Regional News
Evergreen High School We The People Constitution
Team Headed to National Competition
Lisa Loving
Of The Skanner News
A
few tickets will be
available at the door
for the Susan G.
Komen Oregon and South-
west Washington 16th
Annual
Breast-Cancer
Issues Conference, coming
up Saturday, March 1, from
8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. the
Lloyd Center Doubletree
Hotel in Portland.
This year, organizers say a
significant focus is on sur-
vival and health of African
American women; one
entire track is focused on
the community’s special
needs around breast cancer
awareness.
Keynote speaker is Lisa
Coussens, PhD, of Oregon
Health and Science Univer-
work of Oregon & SW
Washington, a support
group for Black women
with breast cancer. “This
may motivate them to get a
mammogram,
because
African American women
and people of color have, in
a lot of cases, a higher death
rate compared to others.”
There are four session
tracks to the conference,
which boasts a surprising
range of offerings from sci-
entific information to
emotional needs, diet and
health.
One track of three ses-
sions is entirely about what
African American women
need to know about breast
cancer. Session one, “Triple
Negative Breast Cancer,”
covers this most aggressive
of diagnoses, including
‘We do know that African
American women, a lot of
times young African American
women, are diagnosed with a
more aggressive type of breast
cancer’
sity's
Knight
Cancer
Institute, who offers an
overview of current breast
cancer research and treat-
ment.
Another standout speaker
is Nathalie Johnson, M.D., a
breast surgeon who is med-
ical director of Legacy
Cancer Institute and Legacy
Breast Health Centers.
“I think definitely in the
African-American commu-
nity, and with other women
of color, we need to under-
stand our risk,” says Kim
Moreland of the Sisters Net-
treatment options; second is
“Breast Cancer: Not Just a
White Woman’s Disease,”
presented by Nathalie John-
son from Legacy; and
“Hereditary Breast Cancer
Syndromes: Beyond the
Breast/Ovarian
Duo,”
which looks at genetic risk
factors.
Johnson will also deliver
the session about environ-
mental impacts, “What’s
getting into You?”
The issue is a matter of
life and death, as research
shows African American
PHOTO COURTESY OF EVERGREEN HIGH SCHOOL
Komen Issues
Conference Focuses
on Black Women
Vancouver, Wash - Evergreen High School (EHS) We the People Constitution Team have been
invited to represent Washington State at the National Championships in Washington D.C. April 25-
29. This is the first time in 27 years that a team outside of King/Pierce County will represent the state
at Nationals. Students have been working since June to understand and defend the principles and
foundations of American Constitutionalism and how it applies to their everyday lives. Students who
are alumni of the EHS program are now working in the Executive Office of the White House, the US
State Department, American Bar Association, the Irish Parliament, as interns at the WA State
Legislature, as committee staff for the US Senate, and many are practicing attorneys or currently in
law school. The 20 students and two teachers must raise $35,000 in order to compete at this level.
Many fund-raisers are planned. To contribute to the cause please donate today at
www.fundly.com/evergreen-we-the-people.
women are more likely to
die from breast cancer than
women from other groups.
“We do know that African
American women, a lot of
times young African Ameri-
can women, are diagnosed
with a more aggressive type
of breast cancer,” says Toni
Mountain, a 35-year breast
cancer survivor who is Sur-
vivor Programs Manager
for the local Komen affili-
ate.
That more aggressive kind
of breast cancer is called
“Triple Negative,” because
it’s estrogen negative, prog-
esterin negative, and Her2
negative; it is unclear why
Black women are dispro-
portionately impacted by
Triple Negative Breast Can-
cer.
“A lot of times, the target-
ed chemotherapy does not
respond well to this particu-
lar type of breast cancer,”
Mountain said. “As a result,
African American women
not only are diagnosed with
a more aggressive breast
cancer, but their mortality
rate is much higher.”
A big part of the Confer-
ence this year is about
getting the word out in
Black communities around
the need for regular cancer
screenings and early detec-
tion
–
including
mammograms.
Komen is working with
the Sisters Network; also
with Worship in Pink, a
local awareness project by
Kathy Kendrix, and area
church congregations on
outreach.
“We are trying to make
sure women they go to the
physician for a high-quality
breast exam so that these
cancers can be detected
early, because if you are
detected early, with breast
cancer, the five-year sur-
vival rate right now is up to
99 percent,” Mountain says.
Once
breast
cancer
spreads to other parts of the
body, the survival rate drops
to 23 percent.
Moreland is a founding
member of the Sisters Net-
work in Oregon & SW
Washington. A national
organization, the Sisters
Network was started by
Karen Eubanks Jackson, an
18-year breast cancer sur-
vivor based in Texas.
See KOMEN on page 11
February 26, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 9