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Made possible by a charitable contribution from Bayer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this disease. As you may know, prostate cancer and breast cancer are intimately connected through mutations in the BRCA2 gene. All human cells have the BRCA2 gene, and many mutations in it are associated with increased risk of breast, prostate, and other cancers. BRCA2 mutations frequently run in families. Accordingly, it is very important to know and share our family cancer histories.

To make this personal for a moment, Barbi, my older sister, died of breast cancer at 34. I have always known that this put my daughters at increased risk of breast cancer. Learning of BRCA2’s connection to prostate cancer earlier this year, I realized that my status as a prostate cancer survivor might also put them at increased risk. I plan to undergo genetic testing, it is the only way anyone can find out for sure whether they have the BRCA2 mutation.

Learn more about genetic testing on Thursday, October 15th at 7-8:30pm Central, as Us TOO and AnCan host the Prostate Cancer Connections webinar “Genetics, Genomics, and Prostate Cancer.” The program will be hosted by Us TOO Board Member Heather Cheng and Genetic Counselor Katie Stoll. It will also feature a special patient perspective segment with James Barrett DeLong and Janet Shimabukuro. Janet Shimabukuro is a breast cancer survivor who learned she had the BRCA2 mutation through genetic testing. This discovery inspired her to share her experience. Janet says “I knew that my diagnosis was a piece of missing information that would benefit my immediate and extended family for generations to come.” She will share her story with webinar viewers to further increase awareness. For more information and to register go to www.ustoo.org/connections. We thank AstraZeneca and Janssen Oncology for their support of this webinar.

You may also be interested in a prior webinar in which men with prostate cancer and their children explored the impact of the disease on their own health. View our Prostate Cancer Connections "TheTalk" Webinar recording at https://youtu.be/9AQxublTsdA.

Thanks to over 800 supporters who made our SEA Blue National, Virtual Prostate Cancer Walk and Run so successful! We raised awareness from coast to coast with participants from coast to coast, including 15 states. Even during this unprecedented pandemic, we raised $161,358. This is well beyond our $100,000 goal. These funds will help Us TOO continue to provide Support, Education, Advocacy, and Awareness at no charge to those affected by prostate cancer. A video of the entire two-hour program will be available soon. Please keep an eye on your email for more info.

Amazon offers another easy way to support Us TOO. Prime Day is back starting October 13 and will run through October 14. This is a great opportunity for Us TOO to increase AmazonSmile donations during two days of deals and promotions. Sign up for the AmazonSmile program at www.smile.amazon.com/ch/36-3723349 select Us TOO as your favorite charity, and you start generating donations at no additional cost to you above your purchase. Us TOO has received hundreds of dollars ($874) so far, and every dollar helps.

Many Us TOO support groups are now operating virtually. This allows many individuals to participate in support groups outside of their geographic area. To find out which groups are operating virtually and are welcoming new members/visitors please visit https://ustoo.org/pdfs/Virtual_Support_Group_List.pdf.

We’re pleased to provide you with some of the latest Prostate Cancer News You Can Use along with the information below that may be of interest to you. Titles of prostate cancer news articles are also listed with a link to the Us TOO web page that provides access to the full text for each article.

Please note that the content below lists only the title of the article rather than a direct link to the content. For access to the full article CLICK HERE.

AnCan and Us TOO are co-sponsoring an Active Surveillance Prostate Cancer Webinar Series. The next program will be November 30 from 8-9:30 Eastern Time, featuring Dr. Antonio Westphalen of the University of Washington. More information is available at www.ancan.org.

COVID-19, Prostate Cancer, and Us TOO

Us TOO has created a web page dedicated to addressing the impact of the pandemic on all of us affected by prostate cancer. It includes our exclusive articles by Dr. Mark Moyad and many other resources. It is updated frequently, so please bookmark it and visit often. https://www.ustoo.org/covid. In the words of Dr. Moyad, “I am concerned, of course, but I am also incredibly optimistic.” We are all in this together!

Shalom. Salaam. Peace.