In 2018, Janet Ruiz was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.
“It felt like my entire world collapsed in an instant,” she said in the story she published on Susan G. Komen website. “The fear, the guilt for neglecting my own health, and the overwhelming uncertainty for the future weighed heavily on me.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about how I had gone two years without a mammogram, and the thought of what might have been prevented haunted me,” she added.
Janet focused on fighting for her health and found a community of love and support in the breast cancer organization that funds research and provides resources for patients afflicted by the disease.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” says the old adage, and it is especially true when it comes to cancer, a disease that claims thousands of lives every year in the United States.
According to the American Cancer Society, the most common type of cancer in the United States is breast cancer, with an estimated 313,510 new cases diagnosed every year. Prostate cancer is the second most common type, with an estimated 299,010 new cases, followed by lung cancer with 234,580 cases.
February is Early detection of cancer significantly improves the chances of successful treatment and survival rates by allowing for intervention at a less advanced stage and research shows that up to 50 percent of cancer cases and about 50 percent of cancer deaths are preventable with the knowledge we have today.
Early detection of cancer significantly improves the chances of successful treatment and survival rates by allowing for intervention at a less advanced stage when the cancer is more manageable and less likely to have spread to other parts of the body.
For instance, there is a 98 percent 5-year survival rate when breast cancer is detected in an early stage; 100 percent for prostate cancer and 87 percent 1-year survival rate for lung cancer.
Clínica Romero provides low-cost comprehensive primary care and disease prevention services for men, women and children. And many of their services are geared towards helping people become aware of problems at an early stage before they worsen.
They offer complete medical examinations, preventative vaccines, and screenings for chronic diseases. Patients who visit Clínica Romero can get advice about pap smears that helps detect cervical cancer, mammograms for the detection of breast cancer, or fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), which looks for hidden blood on stools and can help detect early signs of colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal conditions.
COLORECTAL CANCER
Dr. Josh Zyss, a family physician and Regional Associate Medical Director at the Alvarado site for Clínica Romero, encourages men above 30 to start looking at their colorectal health.
While colorectal cancer screening used to be recommended for men age 50 and above, the disease is now happening earlier. Now the test is recommended to those age 45 and over. But if your father suffered from colon cancer, a colonoscopy is recommended 10 years before that, at age 35.
“We’re seeing colon cancer in people 30 and 40 because of a poor diet with foods with a lot of additives that we consume in the U.S.,” says Dr. Zyss.
CLINICAL TRIALS
Clínica Romero patients are also encouraged to take part in clinical trials that test new drugs, procedures, devices, or behavioral changes to determine if they area safe and effective in the treatment of diseases.
“That’s how we make advances in cancer,” indicates Zul Surani, Associate Dirctor for Community Outreach, Engagement and Partnership & Administrator for the Research Center for Health Equity at Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.
There are cancer prevention trials, new treatment trials, and studies focused on how to improve patients’ quality of life after cancer.
“This is how we fight disease,” Surani notes.
Through a community grant, the Research Center funds, train and educate the Clínica’s “promotoras” program so they can spread the word about the different clinical trials available and the importance of joining them.
The promotoras also conduct cancer education and offer mammography screenings at the different Clínica sites.
“A lot of people have a lot barriers getting screened for cancer,” Surani says. “This brings the screenings to a place they trust.”
Latinos are specially sought after for clinical trials because they are often reluctant to participate, which can impact the development of treatments tailored specifically to their health needs and can lead to disparities in medical care.
“(When Latinos participate) these treatments can also benefit them and their community,” Surani adds.
RESOURCES
If you’re interested in getting more information about available medical trials
(310) 423-0572
Clinicaltrials.gov
You can also reach out to Clínica Romero
(213) 989-7700
Things to do to help prevent cancer:
- Quit smoking
- Reduce alcohol consumption
- Reduce sun exposure
- Cut red meats and eat a balanced diet
- Exercise regularly
- Maintain a healthy weight
Dr. Zyss: “Men don’t want to be looked at as being sick in society”
