CLEVELAND — Screening and treatment for breast cancer have come a long way but researchers are taking the next steps to make sure all patients are cared for in a way that’s best for them.
“Latino or in Black women we know they have higher incidence of breast cancer they have higher incidence of more aggressive forms of breast cancer, why that is, we don’t really understand perfectly well,” said UH Seideman Cancer CenterProfessor and Vice Chair in the Department of Radiology Oncology, Dr. Corey Speers.
“Its party probably due to genetics, in part, due to biology of the disease, it’s in part due to lack of access to appropriate screening.”
According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, “although Latin America is genetically diverse, Hispanic women and Latinas are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age and with more aggressive disease such as triple-negative breast cancer, which has fewer targeted treatments. They also tend to be diagnosed at more advanced stages.”
Speers said there is a better sense of how women are likely to respond based on the biology of their own cancers, but many of those tests have been developed in women with European ancestry.
“We don’t know for sure whether those tests, and the reliance of those tests is as, or the predictive nature of those tests, is as reliable in women of color,” he said.
UH is one of the centers leading the effort to find those answers.
One thing that seems to be true for most patients is the fatigue that comes from chemotherapy or radiation. It’s something Nieve Iris Gonzalez experienced during her breast cancer fight.
“I feel like something ran over me, I don’t know why but something ran over me, and it was a struggle and on top of that, I felt big and overweight,” she said.
The 55-year-old fitness instructor slowly got back into class.
“My first day I went back to Zumba I did maybe 20 minutes of the class and the class is an hour,” said Gonzalez.
She was diagnosed with Stage 0 breast cancer in December of 2023 and had surgery in February of 2024.
“It was so early that it is 100% curable and that’s because she had her screening and mammogram and didn’t put that off,” said Speers.
“It’s really important for Latino women and for women who have some reservations about healthcare and seeking healthcare, that these can really save lives, and it has brought down the mortality from cancer by almost 30% in the last decade which is pretty incredible.”
Gonzalez had multiple rounds of radiation.
“Take it easy is what we used to tell women to do, and it turns out there’s like now many, many studies that have shown the same thing, that moderate intensity exercise, resistance training a few times a week actually prevents cancer related fatigue, depression, anxiety, it helps them tolerate their therapy much better,” said Dr. Speers.
Gonzalez is advocating for other women through classes at her Island Beats Studio on Pearl Avenue in Cleveland and beyond.
“I want to talk to my Latina girls because I don’t see that you know, since I’ve been diagnosed with cancer and I’ve approached a lot of women,” she said. “You know how many women tell me they haven’t done a mammogram, oh I’m scared, that’s the first thing I get, I’m so scared, you gotta face it you know.”
Gonzalez said for what she’s done in this community for women, she’s gotten it back.
“Check yourself, do your mammograms and on top of that, build a little community, build a support system…don’t be afraid to ask questions and live your life.”
