Oregon second in nation for incidents of breast cancer

Curves hosts free women's health workshop Friday

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Oct 21, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Two major risk factors for breast cancer include gender and age, according to the American Cancer Society. Being a woman is the main risk for breast cancer. While men also get the disease, it is about 100 times more common in women than in men. In addition, the chance of getting breast cancer goes up as a woman gets older. About two out of three women with invasive breast cancer are 55 or older when the cancer is found.

File photo / Estacada News

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Curves of Estacada owner Susan Wagner knew the women’s-only fitness center she opened five years ago would provide a perfect place to promote healthy living, but she couldn’t have entirely predicted its influence as a support group and social network for women in the community.

In the five years since she opened the Curves franchise in Estacada, Wagner has seen a host of members come and go, lose weight, survive accidents and battle breast cancer.

“When you start asking the question, ‘What’s your connection to breast cancer?’ it’s hard not to know someone,” says Lisa Regan-Vienop, Breast Health Education Manager at Oregon Health and Science University. “My stepmother had breast cancer and so did a close personal friend of mine. Luckily, I also have a lot of friends who are survivors.”

Wagner met Regan-Vienop at a recent Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure meeting and invited her to Estacada to talk to women in the community about breast health and risk factors for breast cancer, to recognize October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The meeting will include a presentation by Regan-Vienop, in addition to presentations by naturopathic doctor Kimberly Horner and massage therapist Tamara Nielson from the Oregon Massage & Lymphedema Clinic. Curves will host the free workshop on breast cancer and breast health on Friday, Oct. 23, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 321 S.W. Highway 224.

“We know a lot about breast cancer, and we are making a lot of progress with research, but we don’t have a way to prevent it,” Regan-Vienop said. “Early detection makes a big difference, but we still don’t know what we can do to prevent it. However, we can actually help people to manage their risk, but, unfortunately, there is no foolproof prevention or cure yet."

An estimated 194,000 new cases of breast cancer in the U.S. will be reported by the end of the year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and the disease will claim the lives of an estimated 40,000 people in 2009 when early detection, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and the body’s ability to battle the disease aren’t enough. Oregon ranks second in the nation in cases of breast cancer, with Washington state reporting the most cases and Connecticut in third, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“We do know that statistically we have more cases of breast cancer here,” Regan-Vienop said. “So we’re really trying to combat that. I don’t try to give the women I talk to about this a guilt trip, but I really want to stress the importance of doing their exams and heighten their awareness about breast cancer and the risk factors.”

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