Hadassah Campaigns for Breast Cancer Awareness

Hadassah Greater Atlanta and Hadassah chapters around the U.S. recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. More than 300,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. this year. Hadassah is educating and advocating about breast cancer while building support for groundbreaking research.

A new study by one of the Hadassah Medical Organization’s top breast cancer oncologists, Dr. Shani Paluch-Shimon, appears in the journal Nature, titled, “BRCA Genetic Testing and Counseling in Breast Cancer: How Do We Meet Our Patients’ Needs?”

The review examines the implications of BRCA testing for patients with breast cancer, summarizes current approaches to testing, provides potential solutions to support wider adoption of mainstreaming testing practices and considers future directions of testing.

Get The AJT Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome accounts for approximately 10 percent of breast cancer cases, and BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the main genes involved in genetic susceptibility to breast cancer. Patients harboring BRCA genes are more likely to develop breast cancer at a younger age.

Hadassah supports the bipartisan Find it Early Act. A delay in diagnosis can have serious consequences. The Find it Early Act will require private and government insurers to cover the exorbitant out of pocket costs often faced by high-risk women who require screenings, such as ultrasound and MRI to diagnose their cancer, thereby removing this ‘hidden cost’ of breast cancer diagnosis. Hadassah is asking everyone to urge their United States legislators to support the bipartisan Find It Early Act to expand access to diagnostic breast cancer screenings. Write or email your legislator today! Tell them to vote yes to the Find it Early Act!!