According to the World Health Organization, the United States places 17th in the frequency of breast cancer rates, with 21.2 per 100,000 females. Japan has the lowest rates: only 8.6 per 100,000, while Iceland has the highest number: 39.4 per 100,000. With Japan having the lowest rates there is much speculation about the Japanese diet and its effects on health in general and breast cancer in particular. Dr. James Sears points to other ethnicities as he illustrates the correlation between diet and lower incidents of breast cancer citing Greek women with diets that include heavy use of olive oil. He notes that Eskimo women, with a high concentration of omega 3 fatty acids in their food intake, also have lower rates.
Holly Anderson, head of the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester, New York, does not have an optimistic outlook at this time. “Each week I meet with newly diagnosed women,” she explains, “and my heart aches for them and their families.”
To be sure, there are things women can do, before and after a breast cancer diagnosis. And yet, as she notes, “It is hard to celebrate screening and early detection when so many women are doing everything right, yet are diagnosed with aggressive cancers, late diagnoses (even when screened every year), Her2neu positive cancers, Estrogen/Progesterone negative cancers, invasive cancers, node positive breast cancers, even metastatic breast cancers occur. Yet they are doing everything Right.”
Anderson’s passionate concern leads to a sense of urgency. “Actually,” she admits, “I am impatient. I am pissed off. I attended yet another funeral a few weeks ago, this time for Laura Robertaccio, a young wife and mother of two children who wanted so badly to live. I am sad that the world won't know her... that her death from breast cancer will be represented by a number and not by the magnificent life she lived and the difference she made.”
“When it comes to breast cancer,” Anderson acknowledges, “there are successes. We are certainly aware of breast cancer almost universally. Pink campaigns abound and there are few communities that do not know about early detection, the importance of screening, and expensive tests that, so far, have not taken us much closer to cure.”
She cites the incremental steps that, ideally, will lead to a cure in the future, but says, “These are not enough and distract us from the medical failures that abound. Our country spends more than a billion dollars each year on breast cancer research. Though breast cancer deaths have dropped ever so slightly, the numbers pale next to what we spend in dollars and the attention given to the disease. The conversation needs to change. The focus needs to be on prevention. We need to understand what causes the shift, physiologically, that allows breast cancer to happen. Prevention IS the cure.”
Asked the focus of the Breast Cancer Coalition in Rochester, New York, Anderson starts on a personal note. “When I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer at the age of 40 — 13 years ago, there was virtually nothing in our region for someone wanting to learn about the disease, network with others going through it, and find help in understanding the myriad decisions needing to be made.”
She remembers being both surprised and discouraged at the time. “I was shocked, with all the awareness about breast cancer that nothing existed in our community for dealing with the situation after a diagnosis.” The need for coping with the post-diagnosis situation led to the formation of Breast Cancer 101, which Anderson describes as “the hallmark of our organization.”
Anderson says that with BC 10, “Primarily, we listen. We listen. Every story is different. Every woman (and man) faced with this diagnosis gives birth to their own path... their own solutions. In the telling of their stories, with thoughtful response and knowledge given by us, their steps become clearer. Whatever path they decide to take, these decisions are not easy for most. But, difficult as these decisions are, women need to be supported through every step of the process.”
Women all across the globe face this deadly enemy. But not every woman can join the sisterhood in places like the Coalition. The medical community, of course, offers hope, along with treatment. Individually, women can get annual mammograms, engage in exercise, and pay attention to the food they consume.
The Breast Cancer Coalition offers additional support, says Anderson, “on our website and in the pages of our newsletter. We try to offer a variety of programming, including a lot of complimentary experiences such as the Healing Arts Initiative (yoga, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Feldenkrais, etc.) so that each person can create an experience meaningful to them.”
As writer Aldous Huxley once observed, “Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.” Fortunately, for breast cancer patients and their loved ones in the Rochester area, the Breast Cancer Coalition is easing the pain of those happenings.