INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 100 women, some from out of state, turned out for a life-saving event at a tissue bank at the forefront of breast cancer research in Indianapolis.

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure breast tissue donation event took place Saturday at the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, 6News' Renee Jameson reported.

Chris Baker was among those who donated breast tissue in the fight against breast cancer, a disease that claimed the life of her sister, T.C. Around her neck, Baker wore a necklace that her sister gave her shortly before her death.

"It says, 'I love you so much, Chrissy. Not only my sister, my best friend," Baker said.

Baker and her friend, Robin Colgrove, flew in from Kansas City to donate. Both are also at high risk for breast cancer.

"When you can actually give … a part of yourself, it's just a really good feeling," Colgrove said.

Researchers said the donations are vital in helping them identify the changes cells undergo in the transformation from normal to malignant. The specimens also help them detect the changes earlier.

"What these specimens do is allow researchers ... to compare abnormal tissue, which is abundant unfortunately, to normal tissue," said Dr. Anna Maria Storniolo.

In the last three years, about 700 samples have been collected from women who researchers hope are pioneering a process that will lead to earlier diagnoses and, perhaps, a cure.

For Baker, donating time and money in the search for a cure is important so that one day the pain and the loss the disease brings will be stopped.

"Everything changes. I never had cancer in my family, and all of a sudden I'm high risk," she said. "My daughter's high risk. Everything just changed the day T.C. got diagnosed."

The next tissue collection event will be held at the IU Simon Cancer Center in early November.

More Info: Komen Tissue Bank