This blog will cover topics of interest that affect our community. Unless otherwise stated, the blog articles will be written by Sue Friedman, Executive Director of FORCE.
by Lisa Schlager Throughout the year, FORCE staff and volunteers participate in a variety of conferences, workshops, steering committee meetings, and more on behalf of the hereditary cancer community. This “Where’s FORCE” feature covers the early part of 2018. January January marked the start of the New Year, and renewed focus on issues that impact … + read more
by Jennifer Hintz Note: Jennifer’s story was submitted in response to our recent XRAY review published July 2017: Can Breast Cancer Come Back? If you have would like to submit a blog post related to one of our XRAYS articles, please contact medhas@facingourrisk.org. I was thrilled to finally hear the words from my oncologist: “You’ve done … + read more
by Sandy Cohen Unfortunately, my story is not that uncommon. I’m a motherless daughter. I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was 26 years old. And she lost her mom to the disease before she graduated high school. This all occurred before the BRCA1 mutation was even discovered. Today, thanks to FORCE’s programs, … + read more
by Lisa Rezende, PhD and Julie Huynh, MS Today we celebrate the publication of our 100th XRAYS review. It’s amazing to think how the program we developed over the past three years has grown to serve over 70,000 people affected by breast cancer. We knew the need was there. We saw how catchy headlines like … + read more
by Piri Welcsh, PhD and Sue Friedman, DVM When making medical decisions, getting information right is more important than getting it fast. This is especially true for our community, when results of a genetic test or a breast biopsy can add a sense of urgency to medical decision-making. But finding factual data or input—help, not … + read more
by Melanie Nix I know a woman who has hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome. She is a triple negative breast cancer survivor. She has a BRCA1 gene mutation and is the fifth generation in her family to have breast cancer. She lost her youngest aunt to ovarian cancer after multiple battles with both … + read more
by Jordan Dietrich SOLO3 SOLO3 is an exciting phase III ovarian cancer clinical trial that studies the effectiveness and safety of the PARP inhibitor Olaparib (Lynparza) compared to single-agent standard chemotherapy in women with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer with germline BRCA1/2 mutations. The trial is designed to confirm the benefit of Olaparib in this subset of … + read more
by Lisa Schlager, Lisa Rezende, PhD and Sue Friedman “Angeline Effect” Angelina Jolie’s May 2013 New York Times editorial “My Medical Choice,” which detailed her decision to have a double mastectomy because she carries a BRCA1 mutation brought unprecedented attention to hereditary cancer and BRCA genetic testing. This “Angelina Effect” created an avalanche of public … + read more
by Alexandria Groves In October The Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) announced the release of the SGO Genetics Toolkit to provide critical and important information to health professionals, patients and their families, and anyone who wants a deeper understanding of gynecologic cancers and genetics. The Toolkit is the result of a collaboration between experts from … + read more
By Amy Wu Caught amidst a tsunami of daily news stories, posts and news alerts – Facebook, Twitter, Buzzfeed, NPR, The New York Times, VICE, CNN, The Guardian and The Washington Post, where do I start? I click, I swipe, scroll and scan. Since the advent of the smartphone and the ease of the wireless … + read more
by Sue Friedman Members of our community who have already had genetic testing often ask for advice on how to speak about it to their relatives. Some common barriers to testing that we hear voiced by people are: concern over the cost of testing access to genetics experts family communication challenges With the holidays coming, … + read more
Our helpline offers peer support for people concerned about hereditary cancer. All calls are confidential. Call any time.
FORCE has outreach groups throughout the United States and in Essex, United Kingdom that meet periodically to offer peer support, and share resources.
