Latinas at risk for breast cancer

By Staff
Hispanic women have a higher incidence of aggressive forms of breast cancer compared with non-Hispanic white women, according to a study by the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson.
 

Researchers discovered 42 percent of Hispanic women with breast cancer lack a hormone receptor, or protein, that allows medication to target and destroy cancer cells. Among non-Hispanic white women, the proportion is 33 percent.

 

Results of the study were published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. The study’s principal investigator was Maria Elena Martinez, co-director of the Arizona Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program.

 

“Breast cancer is an understudied and poorly understood disease in the U.S. Hispanic population,” Martinez says, “and we need to understand the magnitude and profile of breast cancer in our Latina population.”

 

When compared with non-Hispanic women, Hispanics in the state of Arizona were found to be more likely to have high-grade breast cancers, larger tumors, a greater number of positive lymph nodes and advanced stage at diagnosis.

 

A total of 25,494 invasive breast cancer cases (23,657 non-Hispanic Whites and 1,837 Hispanics) reported to the Arizona Cancer Registry from 1995 to 2003 were in the study.



This article appears in the February 2008 issue of Latino Perspectives Magazine.

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Reader Comments:
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Mar 4, 2008 07:34 pm
 Posted by  Anonymous

Hello

I am contacting you as a fellow breast cancer survivor, hoping you can help make all post-mastectomy women’s lives more comfortable.

Following my own mastectomy I was completely frustrated by the total lack of comfortable, functionable clothing that fit my needs as a breast cancer survivor. Any woman who has had a mastectomy soon realizes that all sense of fashionable comfort is gone forever. Either you’re wearing “the prosthesis” and are physically uncomfortable or you’re not wearing “the prosthesis” and are uncomfortable with your appearance.

My name is Anja Mullins, founder and CEO of Ann Jacqueline Design. I had an idea for a simple, attractive, one-piece garment that would eliminate the need to wear a post-mastectomy prosthesis.

Today my company, Ann Jacqueline Design, has developed and is marketing an innovative prosthesis free fashion line specifically for women who have had a single or double mastectomy. Post mastectomy women no longer need to contend with the discomfort of wearing a bulky, heavy prosthesis that shifts within the pocket of the bra. Women may now choose to wear a lightweight, pull-over, one piece prosthesis free, fashionable garment that can be worn in any social setting.

More than 200,000 women in the U.S. are stricken with breast cancer each year and there are more than 2,000,000 breast cancer survivors in the United States alone. My company is tailored to the specific needs of these women.

Please contact me at 619.729.4355 or visit www.annjacquelinedesign.com or www.ajdcancer.com for more information.

Sincerely,

Anja Mullins

Mar 4, 2008 07:34 pm
 Posted by  Anonymous

Hello

I am contacting you as a fellow breast cancer survivor, hoping you can help make all post-mastectomy women’s lives more comfortable.

Following my own mastectomy I was completely frustrated by the total lack of comfortable, functionable clothing that fit my needs as a breast cancer survivor. Any woman who has had a mastectomy soon realizes that all sense of fashionable comfort is gone forever. Either you’re wearing “the prosthesis” and are physically uncomfortable or you’re not wearing “the prosthesis” and are uncomfortable with your appearance.

My name is Anja Mullins, founder and CEO of Ann Jacqueline Design. I had an idea for a simple, attractive, one-piece garment that would eliminate the need to wear a post-mastectomy prosthesis.

Today my company, Ann Jacqueline Design, has developed and is marketing an innovative prosthesis free fashion line specifically for women who have had a single or double mastectomy. Post mastectomy women no longer need to contend with the discomfort of wearing a bulky, heavy prosthesis that shifts within the pocket of the bra. Women may now choose to wear a lightweight, pull-over, one piece prosthesis free, fashionable garment that can be worn in any social setting.

More than 200,000 women in the U.S. are stricken with breast cancer each year and there are more than 2,000,000 breast cancer survivors in the United States alone. My company is tailored to the specific needs of these women.

Please contact me at 619.729.4355 or visit www.annjacquelinedesign.com or www.ajdcancer.com for more information.

Sincerely,

Anja Mullins

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