Understanding Cancer Biopsies

A biopsy is a procedure to remove a piece of tissue or a sample of cells from your body so that it can be analyzed in a laboratory. If you're experiencing certain signs and symptoms or if your doctor has identified an area of concern, you may undergo a biopsy to determine whether you have cancer or some other condition.

If it is a solid tumor, your biopsy choices can affect your survival. Read the information following these descriptions of various biopsies to understand your choices.

Bone marrow biopsy

Your doctor may recommend a bone marrow biopsy if an abnormality is detected in your blood or if your doctor suspects cancer has traveled to your bone marrow. Bone marrow is the spongy material inside some of your larger bones where blood cells are produced. Analyzing a sample of bone marrow may reveal what's causing your blood problem.

During a bone marrow biopsy, your doctor draws a sample of bone marrow out of the back of your hipbone using a long needle. In some cases, your doctor may biopsy marrow from other bones in your body. Bone marrow biopsy is commonly used to diagnose a variety of blood problems — both noncancerous and cancerous, including blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. You receive a local anesthetic before a bone marrow biopsy in order to minimize discomfort during the procedure.

Endoscopic biopsy

During endoscopy, your doctor uses a thin, flexible tube with a light on the end to see structures inside your body. Special tools are passed through the tube to take a small sample of tissue to be analyzed.

What type of endoscopic biopsy you undergo depends on where the suspicious area is located. Tubes used in an endoscopic biopsy can be inserted through your mouth, rectum, urinary tract or a small incision in your skin. Examples of endoscopic biopsy procedures include cytoscopy to collect tissue from the inside of your bladder, bronchoscopy to get tissue from inside your lung and colonoscopy to collect tissue from inside your colon.

Depending on the type of endoscopic biopsy you undergo, you may receive a sedative or anesthetic before the procedure.

Needle biopsy

During a needle biopsy, your doctor uses a special needle to extract cells from a suspicious area. A needle biopsy is often used on tumors that your doctor can feel through your skin, such as suspicious breast lumps and enlarged lymph nodes. When combined with an imaging procedure, such as X-ray, needle biopsy can be used to collect cells from a suspicious area that can't be felt through the skin.

Needle biopsy procedures include:

Fine-needle aspiration. During fine-needle aspiration, a long, thin needle is inserted into the suspicious area. A syringe is used to draw out fluid and cells for analysis.

Core needle biopsy. A larger needle with a cutting tip is used during core needle biopsy to draw a column of tissue out of a suspicious area.

Vacuum-assisted biopsy. During vacuum-assisted biopsy, a suction device increases the amount of fluid and cells that is extracted through the needle. This can reduce the number of times the needle must be inserted to collect an adequate sample.

Image-guided biopsy. Image-guided biopsy combines an imaging procedure, such as X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound, with a needle biopsy. Image-guided biopsy allows your doctor to access suspicious areas that can't be felt through the skin, such as abnormalities on the liver, lung or prostate. Using real-time images, your doctor can make sure the needle reaches the correct spot.

You'll receive a local anesthetic to numb the area being biopsied in order to minimize the pain.

Skin biopsy

A skin (cutaneous) biopsy removes cells from the surface of your body. A skin biopsy is used most often to diagnose skin conditions, including cancers, such as melanoma. What type of skin biopsy you undergo will depend on the type of cancer suspected and the extent of the suspicious cells. Skin biopsy procedures include:

Shave biopsy. During a shave biopsy, the doctor uses a tool similar to a razor to scrape the surface of your skin.

Punch biopsy. During a punch biopsy, the doctor uses a circular tool to remove a small section of your skin's deeper layers.

Incisional biopsy. During an incisional biopsy, the doctor uses a scalpel to remove a small area of skin. Whether you receive stitches to close the biopsy site depends on the amount of skin removed.

Excisional biopsy. During an excisional biopsy, the doctor removes an entire lump or an entire area of abnormal skin. You'll likely receive stitches to close the biopsy site.

