For more than three decades, Carol Lange, PhD, has dedicated herself to dismantling and defeating cancers that affect women.

In 1999, Lange came to the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, where she started a research lab to better understand hormone-driven cancers that typically affect women, like breast and ovarian cancers. Her discoveries have illuminated how these diseases function and informed how women are treated.

And yet despite all she knows about cancer, she never thought she’d be the one in need of treatment.

That changed in 2024 after Lange participated in a national research initiative known as the WISDOM Study, which aims to determine the optimal breast cancer screening strategy for every person. The study compares the effectiveness of annual mammograms versus a personalized screening schedule based on a woman’s risk for breast cancer. 

When she first enrolled in the study, she had a normal risk for breast cancer and stuck to an annual mammogram. But after turning 60 and based on her genetic profile, she moved into the study’s higher-risk category, which called for her to receive an MRI every year in addition to her annual mammogram.

That’s when the tables turned: Her very first MRI revealed a tumor that had gone undetected by mammograms and physical exams. She had breast cancer.

Trials and tribulations

Lange, who holds the Tickle Family Land Grant Endowed Chair for Breast Cancer and is a professor of medicine in the University of Minnesota Medical School, remembers the moment she went from research practitioner to patient.

“It was pretty surreal. At first you’re just going, ‘Oh, God, really?’” she says. “And then you realize how common breast cancer is. It’s one in eight women. People just started coming out of the woodwork that I didn’t even know had breast cancer. I have two neighbors right across the street from me who showed me their scars. You realize you’re not alone.”

Lange’s search for care didn’t take long; she just looked down the hallway toward her colleagues, including Douglas Yee, MD, an M Health Fairview oncologist, with whom she had worked with for decades.

“The good thing about being a scientist who works on the same disease is that I knew exactly where to go,” Lange says. “I thought, ‘I’m going to be seen at the U and M Health Fairview, and I’d like to see Dr. Yee.’”

Because Lange was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer—an aggressive but highly treatable form of the disease—she was eligible to enroll in another study known as the I-SPY 2 clinical trial. Supported in part by philanthropy, I-SPY 2 allows enrolled patients to switch between a variety of drugs based on their response to treatment (as detected by an MRI) and their individual tumor molecular profile—all before surgery takes place.

“What we’re trying to do is identify the activity of drugs early,” explains Yee, who is also the former director of the Masonic Cancer Center, and professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University. “The idea is that if the drug has benefits, we’ll actually understand that sooner rather than later.”

After nine weeks, the first drug Lange received had only shrunk her tumor by about 10%, so her care team transitioned her to a different drug regimen.

“That’s an important feature of I-SPY—we want to find the right treatment [for the right patient],” Yee says. “So if something is working, that’s great. We continue that. If something is not working, we won’t continue that regimen. That’s an advantage of getting treatment before surgery as you can measure tumor response directly.”

As a researcher herself, Lange was happy to enroll in a clinical trial that not only offered her a personalized treatment plan but would allow her colleagues to learn more about how the disease functions.

“You can really track what’s happening to your tumor,” Lange says. “And I think knowledge is power.”

Fear and resilience

Despite a decades-long career researching women’s cancers, Lange discovered that being a patient is an entirely different and often overwhelming experience.

“I’m a professional, I’m a scientist, I’m a faculty member,” Lange says. “But some days I just end up crying my eyes out all day long because I’m still processing.”

Lange credits her care team, which includes M Health Fairview physician assistant Lucia Reinhardt and Masonic Cancer Center clinical research nurse Stephanie Kowalik, with helping her quell her fears and find resilience in the face of uncertainty.

“My favorite part about this job is the connection I get to have with my patients,” Kowalik says. “I think it’s really important for patients to have somebody who’s a constant.”

Lange may have found strength and inspiration in her care team, but she’s also provided the same in return, Reinhardt says.

“I think the hardest and probably bravest time for a woman is that initial diagnosis of, ‘You have breast cancer,’” she says. “Their brains are spinning, they are in complete shock, and then they are asked to consider this very challenging decision [whether to participate in research]. A clinical trial is an opportunity to get something possibly better than standard of care, and to be a part of something that may end up changing outcomes and changing treatment for the future.”

‘They saved my life’

After switching drugs as part of the I-SPY 2 trial, Lange’s tumor shrank nearly 90%, and in August 2024, she had a lumpectomy to remove what was left of the cancer. Surgery was followed by daily radiation treatments for a month, and she recently started an endocrine therapy that aims to prevent the cancer from returning.

Once active treatment ends, survivorship begins, which presents its own set of challenges, Reinhardt says.

“Support dies down, you’re expected to go back to work, you have to find yourself again,” she says. “Luckily, physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, psychotherapy, and other supportive systems exist to help get people feeling the way they did before cancer.”

For Lange’s part, she’s feeling good and happy that the hardest part of treatment is over. She says she’s embracing a new way of life, which includes a healthier diet and more fun, including yoga and biking.

She’s also taking a new role professionally: Lange was recently elected president of the Endocrine Society, a global organization that pursues research and clinical breakthroughs. She’s diving into it with a newfound respect for the power of science and appreciation of the patient experience.

And she’s back in the first place she confronted breast cancer—the research lab.

“These clinical trials, I think they saved my life. I really do,” she says. “And I’ve learned a lot about the clinical side, too. I have a totally new respect for all the complexity of this disease.”