Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in women. An estimated 23,000 women (or roughly 1 out of every 55) will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year, and of this number 14,000 will eventually die of the disease. It mostly strikes women above the age of forty and is hard to detect in its early stages. If it is not discovered and treated early, it can prove fatal within a few years.
Lynne Cohen was an all-American mother. Full of energy, she reveled in her family and the contemporary art gallery she owned and operated. In 1993 she was a woman constantly on the go and in the prime of her life, but it was in that year that Lynne was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
For the next five years Lynne's life moved along pretty much as usual. She still kept up her hectic schedule, working at the gallery, car pooling, traveling, and always making sure to look after her family. During those five years Lynne's cancer never went into remission despite the fact that she was enduring chemotherapy treatments every three weeks. Finally, after a long and valiant struggle, this vibrant woman succumbed to her cancer and died on January 24, 1998.
It was after their mother's death that her three daughters, Whitney, Erin and Amy, made the decision to create The Lynne Cohen Foundation, as a way to pay tribute to their mother's life and loving spirit. The emphasis of the foundation is to raise the public's awareness of ovarian cancer and to provide funding to help support research projects that will aid women in all stages of ovarian cancer. Over the past two years the Lynne Cohen Foundation has given support to five different cancer centers throughout the country. Some of the notable research projects the foundation has helped to fund include:
- A screening test for the general population that will (hopefully) detect ovarian cancer in its earliest, and therefore most treatable, stages.
- A clinic for family members at high risk for developing the disease.
- Clinical studies of new pharmaceutical agents for use as first-line regimens for patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.
- A more effective test, the "TRAP assay," to be used for women undergoing "second-look" surgeries.
- Clinical studies of regimens for woman who have relapsed.
- A new anti-angiogenic compound to be used for women with ovarian carcinomas who still have residual disease, to avert multiple therapies.
To date the foundation has raised over $1.2 million dollars toward these projects. Amy, Erin and Whitney have dedicated their lives to bringing hope to women suffering with ovarian cancer. The ultimate goal is to find a cure for this dreaded killer, but until that time it is their hope that the projects they support will lead to new discoveries that will improve the quality of life for women fighting ovarian cancer and supply them something that was denied to their mother: more time.
To learn more about The Lynne Cohen Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research, you can visit their website or you can call them at 1-877-682-7911 or you can write them at
The Lynne Cohen Foundation
P. O. Box 7128
Santa Monica, CA 90406-7128 