You receive a local anesthetic to numb the biopsy site before the procedure.

Surgical biopsy

If the cells in question can't be accessed with other biopsy procedures or if other biopsy results have been inconclusive, your doctor may recommend a surgical biopsy. During a surgical biopsy, a surgeon makes an incision in your skin to access the suspicious area of cells. Examples of surgical biopsy procedures include surgery to remove a breast lump for a possible breast cancer diagnosis and surgery to remove a lymph node for a possible lymphoma diagnosis.

Incisional biopsy. During an incisional biopsy, the doctor uses a scalpel to remove part of an abnormal area of cells.

Excisional biopsy. During an excisional biopsy, the doctor removes an entire lump or an entire area of abnormal cells.

You may receive local anesthetics to numb the area of the biopsy. Some surgical biopsy procedures require general anesthetics to make you unconscious during the procedure. You may also be required to stay in the hospital for observation after the procedure.

Source of Biopsy descriptions listed above: Mayo Clinic

Choices in Biopsy that Affect Survival

Some biopsies are determined by the type of cancer indicated by the symptoms. Blood cancers are best diagnosed by sampling the bone marrow.

Cancers with solid tumors, like a breast cancer, are often biopsied with a Needle Biopsy or Surgical Biopsy. Your surgeon may encourage a Needle Biopsy because it is a simpler outpatient procedure, but this may not be the best option for you.

While the idea of a full Excisional Biopsy via surgery may seem scary at first, if it is an option for you, that will be the ONLY way to make sure you get all the cancer cells from this tumor OUT OF YOUR BODY.

A Needle Biopsy, or a Incisional (or partial) Biopsy can break off stray cancer cells that can begin to migrate. Since most people don't die from the initial cancer, they die from metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread), you want to do everything you can to prevent this from happening. The best way to do this, with a solid tumor, is to remove the entire tumor if possible.

If you have a solid tumor, you can begin your fight against cancer at the biopsy stage. Surgery may seem scary, but it's worth it.

http://strongerthancancer.com/cancer_biopsy

Facing Cancer Together

Facing Cancer Together Forum » Introductions

http://www.facingcancer.ca/community/forum/topic/alternative-treatment

• 
  

1. Member

   As I sit here ... again ... I thought maybe it's time I "talk" to these lovely people - voice a bit of what is going on inside.

   I am facing my 5th chemo and I'm getting low (read VERY low!) on energy and it seems harder and harder finding that courage to walk through the door, up the stairs and accept the poison!

   I promised myself when I was just diagnosed that I would use accupuncture, massage and if I could some reflexology ... and as I said - it's been 4 treatments and I have done exactly one massage ...

   And this week I feel the fear seep through my thoughts "what if the chemo doesn't work - and you could have made a real difference with accupuncture" ... "you are letting yourself down - you could die from this shite and still you didn't use the accupuncture" ...

   I wonder - did all of you out there use alternative treatment - because for some reason I just don't have it in me running to yet more appointments, getting prodded again, answering more questions, finding energy to do even more "stuff" ... but now the fear sets in - "what if" I have let myself down by not doing the alternative stuff ...

   I don't know what I'm looking for here - I guess a bit of reassurance that just because I haven't I might still be ok ...

   Posted 1 hour ago #
2. 

   bumpyboobs
   Member

   Hey Bimo, if you are exhausted then I reckon you should listen to what your body needs most - and that sounds like rest, and perhaps some occasional movement like walking to help keep up your mood. I know what you mean about the 'what if's and doing more to make a difference . . . but the stress and the guilt of that doesn't help anything. Maybe it's worth accepting what you can handle at this moment as chemotherapy is become more of a drag, and just put these other things for later? After chemo ends your body will be recovering in a big way . . . acupuncture, massage, physio, etc - it'll all be there for you when you have less on your plate, if you still want to do them, and whenever that is I'm sure it will be okay.

