Claxton-Hepburn

V16N1

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Win a xxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxxxxx! See page 2 for details. Lucille L. Alston, MD Kay Zimmer, LCSW CONTINUES ON PAGE 2 well VOLUME 16 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2017 C l a x t o n - H e p b u r n M e d i c a l C e n t e r living Tomorrow is worth defending. Win a Fitbit Charge 2! See page 2 for details. The High-Risk Breast Health Program at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center is dedicated to discovering cancers while they are in the early stages, when they are easiest to treat. WHILE THERE IS no way to eliminate the likelihood for cancer completely, certain types of genetic testing may identify high-risk individuals based on gene mutations. That proactive perspective is at the heart of Claxton-Hepburn's High-Risk Breast Health Program, which is designed to help women understand their own personal health and embrace the use of risk reduction strategies and increased screening modalities asappropriate. "This program provides a great deal of education to women to help them understand their personal risk," says Kay Zimmer, LCSW, newly appointed director at Claxton-Hepburn's RichardE. Winter Cancer Center. "If that risk is high, a woman may reduce the likelihood of developing cancer by following steps recommended by her healthcare provider. We may screen more often, utilizing a specially tailored strategy to ensure that she gets the best possible outcome. The earlier we detect the disease, the higher the cure rate." LIFESAVING STRATEGIES As part of the program, Claxton-Hepburn providers ask women to ll out questionnaires to help identify their personal risk for breast cancer by answering questions about their age, family history of cancer, personal history of cancer, height, and weight. The answers to these questions are designed to help determine the likelihood of a woman developing breast cancer within the next 10years and assess her risk over the course of her lifetime. If a woman has a risk of 20 percent or higher, that is a clue that she may benet from an enhanced screening schedule that may include annual mammograms and/or genetic testing. "We've known for a long time that having close family members with a history of breast cancer may indicate that a woman is very high- risk," says Lucille L. Alston, MD, MPH, medical oncologist at Claxton-Hepburn. "But now we are also equipped with the ability to capture information about genomic mutations that may indicate higher risk for all types of cancer. Because people are coming in for mammograms, we can adjust our screenings and detect disease at a very early stage." In this issue... •■ WELCOME, DR. MUSSETT •■ THANK YOU, DONORS •■ THE WELLNESS CENTER OPENS •■ FOUNDATION UPDATES Sophisticated Solutions for Breast Health

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