News and Events

By: Judy Creighton

Two bouts of breast cancer were just the impetus Gail Compton needed to turn her life around by starting to eat better and to get fit.
“I used to eat junk food and fast food constantly, so when I found a second lump in my breast I got scared and made the decision to change my lifestyle completely,” the 54-year-old Tennessee mother of one said in an interview. “It has been five years and the cancer is gone.”

While she was undergoing treatment, which included a mastectomy, Compton got in touch with California nutritionist Tiffany McCauley, 34. They shared their aspirations for better lives through their interest in nutrition and fitness and the result is the publication of “Skinny Ms. Slow Cooker: Natural Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle” (Quail Ridge Press, paperback, $24.95).

The pair, who compiled the book using email, Skype and phone calls, thought creating healthy recipes for slow cookers was a unique way to help other busy cooks like themselves.
“When we started doing research into slow cooking we found that most books on the market used a lot of packaged foods and processed products that are high in sodium, refined sugars and artificial sweeteners,” says Compton.
Not wanting to go that route, she and McCauley sourced alternatives such as sucanat, an organic sugar, raw honey, maple syrup and an array of fresh and dried herbs and spices.
Readers will find mainstream recipes like Spicy Chili, which is made with lean ground beef and the usual kidney and black beans as well as fire-roasted tomatoes, but there is no added salt, just plenty of spice.
“In any of our ground meat recipes, cooks can substitute with ground turkey, chicken or pork,” says Compton.

Read More at Fort Frances Times.

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By: Janell Ross

Government budget cuts may prove deadly for low-income women who are increasingly unable to get critical cancer screenings that once were offered free by state governments.

Lanajh Jones, 2, waits patiently as her grandmother Rozeann Gorman, of Minneapolis, registers for a free screening at North Point Health & Wellness Center's See, Test & Treat™, a program that provides free breast and cervical cancer screening and same day diagnosis and care, for patients 40 and older in Minneapolis, Minn. African American women have a 24% higher mortality rate for breast cancer then non-Hispanic white women in Minnesota.

Shrinking state and federal budgets, the elevated cost of top-notch testing and growing demand are leaving millions of uninsured women unable to access breast and cervical screening programs. (Click here to view the number of women screened for breast and cervical cancers through government programs in each state).

In Illinois, where a government-funded program screened more than 70,000 low-income women from 2005 to 2010, program administrators said they fear money for higher-cost but more accurate digital mammograms will run out before the July 1 start of a new funding year. Mammograms have been suspended at five program sites and a waiting list is developing, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. And officials in Rhode Islandtemporarily suspended the state’s screening program in 2010 due to funding shortfalls.

“The problem is that there is absolutely an inverse relationship between funding and need,” said Cynthia Pearson, the National Women’s Health Network executive director.

Read more at Huffington Post. 

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Washington Radiology Associates (WRA) is the first imaging center in the metro DC area to offer breast tomosynthesis, a breakthrough technology in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Breast tomosynthesis produces 3D mammography images, which help radiologists more clearly identify and characterize individual breast structures, allowing for earlier and more accurate diagnosis.

Conventional mammography is two-dimensional and may not detect small cancers that are hidden by overlapping tissue. During a breast tomosynthesis exam, multiple, low-dose images of the breast are acquired at different angles. These images are then used to build a series of one-millimeter-thick slices into a 3D reconstruction of the breast. Because the problem of overlapping tissue is reduced, breast tomosynthesis can make a tumor more visible and easier for a radiologist to see. While tomosynthesis is useful for all breast types, the multi-slice technology is particularly beneficial in imaging dense breasts where overlapping structures make reading the images difficult.

“Tomosynthesis provides a 3D image, which can better visualize an area that looked questionable on a traditional 2D mammogram,” says Edward R. Lipsit, MD, breast imaging specialist and President of WRA. “This leads to fewer callbacks and less anxiety for our patients.”

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, exceeded only by lung cancer. Statistics indicate that one in eight women will develop breast cancer sometime in her lifetime. The stage at which breast cancer is detected influences a woman’s chance of survival. If detected early, the five-year survival rate is 97 percent.*

Tomosynthesis technology is available at WRA clinical offices in Potomac, Maryland and Fairfax, Virginia. Additional WRA sites in DC, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Sterling will go live in the next 30 days. WRA’s decision to convert all of their mammography equipment to the new technology makes WRA the largest provider of breast tomosynthesis technology in the world, according to Hologic, the equipment manufacturer.

Read More at Market Watch.

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By: Andrea Torres

The body image issues continued. How could they not? After breast cancer treatment, the woman in the mirror looked like a damaged mannequin. And even with breast implants, I felt like a creature that belonged on a different planet.

“I pity the guy who checks me out and dares to come up to me,” I told a guy friend over a text message. And when he asked why, I replied, “It’s like feeling sorry for a man who hits on a drag queen thinking he is a she.” He said I didn’t make any sense.

