May 2018 Newsletter - Zero Breast Cancer

IN THE KNOW!

From the ED's Desk

Dear Reader,

Pretty much all living creatures can become host to cancers but the complexity of the experience for human beings is, well, uniquely human. Breast cancer is not just one disease and human responses to diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and aftermath is not uniform either. Complexity upon complexity. So how do we make sense of it all? At the risk of oversimplifying the complexity, you have two main strategies to guide you: Reliance on rigorous, peer-reviewed evidence-based research and storytelling. In these newsletters we strive to bring you both on a regular basis. The most recent in the ZBC monthly book review series (see below) looks at a useful and well-written journey into the human side of cancer.

Here in brief are a few additional items we hope you will find relevant and informative;

The Berkeley Film Foundation presents Life Interrupted: Telling Breast Cancer Stories, a new film by award-winning filmmaker and two-time breast cancer survivor Paula Mozen on Tuesday, June 5th at 7 p.m. at The New Parkway Theatre, 472 24th St., Oakland, CA 94612. Read more here. Purchase tickets here.
The Ceres Community Project is an organization that ZBC has long admired and had some common cause with. Meals that Nourish the Critically Ill and Empower Teens is at the heart of what they do. We understand that the San Rafael, Marin facility currently has capacity to on-board more clients (and their families) facing illness who are in need of healthy meals. To request help read more here.
A very important, if specialized, area of risk reduction focus is understanding occupational hazards. Here is an important update on this topic which concludes by noting that:
"Studies of workers have played a central role in identifying the causes of human cancer. Data compiled from the IARC Monographs from its initiation in 1971 through 2017 indicate that the number of recognised occupational carcinogens has increased progressively in recent decades. This trend may have been facilitated by advances in study quality, notably in quantitative exposure assessment, and in the global growth of the scientific literature base.
Despite notable progress, there continues to be a need for research on the causes of work-related cancer. Epidemiologic evidence is inadequate or entirely lacking for the majority of the over 1000 agents evaluated by IARC; many more agents present in workplaces have never been evaluated for carcinogenicity. There is also a need to identify the numbers of exposed workers by geographic location and to produce quantitative exposure data as a basis for hazard identification, exposure-response estimation and risk assessment."
Loomis D, Guha N, Hall AL, et al
Identifying occupational carcinogens: an update from the IARC Monographs
Occup Environ MedPublished Online First: 16 May 2018. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2017-104944
You may find this recent article from the Chicago Tribute interesting. On the topic of inherited breast cancer risk and how decisions were made before the wide availability of genetic testing for BRCA1, BRCA2 etc. patients had to take gambles based on the best information available to them at the time. This is just one story - with a twist. Our very own former Board Member, medical oncologist Brian Lewis, MD, helped guide the author to a new but likely life saving surgery long before Angelina Jolie made prophylactic mastectomies a 'thing'.

I know you dear reader join members of the board and staff of ZBC in sending best wishes to one of our board members and one of our regular supporters both of whom underwent mastectomies this month. Too close for comfort. In every sense of that phrase. Wishing AP and SD a speedy recovery and return to a full and active lives.

Together with you we REFUSE to give up on the vision of zero breast cancer!

Yours in health,

Rose Barlow

Executive Director

PS. ZBC is growing its number of monthly donors significantly and you can become one too! If you read these monthly newsletter regularly then please consider a monthly gift of $25 or $50 (any amount helps) to help sustain the work of translating, disseminating and communicating evidence-based information about breast cancer risk reduction. Its quick and easy and you can now pay by PayPal too. Just click on this secure link and get started. Thank you!

REGISTRATION FOR THE DIPSEA HIKE OPENS TOMORROW!

Founded in 2002 and now in its16th year, the hike will be taking place on September 22nd, 2018. To read more and register on June 1st, 2018 click here. Online registration will remain open through Monday September 17th, 2018.
This is Zero Breast Cancer's biggest community event and fundraiser each year. Hope to see you there!

Sweet 16! Actually bittersweet. This year, as we do every year, we remember Annie Fox and Jerry Leith. Two people who loved Marin and its mountain. Two people who lost their lives to cancer but who were determined to ensure a legacy of ongoing effort to sustain the work of Zero Breast Cancer (formerly Marin Breast Cancer Watch).

Who remembers this glorious image?

This year we contacted the artist, Douglas Andelin, who created this gorgeous picture in honor of that first ever Dipsea Hike/Run as it was called back then. Douglas has kindly given us permission to use this image on t-shirts that you will receive free as a thank you for raising $250 or more by September 4th, 2018.

You can participate in many ways.

Volunteer. Hike. Run. Do Tai Chi *. Donate.

*NEW for members of the community who care passionately about breast cancer risk reduction in the next generation and for whom tackling the entire hike route is not an option. Now you can try a tai chi workshop that will be offered at 10 a.m. in Old Mill Park instead. Thanks to Julie Reinganum of the Tai Chi Foundation of Marin County for partnering with ZBC in this exciting new development. Participants will be fully included in all of the event components (except the actual hike itself, of course) including the opportunity to embrace the fundraising aspects too. Space is limited so don't delay if this is of interest.

Volunteers are vital to this event. If you would like to be included in this year's volunteer corp please contact us via our online volunteer form here.

Last but not least, this is a call to all breast cancer survivors. If you would like to participate but are facing financial challenges we are hoping to raise funds to sponsor your participation. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to let us know you would like an available sponsored bib. First come first served and we hope to include everyone who reaches out to us!

SPOTLIGHT ON: JT Peterson, co-founder and co-owner of Ripped Body Fitness and member of the ZBC Board of Directors

JT Peterson is an inspiring young leader in the field of health and wellness here in Marin County. JT believes that doing well and doing good are inseparable. He is an example of someone who truly walks the walk in additional to talking the talk. Recently ZBC Communications Director Helaine Alon chatted with JT by phone. Their conversation has been published on our blog here.

NEW: Book Review #17

When receiving a cancer diagnosis or hearing that a loved one has cancer, the range of emotions is huge and constantly changing. It is from this perspective that author Dr. Jimmie Holland and collaborator Sheldon Lewis address the psychological experience of cancer in their book, The Human Side of Cancer: Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty. Dr. Holland, a psychiatrist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for over two decades, is a pioneer in the field of psycho-oncology. Sheldon Lewis is a medical journalist and a senior editor at Healthy Living Magazine.

The Human Side of Cancer is a rich resource that touches on a wide range of topics. It can serve as a guidebook from diagnosis across many different scenarios of care, decision making, and outcomes. Most importantly, it normalizes the psychological challenges that patients and families face when trying to navigate their way through the all engrossing experience of cancer. It offers a range of personal anecdotes and concrete suggestions that are very encouraging over the course of what may be a long journey.

You can read the full report here.