Breast cancer survivors in the community emphasize the need to address racial disparities in prognosis and care.Local news

According to breast cancer prevention partners, African-American women have a breast cancer mortality rate of 31%, higher than other US racial or ethnic groups, more likely to develop cancer under the age of 45, and more. You may get many diagnoses. Aggressive triple negative (HER2 negative) or inflammatory type.

For color individuals, medical disparities have long existed. Bias, living in areas far from medical facilities, undercover or no insurance coverage, low access to nutritious foods, no transportation or family or work priorities-these are All are factors that delay or do not receive significant preventive care and / or treatment.

Antoine Williams, director of the UW Lacrosse Multicultural Student Services Office, considers himself lucky. She is a mother who “does a good job with good insurance” and prioritizes her care and conveys the importance of self-assertion. Without these factors, Williams may not have been able to detect changes in the breast in December 2019, to immediately secure medical appointments and receive the necessary chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. There is plenty of time to spare and there is plenty of time off. To treat her illness.

Williams, whose mother Cynthia Bergeron was a two-time breast cancer survivor and is currently fighting pancreatic cancer, told her daughter the importance of self-diagnosis and found a lump in her breast each time. Williams also got a mammogram every year and was keen to check her breasts every month. When she noticed a change in her breasts in 2019, she decided to have her up to the scheduled mammogram. She intended to cancel her reservation and change her schedule, but Williams didn’t call until her colleagues discussed breast cancer.

She contacted her provider on December 23, when Williams received a mammogram on Christmas Eve. After Christmas, Williams underwent a biopsy, and a few days later she learned she had stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer.

“It really was to stay on top of that advocacy and things (it caught it early). Since then my motto has been” feel something and say something “,” Williams said. Says.

Dr. Paula Gil, a Williams oncologist at the Mayo Clinic Health System, states that Williams-type cancers can form very quickly, “in a sense, coming out of nowhere.” Undetected triple-positive breast cancer can spread to lymph nodes and other areas of the body and progress rapidly.

Williams received a year of treatment, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. It happened in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, during which she needed to be particularly conscious of protecting her immune system.

“The trip was hard,” she says. “Fortunately, with family support, community support, and the whole office supporting me. If I feel good, I have virtually the privilege to work, and on other days I took off.”

According to Williams, the Cooley region has an accessible and supportive network for breast cancer patients, including mobile mammogram services and medical funding support. According to Williams, the Mayo Breast Cancer Team (Dr. Richard Ellis, Department of Radiology, and Cancer Center staff who “save their lives every day during a pandemic and provide the best possible treatment for all patients.” (Including) and the community as a whole were essential to her recovery.

“There is no other place I would like to get that support other than lacrosse,” says Williams. “It was really that grace and the grace of God that made me here and wanted to survive. There was a day I wanted to give up and I thought of all the people who reached out. People have breast cancer until they share their story. “

Williams says she “accepted” that she was bald for her treatment because it was a visual way to normalize the cancer.

“I wanted to be more aware,” says Williams. “I’m open about my breast cancer journey, because if I can avoid breast cancer, I don’t want anyone who can help prevent it to experience a breast cancer journey.”

Williams in particular wants to help women in color defend their health and receive the best care, saying, “We are disproportionately affected and need to change.” Stated. Access, poor insurance, religion, and fear of family burden are reasons why black women are more likely to die of breast cancer, according to Williams.

“I’m very lucky,” says Williams. She currently has adequate health insurance, but “I’m on the other side of the range and I know how I was treated when I didn’t have good insurance. I don’t. My I don’t know if the care was (now) the same-hopefully.

“Some of Mayo’s leaders said,’Let’s get them (in treatment). There are resources there to help with this disease. Healthcare is the biggest part we need to work on as a community and as a nation. As a state, changing the outcome of these (probably) curable diagnoses. “

Bergeron has additional thoughts on the disparity in breast cancer outcomes in black women, pointing out that black women are often “deferred” and that treatment plans do not necessarily reach the same criteria that white women received. Not always.

“We quit because (treatment) was too rough, the diagnosis was too late, or we reached a decision that we needed to do what was necessary for our family,” says Bergeron. “I said (to my oncologist)’I want a white treatment plan.'”

Bergeron has less health work on the black community, “we are not equally informed,” she says. And black women don’t participate much in research trials of cancer drugs and treatments.

Williams encourages individuals of diverse races and ethnicities to “strengthen and support the scientific community so that they can create treatments for what is currently incurable.” Gil agrees that not having an impartial representative in a medical trial can make it difficult to “result” in certain characteristics or factors that may help in accurate treatment.

Dr. Kathleen Clinic, a surgeon specializing in Mayo’s breast care, says it’s important for healthcare providers to ask questions that encourage conversation by reserving a safe place for patients to raise their concerns and look for information. It states that. Hospitals also need to partner with other communities and cultural organizations to “deliver the message of healthy behavior to an environment where individuals can relax.” Gil says it may be unpleasant for colored women to be the only non-white patients in the waiting room, and staff need to deal with patients and talk to them to find out what they can do to reassure them. It states that there is.

Christians say that Mayo “has a culture in which everyone, regardless of ethnicity, receives a good” mayo experience “of care,” but “I know there are barriers to care. We look forward to partnering with colleagues and other organizations to reduce the disparity in cancer treatment. Most cancer programs allow patients to talk to patients when they have questions about their treatment. There are patient advocates to help. “

For all women, Gil encourages those who cancel or delay the mammogram due to the COVID-19 pandemic to schedule a visit. Individuals with a family history of breast cancer at a young age are encouraged to talk to their healthcare provider about the potential for genetic counseling. This can lead to testing of the breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Possible signs of breast cancer include lumps, swelling, pain in the nipples and breasts, nipple discharge, and skin depressions and inflammation. Mammograms are recommended annually for women over the age of 45, or from age 40 for some individuals.

Mayo will host a virtual forum “Prioritize Your Health: Breast Cancer Risks and Treatments” at 4 pm on Tuesday.Registration is available at https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/classes-and-events/breast-cancer-risk-and-treatment/.. Christian and Dr. Caroline Wilker discuss preventative measures and advances in personalized medicine and treatment.