Early Detection, Advanced Treatment Improves Breast Cancer Prognosis-News-Daily Review Atlas

MONMOUTH — When Kathy Norris was four years old, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Her mother was 28 at the time.

Norris, now 52, ​​remembers her fear as a girl that this could keep her mother away from her.

This experience has instilled in Norris the need for regular self-checks and regular mammograms.

“I learned pretty quickly,” Norris said. “I started in my mid-20s because of my family history.”

early detection

It was during a regular mammogram in March 2019 that doctors found something suspicious.

Norris discovered a cyst during a self-examination before it turned out to be benign, but she was unaware of this lump.

In her mind, Norris knew it would get cancer and took her sister who fought leukemia to hear the post-biopsy news.

Norris was diagnosed with stage 1 invasive ductile cancer because of the early detection of the cancer.

MRI revealed another precancerous lump of the same cancer. This is the most common type of breast cancer. About 80% of breast cancers are invasive ductile cancers.

The cancer was discovered early, but it was scary to Norris because of her family history (whose great-grandfather also had breast cancer) and because she is a single mother of her teenage daughter.

“I was more worried about my daughter than anything else,” Norris said. “I didn’t want to leave her.”

Norris also underwent genetic testing to assess the risk to her daughter. This was negative based on what is currently known about the gene.

Advanced treatment

When the mother was diagnosed in 1978, treatment options were limited.

Her mother had only had a mastectomy.

When her mother’s breast cancer recurred and spread to the brain in 1984, the treatment was radiation therapy, which extended her lifespan by another four years.

For Norris, previous treatments have been double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.

A colleague donated sick leave to treat her and she scheduled chemotherapy to allow her to participate in a volleyball game for her daughter.

Prognosis is good due to early detection and advanced treatment.

“If we hadn’t done the mammogram for a few more months, it would have been a completely different story,” Norris said.

Nearly 270,000 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2019, according to the American Cancer Society.

About one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and 3% of women will die of breast cancer.

The Metastatic Breast Care Alliance estimates that 150,000 women currently have stage 4 breast cancer, most of whom are diagnosed early and have metastatic recurrence.

Advanced treatment improves median survival and 5-year survival, especially among young women.

However, without treatment, more than 40,000 women die each year from metastatic breast cancer. It is the second leading cause of death in women.

Tough year

Norris faced another hurdle, COVID-19, when he was finishing treatment this year.

When chemotherapy and other treatments weaken the immune system, the virus increases the risk of cancer patients.

“I was so scared that I didn’t go anywhere for a while,” Norris said. “We need to be wise and take precautions. It frustrates me when people politicize it and don’t want to wear a mask.”

Norris was then fired from her job in April for COVID-19.

She was grateful that she was able to get insurance through the insurance market in her existing state because she couldn’t afford to continue insurance from her employer.

Norris said he didn’t like to get attention, but by losing his job and income, he learned to use support from friends, family and the community to survive the tough years.

“I used this time for rest and recovery after finishing everything I had experienced in the past year,” Norris said.

The nurse navigator assigned to Norris at the time of her diagnosis also guided her to many obstacles, from medical care to seeking financial assistance after she was fired.

“I could call her anything. She was very kind,” Norris said.

According to the American Cancer Society, the number of mammograms implemented has decreased by 87% since the beginning of the pandemic.

As a result of stagnant funding activities during the pandemic, less funding is available for research and other programs.

Norris said he would use October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) to share his story.

“If it helps one of me get a mammogram, it’s a success,” Norris said. “Do a self-check and complete the mammogram. Don’t be afraid to do it.”

For more information on supporting local breast cancer awareness initiatives, please contact Stacey Dutton ([email protected]), Senior Community Manager, American Cancer Society.