By Andrea Reichl
Breast Cancer Survivor in San Antonio On June 8, 2015 I got the dreaded call that would change my my world as I knew it. I had only been 38 for one month and cancer never even crossed my mind as a possibility. I previously have had a mammogram and ultrasound annually due to a lump that was being monitored since my early 20s. Six months after my last mammogram my nipple became red and itchy. My gynecologist sent me to a breast specialist, who rudely told me it was because I didn’t have babies. It was devastating to hear that because she was unaware that for over 10 years my husband and I tried to have kids, unsuccessfully. She prescribed me a cream that didn’t work. I decided to go back to my gynecologist as things just didn’t feel right, and I ...
Program leaders have selected 26 aspiring Latino researchers from across the nation to join the 2021 cohort of Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training at UT Health San Antonio. Each year, Éxito! recruits U.S. master’s level students and professionals to participate in a five-day, culturally tailored Éxito! summer institute to promote pursuit of a doctoral degree and cancer research. The 26 new participants were selected from a deep pool of applicants. Each participant now will join the Éxito! summer institute on June 7-11, 2021 in San Antonio. They will interact with Latino researchers and doctoral experts to learn about Latino cancer, succeeding in a doctoral program, and the diversity of research careers.
Meet the 2021 Éxito! Ccohort Leslie Aragon, ...
By Liz Sanchez
Breast Cancer Survivor in San Antonio My name Liz Sanchez and I am a cancer survivor — twice, since 2010. I was first diagnosed with breast cancer on December 16, 2010, at the age of 39. It was approximately one week before Christmas. So as you can imagine, my holidays were ruined for me. My OB/GYN sent me for my first mammogram and this is how it was discovered. My doctor moved quickly by setting me up with an oncologist and surgeon. I was diagnosed at stage 2. My BRCA test was negative and my family did not have a history of breast cancer. My grandfather’s sister passed of stage 4 breast cancer, but it skipped a generation. I had my tumor removed surgically on Jan. 11, 2011. I then underwent radiation therapy only. I refused to have chemo. Being ...
Latinos with cancer face a tough survivorship journey. Many suffer advanced disease, poor quality of life, and stressful social and economic inequities. This is why a new, first-of-its-kind national cohort study will unpack the social, cultural, behavioral, psychosocial, biological, and medical influences on post-cancer life in Latino cancer survivors to fill a crucial gap in knowledge about their survivorship experience. The study, “Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways): The Hispanic/Latino Cancer Survivorship Study,” is funded by a 6-year, $9.8-million grant from the National Cancer Institute that will team up two of its Cancer Centers, the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of ...
Lung cancer is the deadliest type of cancer. Latinos, even while they smoke fewer cigarettes and experience lower rates of lung cancer than their White peers, still suffer poor outcomes, too. This is due to issues with access to treatment, and other significant factors, according to a recent study published in JCO Global Oncology. “Hispanics tend to experience greater health disparities as a result of structural, sociodemographic, psychosocial, and cultural factors … one-third of US Hispanics had no health insurance and reported not having a consistent health care provider,” the researchers state. “In addition, there is an underrepresentation of Hispanics in lung cancer studies, resulting in a need to research and validate the findings seen in NHWs.”
What Is Lung ...
By Maegan Molnar
Breast Cancer Survivor in San Antonio I was only 26 years old when I was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer. My world flipped upside down when I came across a lump during my very first breast exam just three weeks before my wedding. I had nine rounds of IV chemo before we realized it wasn’t working. I then had to stop treatment, have a lumpectomy, and then completely restart a different IV chemo regimen. I then had a double mastectomy with DIEP reconstruction followed up 9 rounds of an oral chemo therapy. To say I was exhausted when it was over would be a complete understatement. To say I was naive when I thought it was over would be completely accurate. This May will be 5 years since my diagnosis. I cannot imagine trying to add up the ...
Latinos face some serious cancer health disparities. They are so serious that many health experts recommend cancer screening, a type of test that looks for signs of different cancers early, before the illness can cause serious harm. “Screening tests can help find cancer at an early stage, before symptoms appear,” experts at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). “Early detection is important because when abnormal tissue or cancer is found early, it may be easier to treat. By the time symptoms appear, cancer may have begun to spread and be harder to treat.”
What is Cancer Screening?
Cancer screening is a series of exams, most of the time recommended by a physician or begun at a certain age, to explore the body for any signs of cancer. According to NCI, types of screening ...
Daniel Carlos Hughes thought he wanted to be a chemical engineer. He worked at Dow Chemical for 23 years, moving up to a middle management position. But then he had a midlife crisis. Now he works as a kinesiologist focuses on sport and exercise psychology. He researches holistic interventions for cancer prevention and with an emphasis on exercise and stress in Latina breast cancer survivors as a faculty member of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. While the career switch was risky and required many years of schooling, Hughes is glad to have found a calling where he can help cancer survivors live longer, fitter, better lives.
Hughes, a First Generation Mexican American in His Second Career
Hughes was born in Mexico City. His family ...
Cancer affects different people differently. For Latinos, the cancer survivorship journey is shaped by cultural and spiritual beliefs. Latinos also face struggles with barriers to care, screening, clinical trial participation, and patient-doctor communication. This is the focus of a new Spanish-language Facebook Live event, “Supervivencia: Viviendo a través y más allá del cáncer," set for 6-7:30 p.m. CST Monday, May 19, 2021. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) South Texas Chapter is sponsoring the event. Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio will host the event on its Facebook page. Register here for the Facebook Live event. The event will feature: Dr. José Cruz, MD, is a hematology and oncology expert with the Methodist Healthcare's Adult Blood and Marrow ...