   Posted 20 minutes ago #
3. 

   bumpyboobs
   Member

   And I'd say that stuff is more complimentary than alternative. Chemo is the bulldozer, these other things help smooth the ride. I think they're great, but I also think you will be A-Okay regardless of whether or not you're getting complimentary therapies. Like I said, these things will be here later as well, they're great (in my opinion) for helping your body recover . . . but right now if all you can do is bulldoze - then bulldoze the crap outta that cancer.

   Posted 14 minutes ago #

Column: Once cancer has touched your life, nothing will ever be the same

Breast cancer survivor Marie Ennis-O’Connor says living past cancer is more complicated than simply being disease free.

23 hours ago 10,019 Views  33 Comments

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Image: (Image via Flickr/jeffk)

WHAT DO CORONATION Street and Sex and the City have in common? At first glance, not much. However both shows had a common storyline in which one of its main characters was diagnosed with breast cancer. And while they accurately portrayed the shock and fear of a cancer diagnosis and touched on the rigours of treatment, the story lines ended abruptly when that treatment finished.

As is the way in soap-land, both Sally and Samantha quickly put the experience behind them, got on with their lives and appeared to suffer no lasting physical or emotional effects. But those of us in the real world who have been affected by cancer know that life is not like the soaps, and the story doesn’t end when treatment does.

Each year in Ireland, over 2000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. While the incidence of breast cancer is rising, mortality rates are decreasing. The good news is that improvements in the early detection and treatment of cancer have resulted in longer periods of survival – more than 25,000 women in Ireland are living following a breast cancer diagnosis. As a result, researchers are focusing new attention on the long-term impact of cancer.

Post treatment

“Survivorship” is the new buzz word in cancer care and increasing recognition is now being given to the so-called “re-entry” phase of cancer treatment – that post treatment period which, while most intense for the first 6 months to one year immediately after treatment ends, can require months or even years to navigate. While it is necessary to do what we can to help and support cancer patients at the time of diagnosis and treatment, we also need to support patients when treatment ends. It is no longer just about saving a life, it is also about the quality of that life for the longer term.

Sometimes there can be a code of silence surrounding the aftermath of cancer treatment. Society tends to celebrate those who can bounce back from illness, loss and tragedy. We hear stories of how people have gone on to live wonderfully transformed lives, filled with gratitude for their experiences, and while these stories give us hope and inspiration, the reality is not always so for others. At least not straight away.

Move on

There is an expectation that when you walk out of hospital on that last day of treatment, your cancer story has ended. You are expected to close the page on that chapter and pick up the pieces where you left off before your life was abruptly put on hold with those words “you’ve got cancer”. But it’s not so simple. It’s a little like leaving school on that last day – sure, there’s a sense of accomplishment and relief, and maybe some excitement and anticipation about the future, but it can also be mixed with feelings of loss and insecurity.

The fact is that for many cancer survivors the end of treatment can be every bit as terrifying as the day of diagnosis. After cancer, you can feel cut adrift and lost without the regular support and reassurance of your medical team. You may feel emotionally and physically exhausted and you may not be prepared for the deluge of emotions that hits you in the days and weeks that follow.

Aftershocks

During treatment you have been so caught up in the day-to-day routines of survival that there may be little time to give much thought to anything beyond these routines. Now you may find that it is only when your treatment has finished that the full impact of everything you have been through hits you. And you may be taken by surprise at the intensity of your feelings of vulnerability, sadness and depression. You may be filled alternately with relief and elation at being given a second chance and with anxiety, fear, and uncertainty as you struggle to come to terms with the physical and emotional aftershocks of cancer.

Once cancer has touched your life nothing will ever be the same. Life is uncertain for all of us, but those with a cancer diagnosis have a heightened awareness of that uncertainty. Cancer lays bare your vulnerability and underlines the uncertainty of life. I have come to believe that surviving cancer is more complicated than simply being disease free. It is a continual process, which involves taking the best possible care of your health, acknowledging all that has happened and knowing how and when to ask for support. Only then can you start to move forward with your life and uncover a greater purpose and meaning. This is true of all survivors whatever challenges life presents to us.

