Every 13 minutes, a woman dies of breast cancer.
October marks Breast Cancer Awareness month, a time to educate people about the dangers and impacts of breast cancer.
“You can’t do anything (to help) until you know,” said Caitlin Davis, one of Zeta Tau Alpha’s chairs of Big Man on Campus, an annual event that raises money for breast cancer awareness and education. “Once you know, you can take action.”
Although breast cancer is 100 times more prevalent in women, 1,600 men are diagnosed with the disease each year, and 400 of them die.
“It is a scary issue anyway,” said Davis, a junior in the College of Liberal Arts. “And many men don’t think they can get it.”
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women between the ages of 15 and 54. Davis said it is common for college students to think breast cancer affects older people, but the disease can appear at any time.
“The thing is, people are so enthralled with breasts,” she said. “To lose them is something so personal and deep.”
Researchers at Purdue are working to solve some of the mysteries behind breast cancer. Ignacio Camarillo, professor of biological sciences, is looking at the relationship between obesity and breast cancer.
“We used an animal model and fed them a western diet high in fat and simple sugars,” he said. “Then we induced cancer in the animals to look at the progression.”
The connection between obesity and increased breast cancer incidents and morbidity has been recently established, Camarillo said. Obese people who develop breast cancer are likely to have a more aggressive form of tumors and are more likely to die.
“We’re really looking at the interaction of fat cells with tumor cells,” he said. “A fat cell is much more than energy storage; it can secrete hormones that have a direct impact on tumor growth.”
Researchers are doing their part to become more educated about breast cancer, but there are many opportunities for students to contribute as well. Davis said such things as collecting pink Yoplait yogurt lids and participating in Race for the Cure, a series of 5K runs and walks that take place across the country each year, are good ways to get involved.
“It’s about helping out when you see the pink ribbon,” she said.
