Event answers questions about breast cancer
Joining the nation-wide effort to support Breast Cancer Awareness month and raise awareness among USU students, the Student Health and Wellness Center hosted a booth on the TSC patio Wednesday and Thursday.
The objective of the Health and Wellness Center during this event was to provide information, answer questions and caution people of breast cancer risk factors.
Karinne Van Wagoner, intern at the Student Wellness Center and a coordinator of the event said, “In 2002-2006 women ages 20-24 had the lowest incident rate of 1.4 cases for 100,000 women. Even though this number is really low, it still shows that younger women are at risk too. The most important thing a student can do is be aware of their bodies and realize breast cancer can happen to anyone, no matter their age, race or gender.”
Pink ribbons, commonly seen in retail stores to support breast cancer, and each ribbon represents the lives that have been touched, destroyed and saved through the consequences breast cancer.
According to www.breastcancer.org, “breast cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy. Normally, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process of cell growth: healthy new cells take over as old ones die out.”
Once the cell has been mutated it can keep producing identical cells without any order, creating a tumor, the site states. Once a tumor has formed, it is common for it to spread to nearby tissue and even infect the under arm lymph nodes, which can be a portal for the infection to the rest of the body, spreading the harmful disease even further.
In 2010, 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. which resulted 39,840 deaths, according to cancer.org. It is this type of cancer that is most common among women in the U.S., other than skin cancer, and is the second leading cause of death behind lung cancer.
There are a combination of factors that cause and increase the risk of breast cancer. Lacy Fellows, a registered nurse for the radiation therapy department at Logan Regional Hospital, said heredity is one contributor to the risk of developing breast cancer. Other factors include obesity, lack of exercise, intake of hormones for menopausal women and age.
A pamphlet provided by the American Cancer Society states that “all women can get breast cancer – even those who have no family history of the disease.”
“There is no sure way to prevent it,” Van Wagoner said, “however, there are four main things that can help lower the risk.”
These four things include maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding hormone replacement as you get older, limiting alcohol consumption, and keeping a physically active lifestyle.
“The older you are, the more exercise helps” Fellows said.
Along with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it is widely suggested by doctors and cancer specialists to do monthly self-exams as well as get a yearly mammogram and a Clinical Breast Exam (CBE).
Part of the Wellness Center’s Breast Cancer Awareness movement this month is the slogan “The best kind of protection is early detection.”
“If you catch it early,” Van Wagoner said, “it is that much better.”
“You have to be really proactive” Fellows said, “because the doctor doesn’t feel your breasts every day so it is up to you to take care of it yourself.”
Michele Plogh, a USU student and employee, caught a small lump in her breast early thanks to a mammogram.
“It was so small,” she said. “I wouldn’t have felt it myself.”
Plough was diagnosed with tubular carcinoma, a rare form of breast cancer diagnosed to only 2 percent of all women with breast cancer. In order to remove the cancer from Plogh, a lumpectomy was required. In a lumpectomy, the tumor as well as the tissue surrounding it is removed. Plogh’s infection had not spread to the lymph nodes, and with one surgery, she was clear of cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation were not required in the recovery process.
Having a family history of breast cancer, Plogh said she was lucky to have such a short period of cancer. However, though her experience was brief, she said it still affects who she is today.
“I had a lot of emotions,” she said. “You just kind of wonder what I could have done. I would recommend that all women and even some men, because it can affect them too, give themselves self-exams and make sure that women get their regular mammograms.”
In an effort to support those women with breast cancer, Smith’s Food and Drug store participates in a national sales effort across the country during October. In Utah alone, Smith’s raises $20,000 to donate to Race for the Cure and $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.
Marsha Gilford, vice president of Public Affairs and spokesperson for Smith’s, said: “All of our stores participate in a sales promotion called Giving Hope a Hand. We ask many of our vendors to participate in this event and throughout our stores we have about 1,800 ‘pink’ items. Fifty-seven of those items each feature what we call a sharing-courage story.”
On the back of these “pink” items is a story of a cancer survivor from somewhere in the country, said Gilford. “Breast cancer is a very pervasive disease and we’re hoping by drawing awareness that we can create healthier women. With every sharing courage story that is shared, these women have admonished other women to do monthly self-exams and annual mammograms. We’re all very busy as women but we need to do that for our health.”
Through this event, the vendors of Smith’s contribute money towards those “pink” items, totalling around $3 million nationally, which is then donated to the breast cancer awareness program. “Supporting the good health of women is one of our very top priorities,” Gilford said, “and now that breast cancer now touches one in eight women, it tends to impact the entire family.”
-allie.jeppson@aggiemail.usu.edu