October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

West Virginia University is offering a series of free events throughout October in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

The first free event will be clinical breast exams on Tuesday, Oct. 2, in the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center clinic from 5 to 8 p.m.

Following their clinical breast exam, participants will be escorted to the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center for a tour, instructions in breast self-examination and refreshments. 

If a follow-up mammogram or ultrasound is warranted, breast imaging will be offered at the Breast Care Center, on a limited basis, that evening.

Advance registration is required.  Please call 304-598-4027.

"Since breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among West Virginia women, it is very important to detect the disease as early as possible," said Jame Abraham, M.D., section chief of Hematology/Oncology at the WVU School of Medicine, & director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program at WVU's Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.  "We know that early detection and improved treatment save lives, and we want to do as much as possible to help women beat this disease."

Breast cancer survivors are invited to the sixth annual Evening of Celebration dinner Sunday, Oct. 14, at Lakeview Resort.  Every year hundreds of survivors and their families travel from around West Virginia and neighboring states to visit with other survivors and to hear informal panel discussions by various breast cancer experts from the WVU Comprehensive Breast Cancer Team.

To register for the Evening of Celebration, please call 304-598-4027.

Throughout October Cancer Center specialists and other healthcare experts will provide free educational talks on a wide range of breast cancer related topics.  The talks are open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. in the waiting area of the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center.
Following is a schedule of the talks:

• October 9 - Breast cancer screening, imaging, and breast MRI
• October 16 - Hereditary risks for breast cancer and breast cancer prevention
• October 23 - Surgical aspects in breast cancer
• October 30 - Lymphedema issues and radiation therapy

"Education and prevention are important parts of our mission at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center," said Scot C. Remick, M.D., director of the Cancer Center.  "We welcome the opportunity  to raise breast cancer awareness and to make our breast cancer experts and state-of-the-art facilities available to the people we serve."

The October breast cancer awareness events are sponsored by the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center and WVU Hospitals.