Pat Maher was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago.
"I did have a mastectomy in 2014 and then I had to go back and have some follow-up surgery in 2015," said Maher.
The type of breast cancer - estrogen receptor positive which is now at the center of new research.
"I think research of this nature is very good." Dr. Claudia Mason with the Cleveland Clinic said, "Interesting new information about estrogen positive breast cancer tumors. They found an additional gene mutation inside of those tumors that can help direct therapy," Maher added.
She says the Komen funded research could help in lowering breast cancer deaths in the U.S.
"There's a small number of people that have this particular mutation and we know that they are not going to do as well with standard therapy, that means they can be treated more aggressively so that they can be brought back into having better outcomes."
The doctor added that the research could help determine who needs aggressive breast cancer treatment and which patients do not need it.
"Now that you know that this characteristic exists, tumors can be tested for it and people can be identified by each individual tumor to personalize their care."
The research was published in Nature Communications.