Cheri Ambrose
Cheri ambrose
President/Founder
Male Breast Cancer Global Alliance
United States
Over a decade ago, I discovered that a close male friend was battling breast cancer. He was embarrassed, and horrified that he had a “women’s disease,” and refused to make his diagnosis public. I began a crusade to bring male breast cancer “out of the closet,” so that no man suffering from breast cancer would ever have to face this disease alone. I built a partnership with Susan G. Komen North Jersey, and together, we were the first Komen Affiliate in the country to have a formalized Male Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.
Soon after, I founded the Male Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC) in 2013 as a virtual gathering place for men with breast cancer, and as a source of information, guidance and support for navigating the often-difficult journey of a male breast cancer diagnosis. Within a year, we had more than 40 male breast cancer survivors contribute their stories to the MBCC website.
In 2022 the Male Breast Cancer Coalition was rebranded to align with our global mission and became known as the Male Breast Cancer Global Alliance (MBCGA).
Today, we have connected with more than 900 male breast cancer survivors from around the world who assist the MBCGA with building advocacy and furthering their awareness campaign. The MBCGA has become a global network of support, resources, news and information—and most of all, HELP—for men and their families facing a breast cancer diagnosis. Our mission is to educate, advocate and engage the world about male breast cancer by building awareness through the knowledge and experiences of survivors and experts.
I continually strive to increase my knowledge and comprehension of the issues, research, and psychosocial developments surrounding breast cancer so that I can be a better and stronger advocate, and provide support and hope to those who are fighting the disease.
Some highlights of my accomplishments:
• In 2010, set out to have a week in October designated as “Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week.” The Governor of New Jersey agreed to issue a proclamation declaring the third week as such. This past October, 45 states officially observed Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts have made their commitment permanent.
• Successfully pursued a drug company to change their labeling of a metastatic medication to include men to allow them to secure life-saving breast cancer treatment after being denied because they were not women.
• Was instrumental in getting men into countless clinical trials that had previously been open to only to women.
• On an ongoing basis, help train and develop MBCGA survivor representatives to assist with advocacy work nationwide; they present at forums and meetings around the country, visit high schools and colleges to share their “breast cancer journeys” and educate diverse audiences.
• Instrumental in the design of the very first male/female breast self-exam card, now available in a variety of languages in connection with the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center and Breast Cancer Hub.
• Pulled together a diverse consortium of breast cancer organizations to help the MBCGA carry out our mission and message around the globe that “men get breast cancer, too.”
• Received scholarships for and attended annual ASCO Conference, Metastatic Breast Cancer Scientific Conference, ABC5 Global Conference and have been invited to attend the annual Breast Cancer Conference in Japan, SABCS and most recently the 5th annual conference for Asociacion INVI in Madrid Spain.
• Attended the annual National Comprehensive Cancer Network Summit in Washington, DC
• Held the first Male Breast Cancer Combined Conference to introduce the MBCGA’s newly formed Medical & Scientific Advisory Council.
• Participated in the annual METAvivor Die-In to bring awareness to the number of deaths each year to MBC, which included lobbying for changes with Congressional and Senate members on Capitol Hill.
• Graduate of the 2019 Project Lead Class.
• Hold memberships in ASCO, ABC Global Alliance, SIO, ESMO, ECPC, Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, AACR and MASCC.
• Part of a team to assemble a global Palliative Care initiative that aims to start Palliative care at diagnosis.
• Work with researchers around the world to forge a bond between them which will enable them to collaborate their efforts toward lifesaving treatments for bc and mbc.
• Hold a position within the New York Cancer Resource Alliance (NYCRA) where I help gather content for publications for both NYCRA and Prevention101.
• Launched 3 online social media groups to support Male Breast Cancer Survivors, Care Partners and Bereavement members.
• Continue to work with major pharmaceutical companies to include the male voice and presence in all of their breast cancer replated advertising, drug labels and commercials.
• Work with researchers from around the world to bring like minded individuals together to collaborate on male breast cancer related research studies and clinical trials.
• Recently established the first Male Breast Cancer Global Alliance partnership with fellow male breast cancer groups in Spain, Belgium, Portugal, France and the Netherlands with a goal of unifying our advocacy efforts in working with researchers and clinicians. This group’s mission is to address the intolerance of current breast cancer treatments and outcomes in men.
• Hold a seat on the ACS National Breast Cancer Roundtable currently looking at building out the Support Services Priority area.