Minority Breast Cancer

Aretha Rogers may lose the occasional game of monopoly. but she's winning her battle against breast cancer.  "I kept my faith, my family kept praying, and I kept looking at the goal. there is a goal. That I was going to beat this."

Aretha endured a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. her goal now is to educate other minority women about breast cancer. She started by reaching out to friends and family.  "It was at a family reunion. my cousins and my sisters we all went in the restroom and I said I really need you all to get educated on this and I want you all to feel what a lump in the breast would feel like."

African American women tend to get breast cancer less frequently than white women, but when they do get the disease, they're often younger, and the tumors tend to be more aggressive.  Dr. Amber Isley says another issue is that minority women often don't seek medical care as soon as they should.  "They may go in at a later stage, and the next thing you know, it's more advanced, and then their opportunities for treatment are limited."

As Aretha knows, breast cancer is curable if you catch it early.  "I was grateful that I took action when I found the lump."

Aretha continues to encourage other minority women to take action too.  "It's o.k. to check your breasts. It's o.k. to go to the doctor. It's o.k. to talk about it."

She and Dr. Isley want all women to learn about breast cancer so they too can be survivors.

If you like to know more, visit the Mayo Clinic's help site.