| OCT. 2 FUNDRAISER AT TCBY
FORCE Charlotte will be the beneficiary of a “Previvor Day” fundraiser Oct. 2, 2-6pm, at TCBY Davidson, in the Davidson Commons Shopping Center, 610 Jetton St. The store will donate a portion of sales to the group. FORCE Charlotte members will be on hand to share the FORCE message and educate the community about HBOC Week and Previvor Day. |
SOURCE: FORCE Charlotte
You may have your dad’s eyes and your mom’s smile, but you can also inherit risk for cancer from either parent. Some families carry a genetic change known as a mutation in genes called BRCA 1 or BRCA 2. These gene changes can cause a very high risk for breast and ovarian cancer to run in the family.
Hereditary breast and ovarian cancers have aggressively attacked generations of families and “FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered” is the only national nonprofit dedicated to awareness, advocacy, research and support for those affected by these cancers.
National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Week marks the transition between National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The goal of HBOC Week and Previvor Day is to raise awareness about hereditary cancer.
During this week, from Sept. 29 –Oct. 5, FORCE is recognizing and celebrating those who have been affected by hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, including women and men with BRCA mutations, anyone with a family history of cancer, breast and ovarian cancer survivors, and previvors – individuals who are living with a very high risk for cancer but have not developed the disease.
“Through awareness and education, the more than 750,000 people in the United States who carry the positive BRCA gene mutation can take steps to prevent cancer from continuing to impact the next generations. Today, an estimated 90 percent of those people do not know they carry this gene mutation,” said Alysia Han, a Davidson resident and FORCE Charlotte member. “We want families to pass down recipes, photos and memories to the next generation, not the risk of cancer.”
At age 33, and after her mother, two aunts and uncle, were diagnosed with breast, ovarian and liver cancers, Han began the process of working with a genetic counselor in the Charlotte region to learn about her personal risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Han currently partners with the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte to undergo high risk surveillance and leverages FORCE’s invaluable resources for education and support. Han became the FORCE Charlotte Volunteer Outreach Coordinator in May 2013.
For more information about FORCE and hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, please visit www.facingourrisk.org.
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