Breast Cancer Awareness

The national philanthropy of Sigma Theta Psi Sorority is breast cancer. We focus both on awareness and charity: every fall, during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, we sponsor a week of awareness events that this year included a 3-3 basketball tournament fundraiser, informative tabling in White Plaza and at Stern Late Night, a "Sex and the City" viewing of Samantha's breast cancer experience, having a dunk tank in White Plaza, a salsa party with a live band, and participation in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In the past, we have also done a spring Coins for Cancer fundraiser, with our most recent effort in fall of 2006 bringing in nearly $500 for the American Cancer Society.






Overview

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second leading cause of cancer death (exceeded only by lung cancer). Breast cancer is three times more common than all gynecologic malignancies put together. The incidence of breast cancer has been increasing steadily from an incidence of 1:20 in 1960 to 1:8 women today.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 211,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed this year and 43,300 patients will die from the disease. Breast cancer is truly an epidemic among women and we don't know why. Breast cancer is not exclusively a disease of women. For every 100 women with breast cancer, 1 male will develop the disease. The American Cancer society estimates that 1,600 men will develop the disease this year. The evaluation of men with breast masses is similar to that in women, including mammography.

The incidence of breast cancer is very low in the twenties, gradually increases and plateaus at the age of forty-five, and then increases dramatically after fifty. Fifty percent of breast cancer is diagnosed in women over sixty-five, indicating the ongoing necessity of yearly screening throughout a woman's life.

Breast cancer is considered a heterogeneous disease, meaning that it is a different disease in different women, a different disease in different age groups and has different cell populations within the tumor itself. Generally, breast cancer is a much more aggressive disease in younger women. Autopsy studies show that 2% of the population has undiagnosed breast cancer at the time of death. Older women typically have a much less aggressive disease than younger women.