By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
CARIBOU, Maine — In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awarness Month, Cary Medical Center, with the help of Pink Aroostook and the Caribou Business and Professional Women, hosted their first-ever Think Pink Luncheon on Friday at Cary’s Chan Center. Approximately 50 people gathered at the hospital for the luncheon event, where Pink Aroostook’s program director Bethany Zell welcomed those in attendance and organized a series of tours of the hospital’s award-winning Women’s Imaging Center.
The highlight of the Think Pink Luncheon was the event’s two guest speakers, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) Nancy Greene and Carol Matyka, MA, who is the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s (NBCC) volunteer field director for Massachusetts and also leads the state’s grassroots advocacy efforts to further NBCC’s legislative and public policy agenda.
After the attendants of the luncheon finished with their meals, it was time for Greene to take to the podium. Greene, who is a volunteer from southern Maine, as well as a breast cancer survivor and an advocate for the NBCC and the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition, began by sharing her own survival story, which explained why she is now involved with the Are You Dense? advocacy group. Are You Dense Inc. is dedicated to informing the public about dense breast tissue and its significance for the early detection of breast cancer.
Greene explained that dense breast tissue is comprised of less fat and more connective tissue, which appears white on a mammogram. Cancer also appears white on a mammogram, thus tumors are often hidden behind the dense tissue. As a woman ages, her breasts usually become more fatty.
“I had never heard the expression dense breasts and I had no idea what it meant,” said Greene. “Women under 40 don’t have regular mammograms because their regular breast tissue is dense. Density can mask what you think your mammogram is telling you and can prevent people from catching the disease early. Breast density renders a mammogram basically useless.”
Greene added that what this ultimately means is that women with dense breasts who develop breast cancer will continue to be diagnosed late.
“This is a very bad thing because early detection matters when it comes to breast cancer,” said Greene. “Had I been told that my breasts are dense from the very beginning, I would have requested further testing. There are sonograms which can reveal more than a mammogram and an MRI can be the definitive test. Of course, I would have asked for an MRI.”
Greene explained that 31 states in the U.S., including Maine, have yet to establish a law that requires health care professionals to immediately inform women if they have dense breasts. Advocates like Greene and Matyka are both working to change that fact and make it mandatory by law for this information to be revealed.
“I should have been a patient who was advised to take more tests,” Greene added. “I slipped through the cracks and I don’t want other women to have the same experience that I had.”
Advocates from Are You Dense? like Greene, hope to inform women that once a radiologist determines the density of a woman’s breasts by examining a mammogram, it’s important to request a copy of the mammography report from their referring doctor. She cautioned women to make sure it is the report that is generated from the radiologist and not a form letter. Then, read the report carefully and look for descriptions of breast tissue.
Matyka, who is also a 20-year breast cancer survivor, was next to address the crowd. She reiterated much of the same advice and relayed the some of the same precautions as Greene. She explained that she hopes her message will encourage people to look beyond pink ribbons to the end of breast cancer. Matyka is involved in a program called the Breast Cancer Deadline 2020, which was created by the NBCC. This program’s goal is to end the disease of breast cancer entirely within six years.
“I’m so impressed with the closeness, collaboration and sharing that occurs in communities like this one,” said Matyka. “Through the Deadline 2020 program, we’re looking to come up with a plan of action to end breast cancer. Now, that sounds like a pretty big order, but in fact, I don’t think it’s such a crazy idea.”
Matyka laid out the three goals the NBCC has in the hope of eradicating breast cancer.
“First, we want to have some sort of say in the research that is being done on breast cancer. Secondly, we want access to proper care for everyone when it comes to breast cancer, and lastly, by making sure that advocates have a place at the table in which decisions about breast cancer and breast cancer treatment are being made.”
Through this three-pronged approach, Matyka encouraged advocates to think beyond pink, and keep working to better research, care and decision-making when it comes to breast cancer.
