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CANCER CARE
Women learn about triple-negative breast cancer at Every Woman Matters
The Every Woman Matters Conference was a community partnership effort supported by many organizations and their staff. (Front row L-R) Monica Moore, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; Nora Katurakes, MSN, RN, OCN, Graham Cancer Center; Renitia Pulliam, BSN, RN, OCN, Delaware Clinical & Laboratory Physicians; Tanya M. Robinson Ed.D, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. (Back row L-R) Allison Gil, American Cancer Society; Danielle Brown, MSN, Zeta Phi Beta and Graham Cancer Center; Melissa Donovan, Graham Cancer Center; Cathy Holloway, Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition; Shealese Russell, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; and Darcy Burbage, MSN, RN, AOCN, CBCN, Christiana Care Palliative Care.
Women gained breast health knowledge, health screenings and resources at Every
Woman Matters, including an innovative new outreach tool that will enable health ambassadors to educate women in the community about triple-negative breast cancer, Oct. 21 at Christiana Care’s John H. Ammon Medical Education Center,.
The event, hosted by the Community Health Outreach Department of the Hel- en F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute and supported by community partners, covered topics including the link between diabetes and breast cancer, survivorship, cancer support systems, the latest in radiation therapy, behaviors that reduce the risk of breast cancer and more.
Delaware has the highest rate of triple negative breast cancer in the nation. “Train the trainer: Triple Negative
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Breast Cancer Project” is a new outreach tool and presentation developed by the Graham Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Community Research Advisory Board that teaches about risk factors and treat- ment, and calls for more African-Ameri- can women to participate in clinical trials and other research.
Currently, African-Americans account for only 2 percent of participants in these vital studies, said Margot Savoy, M.D., MPH, FAAFP, medical director, Family & Community Medicine. “We need to be a part of research studies so we don’t get left behind,” she said.
Using the acronym BRENDA, the name of a theoretical 25-year-old Afri- can-American woman, the presentation outlines the steps to reduce risk for triple-negative breast cancer:
• Reduce alcohol. • Exercise.
• Nutritious foods. • Don’t smoke.
• Achieve a healthy body weight.
Triple negative breast cancer accounts for 15-20 percent of breast cancers, Dr. Savoy said. African-Americans are at higher risk compared to women of European and Asian descent. The disease has no known receptors, as compared to cancers that have receptors for estrogen, progesterone and HER2. Because there are no known receptors there are no targeted treat- ments. The current option is chemother- apy, but the disease can come back, often earlier than expected, and spread rapidly to other places in the body.
“Breastfeeding reduces inflammation in the breast,” said Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, Ph.D., director, Translational | CONTINUED