Marie Ennis-O’Connor is a breast cancer survivor and patient advocate with Europa Donna Ireland, the Irish Breast Cancer campaign. Marie’s blog Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer was the winner in the best Health and Wellbeing category at the Blog Awards Ireland.

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-once-cancer-has-touched-your-life-nothing-will-ever-be-the-same-627026-Oct2012/?utm_source=shortlink

The 3 Life-Changing Lessons I Never Expected To Learn

Posted on October 28, 2012

They say bad things come in threes. I haven’t decided if “they” are right.

Three years ago, at the age of 30, three words sent my former life tumbling off the edge of a cliff and into a dark, wide abyss below. A little over a year later, after three months of chemotherapy and three surgeries,three new words changed everything.

If you read, Risk Taking 101, you might remember my control-seeking, validation-junkie, perfectionistic pre-cancer tendencies. I didn’t see anything wrong with the way I was living and planned to keep controlling, predicting, and perfecting for years to come.

But, like a seasoned sniper, cancer found me. Once it had me in its crosshairs, it tracked my every move. For days at a time, it held me hostage in my apartment. It robbed me of the energy I needed to walk to the corner store. It emotionally abused me until I sank to my knees; until I lay, face pressed against my area rug, sobbing myself hollow.

I wouldn’t wish this brand of darkness on anyone and yet, I know I am not alone in facing tragedy, pain or loss. Regardless of whether cancer was the source, many of you have experienced your own brand of seemingly bottomless pain.

Today, three years after the worst day of my life, I want to share with you three lessons I never expected to learn about coming back from the brink of depression, disillusionment, and what felt an awful lot like death.

1. Live the Hell Out of Your Life

We think we have lots of time. We tell ourselves we can follow our passions later. Take that trip to the Eiffel Tower when we retire. Learn to rock climb when we have more money or find a job we love after we have paid off a little more of the mortgage. But, what if there is no next year? What if you find yourself couch-bound or sealed in a hospital isolation room?

Here’s the dirty truth about cancer. No one can ever promise me or the millions of other cancer survivors in the world that we are cured. There is always a risk it will come back and if/when it does, it will be incurable. We walk with this fear every day and unfortunately, in spite of all of the awareness campaigns and dollars donated to research, far too many of my friends or yours get a second call from a doctor that upends their lives and shortens their time with us here on earth.

My defense tactic against this heavy brand of fear is to live the hell out of my life. To say “why not” to new experiences and meaningful connections. There are no guarantees for any of us. The best we can hope for is to live the hell out of today.

2. Discover Your Purpose

We live in an era of people telling us to find our true purpose and discover who we “really are”. For a long time, this all sounded like a pile of new-agey hullaballoo to me. When people asked me what my purpose was, I thought, Sh!t, I have no idea and now I feel like a less than perfect human being because I don’t have a purpose.

But, here’s what I have learned. You don’t have to have all of the answers right now.

Why not start by leaning into an activity that bring you joy? Is there something you do that comes easily to you and when you’re doing it, you lose track of space and time?

I’m not suggesting you opt out of picking your kids up from daycare or miss a client meeting because you want to frolic through mud puddles or create elaborate chalk murals on your driveway. But, why not carve out a few minutes every day to lean into something that brings you joy? Why not start by asking yourself, if three words changed my life tomorrow, what would I wish I had done more of today? Then, go do it. I bet paying attention to what brings you joy will lead you a little closer to finding the thread of purpose in your life.

3. It’s Not Just About You

Some of my greatest moments of joy have come from showing up for other people in a real way. From asking myself, what can I do to leave the world a better place, simply because I have lived?

We all have a platform. A voice. The ability to make a difference. So, why not ask yourself, what do I want my legacy to be? It doesn’t have to big. You can start exactly where you are.

