Monday, October 10, 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A great deal of publicity that surrounds Breast Cancer Awareness Month focuses on the scientific advancements that bring us closer to finding a cure for breast cancer and celebrates the brave women and men who have won their battles against the disease. But what about those individuals for whom the disease has spread? These brave survivors with stage IV, or metastatic, breast cancer must continue to live with the understanding that they may never be cured. In an effort to increase awareness and education of stage IV breast cancer, October 13 has been declared Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.
To celebrate this year’s awareness day, leading experts from Presbyterian Cancer Center and Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute will conduct a panel session on issues related to metastatic breast cancer, including: information on research and clinical trials and current and future treatments for advanced stages of breast cancer. This free community event, Living Stronger, Living Longer, will be held from 6 – 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13 at Presbyterian Buddy Kemp Cancer Support Center and will include dinner.
Thanks to clinical advancements, individuals with metastatic breast cancer are living stronger and longer. “Redefining hope to stability of disease, hope for tolerable side effects from treatment, or having another treatment option when your treatment isn’t providing you the response that you hoped for are just few examples of how hope gets redefined as a metastatic breast cancer survivor,” says Marian Woertz Brawer, a local stage IV survivor and one of the leaders of the twice-monthly metastatic breast cancer support group at Buddy Kemp Cancer Support Center.
To learn more or register for this free event for patients and caregivers, please call 704-384-5223.
