About the Film
“The Pink Virus” is a hybrid film, blending historical and narrative elements, that focuses on the true story behind the the existence of a breast cancer virus, and the ongoing roadblocks thwarting a preventive vaccination effort. Currently, there is one vaccine that has already been proven effective in three animal models to prevent triple-negative breast cancer, which is its deadliest form. Yet, because of politics, big pharmacy, and questionable financial ethics involving the most prominent breast cancer philanthropies in the world, nobody knows about this effort, and women are suffering everyday at the global rate of 1 diagnosis every 20 seconds, and 1 death every minute.
Compelling evidence has shown that a virus found in mice is responsible for 40-75% of human breast cancer. Why then has it been thwarted, shelved, disputed, buried, silenced and starved for attention, not to mention money? Ah, that’s why it’s a story worthy of Shakespeare – with a Greek chorus of pink-clad survivors chanting in the background, “When will the race be over?” Enthusiasm for research on tumor viruses, particularly the breast cancer virus, was smothered in its crib in 1973 by those who orchestrated the National Cancer Act and its corollary, the ‘race for a cure’. Causes, prevention, and research on tumors viruses were kicked to the curb to make way for treatment, treatment, and ever more treatment. Work on tumor viruses was resurrected by Dr. Harald Zur Hausen when he proved to a world of skeptics and obstructionists that the human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer. Now it’s time to make way for completion of the research on the human breast cancer virus.
Why, then, is less than $100,000/year given to this research of the hundreds of millions of breast cancer research funds available? We asked the same question, and a few more, and now we have a story to tell. A story that must be told. A story that has the potential to change the history of breast cancer as we know it. This is what’s at stake: millions of women, millions of breasts, and billions of dollars. Dr. Kathleen Ruddy is a breast cancer surgeon trained at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She was Founder and Medical Director of the Breast Service for Barnabas Health (Clara Maass Medical Center: 1995-2005), received her International Masters in Health Leadership from McGill University (2008), and founded the Breast Health & Healing Foundation (2008) whose mission is “To discover the specific causes of breast cancer and to use that knowledge to prevent the disease”. She is a member of the Leadership Council of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Clinton Global Initiative
