MEET THE 2024 ALLIANCE IN THE DENSE BREAST ADVOCACY

The Integrative Cancer Resource Society trademarked the POWERMEETS series and partnered with cancer foundation leaders to spearhead new meetings about dense breast education advocacy and breast cancer awareness. Together, they form a collaborative alliance to expand the reach of their common message and make a wider difference in the process.

In Sept. 1, 2023, a collective Powermeet hosted by Mr. Joe Cappello (founder of "Are You Dense?") was aired to welcome Ms. Allie Fiederlein to the national advocacy movement for dense breast and breast cancer awareness.  She is recognized as  "the voice for her generation" of the underserved and underdiagnosed women (ages 20-39). Together with the ICRS, Ms. Fiederlein is part of the campaign aptly called "EARLIER DETECTION".  Notable speakers from live conferences, pre-recorded testimonies and emailed supportive statements were published in this special event- brought to you in part by "Are You Dense?" Foundation.

MEMORABLE STATEMENTS FROM THE 9/1 POWERMEET

JOE CAPPELLO: Allie! It's great to have you on board because you represent a multitude of new patient groups. When we're talking about cancer detection for a younger generation, it is amazing how many people you're gonna affect. And your voice is very important for our mission. It's something to to behold because there's not a lot of strong women like yourself who's willing to step out and represent a vast majority of women who are hurting, but are afraid to come forward and maybe not even know. But the assumption is that they should know... and that's your voice! We've come a long way with "Are you Dense?"  We do a lot off shooting in the dark, not knowing which way to go- but in the end, we knew we're making progress for the last 20 years.  All we do is to keep moving forward.  (See: Joe Cappello's feature on Dense Breast Legislation 2023)

NOELLE CUTTER, PhD:  Allie- I am so very proud of you, not just because you were one of my top students @ Molloy (University) but because you were always an achiever- deserving off this honor.  Today, you're one of us (national advocates) and I want to be the first to congratulate you for this honor. Being a spokesperson for young women in your age group is truly a milestone for addressing the age barrier about a generation in crisis. Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, recently surpassing lung cancer in 2020. The median age of diagnostics is 62 to 63 years old, but more recent data also shows that breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among young women. Ages 15 to 39 accounting for 30% of all cancers in this age group, understanding both the genetic and environmental makeup of the cancer will help drive better treatment for our patients. (See Dr. Cutter's report on "Ultrasound Significantly Reduces False Readings of DENSE BREASTS")

ALEXANDRA (ALLIE) FIEDERLEIN: My generation is the most underserved when it comes to education and awareness- and  also the most underdiagnosed. Where the vast majority of the younger women have dense breasts, a great unknown number of them are potential breast cancer cases because of this- but no one has that data because mammograms don't happen as a standard until 40.  Thanks to this collaboration technology (web & video conferencing), we have the advantage to reach everyone out there more easily.  We're called GEN-Z... and that's the best thing about reaching my generation because everyone on my end is on Instagram, on Twitter, Facebook-- essentially web-connected.  It's a whole new world that we can access and we have to know how to use it effectively in that manner. My interest is to reach out, engage and offer true awareness to the younger women- the underserved women who have no idea about GETTING CHECKED NOW! (See Allie's spotlight feature on Earlier Detection)

ROBERT BARD, MD: Speaking of generations, for us to help the underserved, we need to educate the older generation of doctors who are by and large not particularly interested in change. Use of  non-invasive imaging technologies like 3D ultrasound and elastography are coming up to greatly help with early detection- instead of just a mammogram. There's an interesting link between dense breast and inflammatory disease and cancer. Meanwhile, we need more data on breast cancer cases within the younger women's age group (20-39) and there isn't any because there's no real push to get a mammo for this generation.  With people like ALLIE speaking out about getting more screening, you'll find that data drive a shift in attitude as far as early detection for her age group! (See Dr. Bard's report on "The Risk of Being "Too Young for a Mammogram")

ROBERTA KLINE, MD: Since its inception, this group has always amazed me with its vision to unite change-makers and visionaries. After all, cancer is not won from one battle front but from many. Now, we are clearly seeing an age group in crisis where cancer continues to rise simply because of a lack of attention. Allie's age group is actually first to be affected because of a lack of education and awareness, compounded by the socio-political challenges of insurance coverage and outdated practice guidelines for the medical community that perpetuate the belief that breast cancer does not happen under 40.  Of course, this is far from true- but (like Dr. Bard mentioned), it's the DATA that the world listens to. So, if everyone subscribes to a data-driven approach with regular screening and personalized care, we'll change course for Allie's generation.  Congratulations, Allie-- welcome to the fight!  We are with you! (See Dr. Kline's report on Epigenetic Research & Profiling the Dense Breast Paradigm)

M.J. SMITH: Earlier detection sounds in line with my personal and professional missions. If I could wave a magic wand right now and make one single change to how we look for breast cancers, it would be to get, every woman to have a baseline mammogram at age 20. And then, in different intervals, depending on family history and breast density, 40 is that age where starting screening was established.  We don't have real information available when  young women may actually get breast cancer? It's devastating. They're often sent away saying, "you know, you felt this lump... you're too young to get breast cancer". There's definitely a perception issue in the medical community because of the organizations that are giving them these guidelines-- and insurers are paying only starting at age 40.   There's also some exciting information coming out of AI applied to mammography and ultrasound, which are two ways that you can screen for breast cancer. AI is also helping us to determine which types of that tissue are more risky. (See MJ's spotlight video interview on Women's Health Digest about Earlier Detection)