August 2015
Quick Links
Educate.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers that made the July 17-19, 2015 Becky's Place at Remote Area Medical (RAM) in Wise such a success! This event brings health care screening, services, and education to thousands of rurally underserved residents in Appalachia. Becky’s Place volunteers conducted classes for both female and male cancers, tobacco cessation, and diabetes over the three-day mission.   Learn more about RAM . 

Learn more about Breast Cancer Clinical Trials at VBCF’s website including the benefits, myths versus facts, and where to find trials. Participating in a clinical trial has the potential to help both the participant and others who have or may develop cancer.

Check out  VBCF’s Calendar of Events to find upcoming local, state, and national educational events and happenings, such as: Living Beyond Breast Cancer's  Advances in Neoadjuvant Treatment for Early-Stage Breast Cancer and the Cancer Action Coalition of Virginia's  New Frontiers for Cancer Care in Virginia.

Advocate.

Thanks to Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Representatives Robert Wittman (R-1st), Scott Rigell (R-2nd), Barbara Comstock (R-10th), and Gerald Connolly (D-11th) who have signed on as supporters of the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act(S 746/HR 1197), a national call to action for all stakeholders to focus efforts on knowing how to end the disease by the end of the decade! 

If your local representative is not listed, call to request his/her support while they are in recess now through the week of September 7 (Labor Day).

VBCF plans to hold its annual State Lobby Day on Thursday, February 4, 2016 to visit with our elected officials to voice our support for Virginians in all stages of the breast cancer journey – care giving, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and end-of-life care. Please mark your calendar to join us!
Thank You!

Thank you to all of our supporters who display VBCF’s pink ribbon license plate. VBCF receives approximately one-third of our annual income from these individuals. To join the drive to raise awareness, visit your local DMV or log www.dmv.state.va.us to order your “Breast Cancer Foundation – VA” plate today!
pink ribbon license plate
Recent Breast Cancer News
Dietary intervention primes triple-negative breast cancer cells for targeted therapy

A diet that starves triple-negative breast cancer cells of an essential nutrient primes the cancer cells to be more easily killed by a targeted antibody treatment. These findings were published as a highlighted study in Clinical Cancer Research (doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-14-2792).

The study's senior author, Vincent Cryns, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, said the study lays the foundation for a clinical trial to determine if a low-methionine diet will help improve outcomes in women with triple-negative breast cancer.

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Tell-tale biomarker detects early breast cancer in NIH-funded study

Researchers have shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect the earliest signs of breast cancer recurrence and fast-growing tumors. Their approach detects micrometastases, breakaway tumor cells with the potential to develop into dangerous secondary breast cancer tumors elsewhere in the body. The approach may offer an improved way to detect early recurrence of breast cancer in women and men. The work was completed at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland and was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health.

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New report uncovers elevated breast cancer risk for working women

A first of its kind review of the scientific literature on women workers and breast cancer, released by the Breast Cancer Fund in time for Labor Day, uncovers more than 20 occupations associated with considerably increased risk of breast cancer compared to the risk for the general population.

“Because workers are often exposed to carcinogenic or toxic substances at regular doses for long periods of time, they are the modern-day canaries in the coal mine,” said Jeanne Rizzo, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund. “We are confident that there is a better way forward, and that a cancer-free economy is within our grasp. It’s time to put breast cancer out of work.”


Higher Dose Short Duration Radiation Better for Early Breast Cancer

A shorter course of radiation therapy is better for women with early stage breast cancer, according to a new study.

Specifically, it found that those who received higher doses of whole breast radiation over a shorter period of time had fewer side effects and a better quality of life than those who received smaller doses of radiation over a longer period of time.



 


Calendar of Events