Just last Sunday, I walked past a young man, sitting on a dirty sidewalk outside a downtown Toronto McDonalds. The words, “no family” on his cardboard sign made me turn around. As I crouched down and asked him what he wanted to eat, he looked at me in shock. The gratitude in his eyes when I handed him a paper bag filled with a Filet-O-Fish and some french fries still makes me want to weep.

What Have YOU learned?

Do bad things come in threes? Maybe. I have experienced plenty of pain over the last three years, but without the pain, I wouldn’t be living the life I have now.

What about you? Has one of the worst days of your life taught you an unexpected lesson?

Be Sociable, Share!

http://www.afreshchapter.com/the-3-life-changing-lessons-i-never-expected-to-learn.html

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Breast cancer survivor group is a social movement

Liz Szabo, USA TODAYShare

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/23/breast-cancer-group-support/1637633/

This is the final installment in USA TODAY's four-week series on breast cancer. The series looks at screening, treatment and support via social media.

(Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Weekly Twitter chat focuses on breast cancer
• Community has following of women, men
• Chat stands out because of focus on medical evidence

7:40AM EDT October 23. 2012 - Twitter, perhaps best known lately as a source of Big Bird jokes, might not seem like the first place to look for a breast cancer support group, a boot camp in medical research or the seeds of a social movement.

Yet a weekly Twitter chat on breast cancer, launched just over year ago, has blossomed into all those things and more, participants say.

The online chat, known as BCSM -- or breast cancer social media -- has a growing following of men and women looking to share war stories, empower patients and change the national conversation on breast cancer.

MORE: Health and wellness coverage

Folks who join the chats "are amazing. And they tell each other so," says co-founder and breast cancer survivor Jody Schoger, 58, of The Woodlands, Texas. "They find the best in each other and celebrate that quality."

Robert Miller, a medical oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center In Baltimore, is a frequent guest expert on BCSM. Miller says he understands how those unfamiliar with Twitter might be "skeptical that exchanging 140-character messages with a group of strangers for an hour every Monday night would be an effective tool. But it really is."

Psychologist Ann Becker-Schutte, a frequent guest expert on BCSM, says the support group take its positive tone from its leaders.

Schoger and her fellow organizers -- who became friends online months before ever meeting face to face -- each bring unique talents, says Becker-Schutte, who specializes in helping people with serious diseases.

Schoger is a writer with a background in public relations. Co-founder Alicia Staley, 41, is a three-time cancer survivor from Boston, as well as an information technology analyst and online community manager. The third member of the team, California breast surgeon Deanna Attai, joined BCSM during its second chat and quickly became a co-moderator.

A well of support

Each moderator works hard to keep conversations on track and avoid the pitfalls of traditional support groups, Becker-Schutte says. While other support groups may allow people to vent their frustration, she says, BCSM provides a way for people to transform those frustrations into action.

In most support groups, "one or two patients sort of take over, and it turns into a bitch session," Attai says. "That's not what you see with #BCSM. ... We have a common goal -- that's to educate, empower and support, and all that participate seem to embrace that."

Schoger says she's been pleased to see how BCSM helps women -- and the occasional man -- think through complex issues and become leaders.

"So many of these women are writing stronger blog pieces and are taking up the mantle in different breast cancer organizations," Schoger says. "I just love watching it."

Staley says the group's success has surprised her. There's no formal promotion. Instead, early participants often stumbled across the chats after searching for keywords -- known on Twitter as hashtags -- such as cancer.

"This is something incredible that has grown out of a hashtag," Staley says.

The virtual community has spent more than 600 hours in conversation since their first chat. Schoger alone devotes about 15 hours a week to BCSM, and another 10 more to her blog, Women With Cancer.

The key to forming a close-knit community, Schoger says, is listening. She notes that many organizations and companies use social media such as Twitter as a one-way broadcasting system to put out a message of the day. The most successful people in social media foster real conversations, she says.

Becker-Schutte notes that the women's fellowship doesn't end with their hour-long chats. BCSM leaders monitor the group's ongoing conversations. "If someone is having a hard time, it isn't long before someone responds." Becker-Schutte says.