Three weeks after radiation therapy had ended, the injuries in my chest were starting to look like a sunburn. And nearly four months after the last chemo, my eyelashes were back, my nails were starting to grow stronger and my head had enough hair for people to assume that I was going for a rebellious punk look.

Never has the link to beauty and health been more obvious. I weighed 144 pounds; my ideal is 125. I hadn’t exercised in months, so I decided to show up to a spinning class at a gym in Miami Beach. I walked out of the class after 15 minutes and nearly fainted while walking back home.

“Are you kidding me? Why would you do that?” a friend asked. “You are not well. You really need to take care of yourself. Yes, now you don’t have to go to the hospital as often. Let’s keep it that way.”

She was right.

The past five months had felt like some one had thrown me into a pool, and I had been doing my best to swim back to the surface. But as much as I wanted to think that I was getting closer to the surface, I wasn’t.

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By: Fran Visco

There is nothing like a presidential campaign to convey a sense of urgency. There is the need to fix the economy; to show Americans how their lives can be better; to demonstrate leadership. We need the presidential candidates to step up on another urgent issue: Ending breast cancer. We all know that breast cancer is a political issue and a bipartisan one at that. The level of federal funding for breast cancer research, access to care for the underserved and the drug approval process are just some of the issues vital to breast cancer that are addressed through public policy and the political process.

Now, there isn’t a candidate who would not pin on a pink ribbon and embrace a survivor. But at the National Breast Cancer Coalition we demand much more than that. We demand a commitment and a plan of action to end breast cancer. We demand leadership that will bring the world of public policy together to save lives. One of these candidates will become President of the United States. He needs to know now that ending breast cancer must be part of his agenda. It is up to us to educate the candidates about this issue. About the fact that in the United States more than 2.5 million women are living with breast cancer today and this year alone close to 40,000 women and 400 men will die of the disease. We need strong leadership everywhere — including the White House — if we are to finally change these statistics.

Read More at Huffington Post. 

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Trefoil (TFF3) protein, which maintains the integrity of the epithelial surface in the normal breast, is highly expressed in well-differentiated tumors, correlating with low histological grade, and also has an expression profile which is consistent with a role in breast cancer progression and metastasis, according to a study published in the March issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Noting that TFF3 is known to stimulate invasion and angiogenesis in vitro Ahmed R.H. Ahmed, from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the expression of TFF3 in 34 normal breast tissue samples, 86 benign breast lesions, 106 in situ breast lesions, and 266 malignant breast lesions.

The researchers found that TFF3 was expressed in normal breast tissue, all benign lesions, 89 percent of in situ lesions, and 83 percent of invasive lesions. TFF3 expression was high in well-differentiated tumors, and correlated with low histological grade and with the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors. TFF3 expression was also an independent predictive marker of lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement, and was strongly associated with markers of angiogenesis such as microvessel density.

Read more at Oncology Nurse Advisor

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Clare Droesch was fearless on the basketball court as a player at Boston College. Now she’s taking that same approach to the challenge of fighting cancer.

It’s been nearly two months since the 29-year-old Droesch was diagnosed with breast cancer and she’s doing everything she can to beat her latest opponent.

“I’m in this for the long haul,” Droesch said Thursday night. “I have cancer, I’m not going to stop living, then cancer wins.”

A few days after first feeling something was off, Droesch was playing basketball and her arm brushed up against a lump. She went to have it checked out, thinking it couldn’t be anything too serious. Unfortunately, she was wrong as the doctors told her the diagnosis on Dec. 18.

“It was like a bad dream I couldn’t wake up from,” she said.

She soon entered an experimental trial program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, one of the top cancer treatment and research institutes in the country.

“They found out it had spread to my spine and my hip. Now it’s stage IV,” Droesch said. “I have an aggressive cancer. My oncologist said we’re hoping after six months that this trial worked.”

She has good days and bad ones as she’s started chemotherapy treatment a few days a week. The doctors told her that next week she’ll start losing her hair.

Read More at Fox Sports. 

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Spring is rolling around and once again the people from Shecky’s Girls Night Out are stopping in DC for a two nights of fabulous fun! For those of you who didn’t come out in December, Girls Night Out is two fun nights when women across the country gather in their hometown for a fashionable social event full of shopping, socializing, goodie bags, and cocktails. This Spring, Washington DC is hosting Shecky’s Girls Night Out at DAR Constitution Hall on March 14th and 15th from 5-10pm.

Fashion and beauty vendors will be in excess along will flowing drinks and delicious treats. This is not something to be missed. Bring your girlfriends and take advantage of all that is being offered, including unique designers, some pretty pampering and glorious Goodie Bags (trust us, you don’t want to miss the goodies).

EBeauty will be there as Shecky’s exclusive charity, spreading the word about our wig exchange program and taking wig and monetary donations. Do not miss this opportunity to support the EBeauty Community and to have a great time in the process!

The EBeauty Community sponsors and supports many events and programs in our community and yours! Please let us know about anything happening in your area that you think we should cover! Like us on Facebook, Tweet us, Follow us on Pinterest, or shoot us an email!