My story
I am a Senior Policy Officer at BCNA. My work includes writing articles for our magazines The Beacon and The Inside Story and advocating for improvements to the treatment and care of women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Member blog
Mother's Day Classic
Many thanks to BCNA's stellar volunteers - Leslie, Sue, Baiba, Kathy, Judi and Moira - who set up and ran the BCNA stall at the Melbourne Mother's Day Classic on Sunday. It was a cold, wet, miserable day in Melbourne, but they were there from 6am with their smiles and good humour. Luckily the coffee stand was nearby!
Oncotype DX test
Hi Everyone
This is Kathy from BCNA's Policy Team. I thought I would let you know that we now have some information up on our website about a relatively new test in Australia called Oncotype DX.
If you are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, your surgeon or medical oncologist may talk to you about it. It is a test that can help predict whether or not you may benefit from chemotherapy. It isn't appropriate for all women, however, as it's only effective for certain types of breast cancer.
Exercise and prostheses
Some time ago I posted a blog about research being undertaken at the University of Wollongong which is looking at developing a better exercise bra for women who have had breast cancer surgery.
'Rare cancer' research
The BCNA Policy Team was interested to learn recently about a new online database (Cart-Wheel) that is collecting information to help researchers who are studying rare cancers.
While breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, some types of breast cancers are not very common and so have been added to the list of rare cancers for this database. These include triple negative breast cancers and cancers that are due to a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
Bra study to help women
I recently visited the University of Wollongong to meet with Professor Julie Steele and her team who are undertaking research aimed at developing better exercise bras for women living with breast cancer.
Research has shown that exercise during and after breast cancer treatment provides women with a number of benefits, both physical and emotional, but we know anecdotally that some women find that an uncomfortable bra can restrict their exercise activities.