Conversations such as BCSM fill a huge void, Attai says. She began chatting with breast cancer patients after noticing a 1 a.m. conversation between two women about Paget's disease of the breast, a rare form of cancer that Attai has treated.

"Patients just aren't getting the information they need," Attai says. "Two women shouldn't have to go online in the middle of the night."

And although individual tweets are brief, the group delves into deep subjects. BCSM has tackled issues such as parenting and maintaining a career through breast cancer treatment; emotions such as anger, anxiety about recurrence and survivor's guilt; and post-treatment complications such as "chemo brain" and lymphedema, which causes arm swelling.

Staley, who developed breast cancer twice after receiving radiation for Hodgkin lymphoma, says many patients feel alone. She divides her cancer experience into three phases: diagnosis, treatment and "after."

"The diagnosis comes at you fast and furious," says Staley, who blogs at awesomecancersurvivor.com. "You make your decision for treatment. You get to the end of the treatment plan, and you get a pat on the back and off you go into the world. I've been through this three times, and the 'after' part is the hardest. You are pushed back into the real world and you have to redevelop your framework for connecting. That's what this community has done, to prop me up post-treatment, to get me back into the real world."

The Internet is teeming with online support groups, of course, including dozens just for breast cancer, Schoger says. Hundreds of cancer survivors across the USA now blog about their experiences.

Online communities can be especially powerful for those with rare diseases, who often may not be able to find other people with their condition in their communities, says Terry Lynn Arnold, of Friendswood, Texas.

Arnold, who has a rare type of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer, says she has formed close bonds on Facebook with women she would likely never have met in person.

Doing their homework

BCSM stands out from most other support groups, however, because of its rigorous focus on medical evidence, Attai says.

Given that myths and misinformation can spread like wildfire online, Attai says it's crucial for BCSM to provide accurate information that's supported by strong science. The group regularly dissects the latest research and routinely recruits experts. Some of the more science-heavy topics have included clinical trials, hereditary breast cancers and how to avoid "voodoo medicine."

In addition to Miller and Becker-Schutte, guest experts have included Matthew Katz, director of radiation oncology at Lowell General Hospital in Massachusetts; Julie Gralow, director of breast medical oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; and St. Louis breast surgeon Diane Radford.

Although the group has plenty of compassion for people with cancer, members have little patience for hecklers, self-promoters or spammers, Staley says.

"There are plenty of angry communities on Twitter, but we're not one of them," Attai says. "If someone wants to pick a fight, they will quickly learn that's not what we are about. If someone wants to come and promote broccoli extract (as a cure for cancer), we will call them out on that, and they will go elsewhere."

Connecting across platforms

Attai and other doctors say the chats have given them a better sense of what patients are going through, and "how much my patients were holding back from me."

And while the community may be virtual, the emotions expressed are palpable, especially when participants are in crisis, or grieving the loss of a loved one, Schoger says.

Last February, BCSM lost two of its members in one day. Organizers scrapped their planned chat and devoted the entire hour to remembering the two women. "We had what can only be called a virtual wake," Schoger says.

And while BCSM isn't political, the community has developed a strong voice on key issues in breast cancer. The group regularly criticizes "pinkwashing," or the commercialization of breast cancer, which is invoked throughout October to sell products. Breast cancer bloggers are taking up the issue, as well, so much that "pink-ribbon fatigue" is becoming a common phrase.

Members of BCSM are also "fearless friends" to women with metastatic disease, which has spread to other organs and is incurable. Such women often feel unwelcome and abandoned by other breast cancer groups, Attai says.

"It seems like the community as a whole have turned their backs on men and women with metastatic breast cancer," Attai says. "If you don't fit into this narrow window with pink, 'happy' cancer, then the community has no place for you."

Partly due to efforts like BCSM's, women with metastatic disease say their concerns are far more visible this year than just a year ago.

