Meyers raises awareness

This year, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the US, according to Breastcancer.org. Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is by far the most common cause of cancer in women. 

And women are not alone. About 2,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men. 

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign founded in 1985 intending to increase awareness of breast cancer and encourage early detection and treatment. 

“We are excited and honored to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the College,” 

said NYU Meyers Dean Eileen Sullivan-Marx. “As nurses, we have a responsibility to do our part to support healthy habits, which include reducing risk by staying in good physical health.” 

Roughly one in eight women born in the US today will get breast cancer at some point in their lives. There are also more than 3.1 million women with a history of breast cancer in the US as of Jan. 2019. 

“We want to educate our community and bring attention to this disease, especially since early detection is so important. It can save lives,” said Sullivan-Marx. 

In fact, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., when breast cancer is detected early, and happens to be in a localized stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 100%.

NYU Meyers Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions Amy Knowles, a seven-year cancer survivor, agreed, “I am a grateful seven-year breast cancer survivor who knows first hand that mammograms and early detection can save lives.”

Depending on age, experts recommend not only self-exams but mammogram screenings as well. According to the National Cancer Institute, women who are aged 50 to 69 years have a lower chance of dying from breast cancer if they have screening mammograms about every one to two years, as opposed to women who don’t. 

For years, Knowles has been the NYU Meyers Team Captain for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, which will be held this year on Oct. 20. 

According to Knowles, “We all walk because we've been affected by breast cancer in some way, and because the Making Strides event gives us the power to make a difference and fight back.”