everyday life. Reaching the 3,000-member mark came on the heels of other milestones for Inspire, which recently passed the overall 200,000-member level, and also three million posts by members.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) partnered with Inspire on the project that created the Advanced Breast Cancer Support Community. Inspire worked with BMS and a coalition of 13 breast cancer groups, including Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Breastcancer.org, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, AdvancedBC.org, and the Young Survival Coalition, Inspire providing the technical expertise, design, and online community development.
"This community is unique in that it's specific to advanced breast cancer, which is estimated to be only about 12% of all cases," Loew noted.

According to reports, in 2011 there will be 40,000 women who die from metastatic breast cancer in the US alone.

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John Novack
Inspire
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