Over 300 Delawareans Attend 14th Annual Breast Cancer Update
| Contact: |
Caitlin Dalik, Public Affairs Coordinator |
DOVER, DE (April 14, 2011)—The 14th Annual Breast Cancer Update presented by the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition (DBCC) was attended by over 300 Delawareans yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel Conference Center in Dover. This year’s update was named “Steps in the Right Direction: Reducing Your Risk for Breast Cancer.” The event was attended by nursing professionals, breast cancer survivors, and members of the public who were interested in learning more about breast cancer and how to reduce their risk for the disease.
The Breast Cancer Update is a symposium presented by DBCC each spring that features leading medical experts and other speakers discussing the most current topics in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, detection and survivorship. This year, speakers presented the best available evidence on nutrition, physical activity, genetic factors, Vitamin D, hormonal treatments, and surgical approaches.
The keynote speaker was Karen Collins, Nutrition Adviser for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), who spoke to how nutrition and physical activity can reduce breast cancer risk. Other speakers included Dr. Gerald Lemole, Cardiac Surgeon at Christiana Care, Zohra AliKahn-Catts, Certified Genetic Counselor at Christiana Care, Dr. Rishi Sawhney, Medical Director at Bayhealth, Dr. Diana Dickson-Witmer, Associate Medical Director of the Breast Center at the Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care, and Annette Bar-Cohen, Executive Director of the Center for National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Advocacy Training.
Participants listened to the six speakers present on various topics surrounding breast cancer prevention and then had the opportunity to ask questions of the panel of speakers. Prevention was definitely the key message from all of the speakers. “We need to look more to prevention and take responsibility for our own health,” said Dr. Gerald Lemole, Christiana Care Cardiac Surgeon. Annette Bar-Cohen of the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) spoke about their “Deadline 2020” to end breast cancer by January 1, 2020. “We can do the same thing we’ve always done for the past 20 years or we say ‘No, we are going to set a deadline and make a strategic plan and end breast cancer.’”
Nursing professionals who attended the Breast Cancer Update had the option to register for 3.75 Contact Hours for the program and had the option to register for an additional 3.0 Contact Hours for the special afternoon session. Over 30 nursing professionals signed up for the special session called “Cancer Clinical Trials: Exploring the Mysteries and Myths.” This workshop offered health care providers with information about the importance of clinical trials, what they are, how patients are protected, and how they advance breast cancer care.
For more information about the breast cancer update, please visit www.debreastcancer.org.
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