>> OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH, AND BREAST
CANCER IS THE SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG WOMEN.
CAROLEE MCGRATH SAT DOWN WITH DR.
GRACE MAKARI JUDSON, THE CHAIR OF BAYSTATE HEALTH BREAST
NETWORK AND CINDY ANDERSON, A BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR, TO LEAR
MORE ABOUT THIS DEADLY DISEASE.
>> YOU KNOW IN REALITY, BREAST CANCER
AWARENESS IS SOMETHING WE DO ALL YEAR, EVERY DAY BUT IN
PARTICULAR THIS MONTH IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RAYS OF HOPE,
WE TRY TO RAMP UP OUR METHODS AND GET THE WORD OUT THERE.
>> WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN AS CHANGES THAT HAVE COME FROM
ALL OF THIS EFFORT?
>> WE HAVE SEEN TREMENDOUS IMPROVEMENT AND ADVANCEMENT IN
CARE.
I WOULD SAY SOME OF THE THEMES OF THE ADVANCES WE HAVE MADE
HAVE TO DO WITH MINIMALLY-INVASIVE SURGERY AND
TREATMENT WHILE STILL ACHIEVING HIGH CURE RATES BUT
WITH TREATMENT LESS INVASIVE, SURGERY LESS INVASIVE, SHORT
OF RADIATION, OMITTING CHEMOTHERAPY IN PEOPLE WHO MAY
NOT NEED IT.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING IS TARGETED TREATMENT.
NOT EVERY BREAST CANCER IS THE SAME.
WE LOOK AT THE PROFILE, THE MOLECULAR PROFILE OF THE
CANCER SO WE CAN PICK TARGETED EXTREMITIES THAT ARE MOST
EFFECTIVE AND THEN THE THIRD THING IS IDENTIFYING
INDIVIDUALS AT HIGHER RISK SO WE CAN WATCH THEM MORE
CLOSELY.
>> WHO WOULD BE THOSE WOMEN AT HIGHER RISK?
>> EVERY WOMAN IS AT RISK AND SOME HAVE BREAST CANCER AND
HAVE NO OTHER MARKERS THAN BEING BEING FEMALE.
BUT A WOMAN WITH EXTREMELY
DENSE BREAST TISSUE MAY THE AT HIGHER RISK, WOMEN WHOSE
FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE HAD BREAST CANCER.
SO THAT HELPS US PERSONALIZE A SCREENING PLAN TO KNOW WHEN TO
START SCREENING WHEN, TO STOP AND LOOKING AT LIFESTYLE
FACTORS THAT LEAD TO CHANGES WITH BREAST CANCER.
>> LIKE EATING RIGHT, EXERCISE?
>> YES, EXACTLY.
MAMMOGRAMS CAN HELP IDENTIFY BREAST CANCER BUT THEY DON'T
PREVENT BREAST CANCER.
EATING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, GETTING EXERCISE ARE A HUGE
FACTOR.
>> TELL US THE STORY CINDY WHEN YOU WERE DIAGNOSED WITH
BREAST CANCER?
>> I WAS 35 AND THIS WAS NO RAYS OF HOPE AT THAT TIME SO I
GO TO DANA FARBER FOR A SECOND OPINION ONLY BECAUSE I WAS
CONFUSED ON WHAT TO DO BECAUSE I HAD TWO VISITS HERE, ONE
SAID LUMPECTOMY AND ONE SAID MASSECTOMY AND WHEN YOU ARE 34
WITH TWO SMALL CHILDREN, THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO
IS -- YOU KNOW, I WANTED TO GO INTO IT WITH A CLEAR MIND THAT
I WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR ME.
SO I WENT TO ALL THE DOCTORS AT DANA FARBER AND THEY FELT
COMFORTABLE I WAS BETTER FOR A LUMPECTOMY.
I HAD NODES POSITIVE SO I HAD PART OF MY UNDERARMORY MOVED
WHICH THEY DON'T DO ANYMORE AND LIFE WENT ON.
I HAD TO HAVE CHEMOTHERAPY AND IN CONJUNCTION WITH RADIATION
SO THAT IS WHAT I HAD DONE.
THEN 28 YEARS LATER AFTER HAVING NO OTHER PROBLEMS, I
WENT FOR MY NORMAL MAMMOGRAM AND THEY CAME BACK AND SAID
THAT IT WAS ABNORMAL AND I NEEDED ADDITIONAL VIEWS WHICH
I HAD DONE.
TURNS OUT I HAD BREAST CANCER AGAIN, THAT SAME SIDE AND
CALCIFICATION IN THE LEFT BREAST WHICH THEY DIDN'T FEEL
WAS BREAST CANCER BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE.
SO I HAD TO HAVE A MASTECTOMY ON THE SIDE I HAD WORKED ON
AND CHOSE TO HAVE A DOUBLE MASTECTOMY AT THAT TIME.
BUT THE TWO EXPERIENCES WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BECAUSE
OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST 33 YEARS SINCE MY FIRST
DIAGNOSIS.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE SUPPORT THROUGH RAYS OF HOPE AND THE
TEAM AT BAYSTATE BREAST CANCER CENTER IS PHENOMENAL.
>> YOU TALK ABOUT RAYS OF HOPE AND THAT WORD HOPE, THE
SURVIVAL RATES ARE SO MUCH BETTER NOW THAN THEY WOULD
HAVE BEEN, ESPECIALLY WITH EARLY DETECTION.
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THAT?
>> OH, ABSOLUTELY.
A WOMAN TODAY HAS A 39 PERCENT LOWER RISK OF DYING FROM
BREAST CANCER COMPARED TO THE 1990S SO THAT IS NOT JUST FROM
EARLY DETECTION BUT BETTER TREATMENTS AND MORE TARGETED
TREATMENTS.
SO A WOMAN THAT IS DIAGNOSED TODAY HAS A 91 PERCENT CHANCE
OF BEING CANCER-FREE AT FIVE YEARS.
>> AND I NOTICE THAT BECAUSE IT LOOKS AWESOME, YOU HAVE
PINK IN YOUR LAYER AND YOU PARTICIPATED IN THE RAYS OF
HOPE WALK ON SUNDAY AND I KNOW YOU WERE THERE WITH YOUR
FAMILY.
TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE AND HAVING ALL OF
THOSE PEOPLE SURROUNDING YOU?
>> WELL, IT IS AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE AND IF YOU HAVE
NEVER EVEN BEEN TO THE WALK AND NOT EVEN A BREAST CANCER
SURVIVOR, GOING AND WALKING CAN'T HELP BUT INSPIRE YOU.
IT IS JUST A COMMUNITY OF LOVING, CARING PEOPLE, WHO ALL
HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON, THAT THEY WANT TO CARE FOR
BREAST CANCER.