03/28/2016

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION

HEREDITARY BREAST AND OVARIAN CANCER:
From Genetics to Pop Culture

Date: Thursday, April 14, 2016
Time: 6:30 pm

Place: Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP
101 Park Avenue (at 41st Street)
New York, NY 10178

MODERATOR:

Hon. Barbara Jaffe (Acting Justice, New York State Supreme Court)

PANELISTS:

Susan Domchek, MD (Executive Director, Basser Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine)
Kathie-Ann Joseph, MD, MPH, FACS (Chief, Breast Surgery at Bellevue Hospital)
Erika Stallings (BRCA2 mutation carrier and Associate, Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP)

Join the Basser Center for BRCA, Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, and JALBCA for a panel discussion about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, research that seeks to change how we treat and prevent these cancers, and the impact of celebrity announcements on awareness.

This event is free and open to the public.
Reception to follow. Register Here

SAVE THE DATE

JALBCA’s ANNUAL DINNER

DATE:          Monday, May 9, 2016

PLACE:        Cipriani Wall Street

TIME:           6:00 pm   Silent Auction and Cocktails, 7:00 pm Dinner

Maite Aquino Award to Barclay’s Global Litigation Team

Leadership Achievement Award to New York’s Appellate Division Presiding Justices

We will also remember one of our founding members and Honorary President, Judge Judith Kaye, and Past President Cynthia Rubin.

To purchase tickets for this special evening please Click Here

JALBCA Grant Recipient Report

JALBCA has awarded a grant to SHARE’s Metastatic Breast Cancer Teleconference Support Group Program. The Metastatic Breast Cancer Teleconference Support Program provides critical support and information to women with metastatic disease who are too ill or otherwise unable to get to an in-person support group. In 2015, SHARE held 75 support group sessions with a total attendance of nearly 500, and it expects to exceed those numbers in 2016.

Additionally, a grant was awarded to The Arab-American Breast Cancer Education and Referral Program (AMBER) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. New York City has a larger concentration of Arab Americans than any other city in the United States. Studies from areas with large Arab American communities have reported that the leading cause of death for Arab women was breast cancer. AMBER improves breast cancer screening rates and treatment outcomes among Arab American women by providing culturally sensitive patient education and facilitating access to breast health and treatment services through Arabic speaking access facilitators.

JALBCA’s NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS
for 2016-2017

JALBCA is pleased to provide its slate of newly elected officers for the 2016-2017 year, all of whom will be installed at the upcoming annual dinner.

Presidents

Hon. Lynn Kotler (Judge’s Division)
Luisa Kaye, Esq. (Lawyer’s Division)

Vice Presidents

Jacqueline Flug, Esq.
Vilia B. Hayes, Esq.
Hon. Lori Sattler
Hon. Lisa A. Sokoloff
Mary Kay Vyskocil, Esq.

Secretary

Hon. Saliann Scarpulla

Assistant Secretary

Sandra Lespinasse, Esq.

Treasurer

Hon. William C. Thompson

Assistant Treasurers

Edward S. Kornreich, Esq.
Sharon Nelles, Esq.

Cancer Data Base Study Finds Recommendation to Omit Radiation Therapy after Lumpectomy for Some Patients Is Often Not Followed

The American College of Surgeons has reported on a new national cancer data base study which found that most elderly breast cancer patients who undergo lumpectomies and are eligible to safely forego subsequent radiation therapy, in accordance with national cancer guidelines, still received the radiation treatment. In other words, clinical practice did not change despite the change in recommendations. Researchers looked at more than 205,000 cases in the study which compared post-lumpectomy utilization before and after 2004 (when the treatment recommendations changed for a select group of older breast cancer patients) and found that radiation therapy use decreased only 3% among women for whom the value of this treatment had been put into question. The potential side effects of breast radiation therapy include breast swelling, pain, skin discoloration or firmness, and shrinkage in the size of the breast.

The characteristics of the women to whom the 2004 recommendation applied are:

• age 70 or older
• stage I breast cancer measuring 2 cm or less that has not spread to the lymph nodes on clinical examination
• estrogen-receptor-positive tumor status
• surgical removal of the tumor with lumpectomy and negative surgical margins (meaning no more cancer is observed at the edge of the removed tumor)
• subsequent long-term anti-hormone therapy such as tamoxifen

There are some possible explanations for what the researchers learned were variations in the use of radiation therapy based on demographic, tumor and other characteristics, but not insurance status. For example, one explanation may be poorer access to cancer care, with lowest radiation therapy use occurring in the central southeastern states or in small rural populations not near a metropolitan area, or an increased distance between the patient’s home and the hospital that reported the cancer. Also, researchers found that patients were less likely to undergo radiation if they did not adhere to long-term anti-hormone therapy and if they had residual/remaining tumor after lumpectomy.

The study was published as an “article in press” on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print publication.

(Source: https://www.facs.org/media/press%20releases/jacs/breast0116)

UPCOMING LECTURE EVENT

The NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center will host a program entitled “What’s New: Update from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium”, reporting on the 38th annual symposium, which brings scientists and clinicians together to present state-of-the-art information on breast cancer. The discussion will include the latest findings presented at this premier symposium, including breast cancer prevention strategies, research, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

Panelists:

Freya Schnabel, MD, professor, Department or Surgery, at Perlmutter Cancer Center
Carmen Perez, MD, instructor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Marleen Meyers, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), and director of the Survivorship Program at Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Date: Wednesday, March 30 2016
Time: 6:00-7:30PM
Location:Perlmutter Cancer Center, 160 East 34th Street, 11th Floor, Room 1121, NY, NY