Editorial

This month, let’s all join the fight against breast cancer

Posted

Breast cancer has killed far too many of our wives, mothers, sisters and friends. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the U.S., after lung cancer, and it is the most common form of cancer among women, according to the American Cancer Society.
Each year, more than 250,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Roughly 1 in 8 Long Island women will be diagnosed with this insidious disease during their lifetimes.
In New York state, the Susan G. Komen Foundation estimates, about 15,000 New Yorkers are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and the disease takes 2,700 lives.
And men develop it, too, though they have a far smaller risk than women: about 1 in 1,000. Still, there will be nearly 2,500 cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in men in the U.S. this year, www.breastcancer.org says.
Thanks to early detection and technological advances, lives are being saved, however. There was a 38 percent decline in breast cancer deaths in the U.S. between 1989 and 2012, according to the American Cancer Society.

Throughout October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Long Islanders will gather for a variety of walks and other fundraisers at Jones Beach, Eisenhower Park and other venues, joining millions across the country in the annual effort to raise awareness of the disease. The NFL has once again partnered with the American Cancer Society in its “Crucial Catch” initiative, in the hope that Americans glued to their TVs each Sunday will be reminded — by the sight of 280-pound linemen accessorized in pink — of the millions of lives that breast cancer has touched through the years.
Experts recommend that women 40 and older schedule annual mammograms, and lawmakers have joined in the effort to make getting tested easier. In June 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law Called “Get Screened, No Excuses,” which permits public employees to take four hours of paid leave each year for breast cancer screenings and eliminates insurance obstacles like copayments and annual deductibles. Cuomo’s $90 million campaign also includes mobile mammography vans, community-based peer education programs focused on early detection, a public awareness campaign targeting low-income communities and an effort to help women find mammogram locations simply by texting “Get Screened” to 81336.
Many local hospitals are dedicating more hours to providing mammograms. And advancements are constantly being made in the science of diagnosis. Mercy Medical Center, in Rockville Centre, recently became the first hospital in the state to install a molecular breast imaging system called the LumaGEM MBI. The machine helps detect cancer in women who have dense breast tissue and those who have a higher risk for cancer with 99.7 percent accuracy. Roughly 50 percent of women have dense breast tissue, which makes finding cancer through mammography alone more difficult, which can lead to false negatives and delayed diagnoses, according to the Komen Foundation.
This month, a wide range of events will no doubt leave their participants inspired to do more in the fight against breast cancer. When October ends and the pink T-shirts are put away, the campaign to reduce the casualties must continue.


How to help
This pink-tinged month is all about making Americans aware of where we stand in the fight against the disease, and encouraging more of us to get involved, in any way we can. Among the many gatherings scheduled across Long Island is the Making Strides Long Island walk, which will take place on Sunday at 7 a.m. at Jones Beach’s Field 5.


What you should look for
Some of the most common symptoms of breast cancer include:
• A lump, knot or thickening under the breast or in the underarm area.
• Swelling, redness or darkening of the breast.
• Change in a breast’s size or shape.
• An itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple.
• A pulling-in or retraction of the nipple or other parts of the breast.
Family history often plays a role in the development of the disease. Geri Barish, president of 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition and a three-time breast cancer survivor, said that there is often a correlation between breast cancer and other cancers that have occurred among relatives, and she encourages people to learn about that history as they gauge their own risk.