Lessons spread

BCSM's founders say they would love to help other patients start or expand similar communities. Patients with very aggressive kinds of cancer, such as ovarian or brain tumors, often aren't healthy enough to form the sorts of advocacy groups that exist in breast cancer, Staley says. Often, these patients go immediately into aggressive treatments, which can make it difficult for them to organize support groups.

There are more than 2 million breast cancer survivors alive today, however, and many of them are relatively young and tech-savvy, she says.

Creating more communities like BCSM, however, would require finding moderators who are equally compassionate, dedicated and informed, Becker-Schutte says.

"They're pretty amazing," Becker-Schutte says. "They are doing for the community what they wish had been available for them in their initial diagnosis and treatment."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/23/breast-cancer-group-support/1637633/

Exercise plays role in prevention and survival of breast cancer

Related

Credit: Special to the Herald Courier

  Linda Stollings's column Fit Rx appears each Wednesday in the Flavor section...

Credit: file photo

Breast cancer ribbon

By: Linda Stollings | Special to the Herald Courier 
Published: October 17, 2012
Updated: October 17, 2012 - 3:40 PM

» 0 Comments | Post a Comment

October is here as quickly as it left us last year and isn’t October a beautiful month? The leaves are changing colors and the crispness of the air just begs us to get outside and enjoy ourselves. But October is a beautiful month for another reason; it is breast cancer awareness month.   

Breast cancer awareness month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting 2.5 million American women. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women after lung cancer.

So October is an important month to increase awareness and raise funds to support research to minimize the effects of cancer on so many lovely women. The good news is that a new study published in the journal Cancer, found a link between physical activity and reduced breast cancer risk. A separate study published in May 2012 by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that postmenopausal women who lost a moderate amount of weight through exercise and a healthier diet may lower their breast cancer risk because losing fat tissue can reduce the amount of two hormones associated with breast cancer.

Exercise can not only help in the prevention of breast cancer but research demonstrates a strong link between an active lifestyle and a more hopeful future for survivors. Wow that is great news, we know that exercise builds strength and endurance, giving more energy but linking regular physical activity to recurrence prevention and to increase survival rates, that is huge.

This is for all you lovely women out there that have made the journey with breast cancer and would like to do everything in your power to reduce the changes of a reoccurrence. Here are your physical activity guidelines according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

» First and foremost check with your physician for any limitations before embarking on any program.

» Engage in aerobic activities at moderate intensity for total of 150 minutes per week or vigorous/strenuous intensity for 75 minutes per week or some combination of the two.

» Strength train the major muscle groups in both the lower and upper body two or three times per week.

» Improve flexibility by stretching major muscle groups when aerobic and strength training activities are performed.

Women who have had surgery should allow time for healing and then evaluate arm/shoulder mobility before performing upper body exercises. Women should not exercise on days of extreme fatigue or pain, if undergoing chemotherapy set short term goals to prevent loss of interest or motivation. Energy may be low due to loss of appetite due to nausea. Above all work closely with your physician.

Ladies do what you can and know that something that used to be so simple may now be monumental. Progress slowly, don’t discount seeking professional help from fitness experts who have worked in this area. Compassionate fitness professionals can be an important part of your healthcare team.

The Leonard Family Comprehensive Breast Center, a new $1.5 million facility is in the works for the Bristol Regional Medical Center to provide centralized, comprehensive, care for breast cancer patients. I would like to personally extend a big thank you to the Leonard family for the generous gift to Bristol Regional Medical Center to help make the breast cancer center possible. The Bristol region is so blessed to have the Leonard Family Foundation invest in our community to transform health care and make an impact on the lives of the people in this area. 

Thank you for being the real faces of fitness and embracing life in such a big way. You are examples to us all.

Linda Stollings is a personal fitness trainer in Bristol, Tenn. Email her at lstollings@fitprescriptions.com.

http://www2.tricities.com/lifestyles/2012/oct/17/7/role-exercise-breast-cancer-prevention-and-survivo-ar-2286707/