Breast Cancer Programs

Because over half of the Center’s clients are women with breast malignancies, we have created several programs specifically targeting breast cancer.  Despite an aggressive national commitment to early detection campaigns, the lifetime risk for breast cancer the United States has now risen to one in seven women.  It is well-known that 80 percent of the breast cancers diagnosed in the US occur in women with no family history or other classically-recognized risk factors other than being female.  However, a large body of research in nutritional and environmental science indicates that women can help prevent the disease through wise lifestyle changes.  One of the Center’s goals is to teach women practical ways they can actually prevent breast cancer or recurrence through their own lifestyle choices. 

Our innovative breast cancer programs include:

• Breast Cancer Counseling – Counselors at our Center have provided individualized guidance to more than 12,000 women with breast cancer nationwide, either in person or over the phone.  We have coached these women on diet and stress management; have helped minimize side effects of chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatments; have supported them in making informed medical decisions; and have referred them to practitioners of integrative and complementary medicine.

• Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Counseling  –  Through our interviews of these women, we have been able to determine many unrecognized common denominators that influence the development of breast cancer.  We have designed a questionnaire scored for 37 different risk factors and offer individualized consultations to help empower women to prevent breast cancer or recurrence through lifestyle modification.

• Educational Programs – Center founder Dr. Susan Silberstein delivers empowering lectures for breast cancer organizations nationwide as a keynote speaker on the following topics:

• Breast Cancer: The Diet Connection – This slide presentation discusses key dietary steps to help prevent breast cancer, prevent its recurrence, or support patients during or after treatment. Citing scientific evidence published in prestigious medical journals, the lecture specifies food and beverage choices that either contribute to – or protect against – the disease.  

• Breast Cancer: The Stress Connection – This slide presentation discusses the scientific literature on stress and cancer in general, summarizes medical observations and research studies linking emotions and breast cancer, and paints a psychological profile of the breast-cancer prone personality that is based on our observations of thousands of breast cancer patients.  Contact us if you would like to arrange for a talk for your organization.

• Educational Resources – Our own original breast cancer resources include:

Breast Cancer: The Diet Connection (DVD or CD)
Breast Cancer: The Stress Connection (CD)
Breast Cancer: Is it What You’re Eating or What’s Eating You? (book) Beat Breast Cancer Kit (multi-media)

• Minority Outreach – Our educational series on “Preventing Breast Cancer Through Diet and Lifestyle” for minorities and medically-underserved populations has already reached hundreds of African American women in the Philadelphia area.  It includes free lectures, handouts, and follow-up counseling. Pre- and post- program evaluations have indicated that these women have both learned a great deal and really appreciated the valuable information they received. We are now applying for funding to deliver a Spanish language Breast Cancer and Diet Education Program.

• Health Professionals Outreach – We have delivered over sixty breast cancer and diet in-service trainings providing continuing education units to nursing and medical audiences at hospital and medical centers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, Connecticut, Florida, Colorado, and California, and as far away as the Formosa Breast Cancer Foundation in Taiwan.

• Breast Cancer Prevention Research – The Center has sponsored its own research study on perceived psycho-social support, a retrospective study of 1452 women in four different diagnosis groups. In its final stage of writing, this project has the potential to help tens of thousands of women and their healthcare providers uncover a heretofore unrecognized risk factor for breast cancer.