FOX News Media teamed up with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) on Thursday for a special panel highlighting advances in breast cancer research and treatment while urging women to take an active role in their healthcare.
The event, held at Fox News headquarters in New York City during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, featured Kat Timpf, the "Gutfeld!" co-host and breast cancer survivor, alongside Dr. Priya Malhotra, director of research impact at BCRF.
Speaking with Fox News Digital following the panel, Timpf emphasized that while breast cancer awareness is widespread, misconceptions about the disease persist and may discourage people from asking important questions about their health.
"There is also so much that people don’t know. It can happen at any age, without genetic markers — I would know that," Timpf told Fox News Digital. "Talking about it is always helpful because it removes a lot of the stigma, and it makes you feel like you can ask these questions to your doctor."
Timpf was diagnosed with stage 0 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in February 2025, just 15 hours before giving birth to her first child. She announced the news on social media days later, writing what she called an "unconventional birth announcement."
"Last week, I welcomed my first child into the world. About fifteen hours before I went into labor, I was diagnosed with breast cancer," Timpf wrote on X at the time.
"Now, before you worry, my doctor says it’s stage 0 and is confident that it almost certainly hasn’t spread. Or, as I’ve explained to the few people I’ve managed to tell about it so far: Don’t freak out. It’s just, like, a LITTLE bit of cancer," she added.
Throughout her breast cancer experience, Timpf leaned on her signature humor, a coping mechanism she said helped her through some of the most difficult moments of her diagnosis and recovery.
"Humor is how I've gotten through every hard thing that's ever happened to me," Timpf said. "I was making jokes the day I was diagnosed about getting huge replacement [implants] and stuff like that. That's just how I do things, because I feel like when you say that you can't joke about a subject, you're giving it even more power over you than it already has."
"For me, making jokes about a subject is a way to instead feel power over the things that are threatening to take you down," she added.
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Timpf's central message to women was to take an active role in their healthcare, stay on top of recommended screenings and speak up when something doesn't feel right.
"Your own health is up to you. So you have to make sure you pay attention and ask your doctor questions," Timpf said. "Don't think it can't happen to you, because I thought that — and I was wrong."
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S. and worldwide, with approximately one in eight U.S. women expected to develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
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While breast cancer has historically been more commonly diagnosed in older women, rates are rising among younger women, including those under 40, before routine mammograms are generally recommended for women at average risk.
Dr. Malhotra emphasized that while breast cancer diagnoses in younger women account for a relatively small share of cases, the impact is profound.
"Incidence of breast cancer is rising in younger women," Dr. Malhotra told Fox News Digital.
"Maybe 10% of breast cancers are in younger women," she added. "But still, if you're one of the 10%, it's crushing."
Dr. Malhotra, who previously served on the faculty at Georgetown University, now works at BCRF to help advance breast cancer research. She highlighted the growing number of targeted treatments developed in recent decades.
"In 1977, we had one targeted treatment for breast cancer. Twenty years later, we had two," Dr. Malhotra explained. "Fast forward to today, we have over 30 targeted treatments, 19 in the last decade alone. So, it’s moving very quickly, and we're proud to say that our investigators are involved in all of those, getting them across the finish line."
She also stressed the importance of recognizing changes in one's body and speaking up during medical appointments.
"My biggest thing is to know your body, because if you feel that something is out of whack — even if you think it's minor — it’s worth it to talk to your doctor about," Dr. Malhotra said.
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