Breast Cancer

A sea of pink flooded the steps of the Pacific Life building in Newport Beach Sunday in a show of strength from pink-clad breast-cancer survivors and their loved ones. "It's power-infusing when you see all the survivors," Santa Ana resident Emily Benes said. More than 2,000 past breast cancer patients and survivors, including Benes, stood together for a ceremony honoring their struggle at the 15th annual Orange County Race for the Cure at Fashion Island Plaza. A two-year survivor herself, Benes participated in the race long before she was ever diagnosed.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation sponsored a breast health symposium and luncheon at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. More than 350 people supported the event, which featured two speakers who addressed both the science and the psychology of breast cancer. Dr. Lisa D. Curcio, a breast cancer survivor and a surgical oncologist, told the crowd why medicine must treat the whole person, not just the disease. Curcio, who happens to be the only female surgical oncologist practicing in South Orange County, is the founder of Advanced Breast Care Specialists, serving patients in all aspects of breast care and breast cancer.

FOR THE RECORD A photograph accompanying the story "Breast cancer foundation's week of promise" in Monday's paper should have said that the photo was taken at a Race for the Cure in 2004. Information about the people pictured was therefore inaccurate. . . . . . This week the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation is holding Promise Week, to celebrate its new name, its new look and its 25th year helping search for a cure for breast cancer. Formerly the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Komen's Orange County board President Marica Pendjer and Executive Director Lisa Wolter will help the foundation unveil its new name and will introduce its "promise makers" ?

Fashion store Solutions Denim will host a fashion show Thursday in conjunction with Privacy Wear, a retailer focused on raising breast cancer awareness. Privacy Wear donates up to 8% of its proceeds to breast cancer awareness and research and offers free mammograms for women without insurance or who meet low-income qualifications. Privacy Wear founder Carolyn Jones' mother succumbed to breast cancer five years ago, an experience she describes as "devastating." Guests can donate directly and enjoy a full runway show from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The fashion show begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information call (949)

UC Irvine will collaborate with other medical centers in the University of California system on a decades-long, statewide study into breast cancer, UCI officials announced Tuesday. UC San Francisco will spearhead the new Athena Breast Health Network, which will screen an initial 150,000 women for breast cancer and then monitor their health for decades. “In terms of depth and breadth, from detection to survivorship, this will be the largest study of its kind,” Hoda Anton-Culver, UCI’s project lead, who is also an epidemiology professor and department chairwoman, said in a news release.

A year ago, Danielle Norseen went in for her first mammogram and found out that same day she had breast cancer. But the Newport Beach mother of two was determined to beat it. And she did, thanks to improved treatment. Because of continued technological advances and earlier diagnoses, almost no newly diagnosed woman with breast cancer at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian Cancer Center dies within five years, medical director Dr. Robert Dillman said. About a year ago, Newport Beach resident Danielle Norseen, the mother of two boys, became part of that positive statistic.

Volunteers are needed to help manage this year’s Susan G. Komen Orange County Race for the Cure in Newport Beach. The event, which raises money and awareness about breast cancer, needs more than 1,800 volunteers. The race, in its 17th year, usually draws about 30,000 participants. Volunteers are needed for many tasks, including monitoring the race, helping runners, directing traffic, setting up booths, loading and unloading trucks, and cleaning up. Volunteers are also needed before the Sept.

With Orange County's 10th annual Race for the Cure just a week away -- it'll be held Sunday, Sept. 23, at Fashion Island -- last-minute preparations are being made at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation office in Costa Mesa. On Thursday, Assistant City Editor James Meier sat down with Aletha Anderson, now in her second year as the Orange County's race chair, to discuss her involvement and what it takes to prepare an event that will bring together more than 25,000 racers.

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Body Design, the athletic and wellness center in Newport Beach that specializes in women, will hold its first “Relax for the Cure,” fundraiser. From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday indulge in 20-minute spa treatments for $20. Pampering and relaxing treatments include mini facials, massages, foot treatments, herbal foot refresher treatments, paraffin hand dips, makeovers, make-up sessions featuring mineral make-up, Lumi-Facial LED facial treatments and other spa-related activities.

Corona del Mar's UPS driver Athena Lewis is recovering from surgery for breast cancer, but hopes to return to work in the new year. "That's my route," Lewis said in an interview from Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. "That belongs to me. They can't give that away. " Lewis said she was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, but a lumpectomy did not succeed in getting rid of the cancer. She was tested for the cancer gene because of a family history, and when it was positive, she elected to undergo a double mastectomy.

NEWPORT BEACH - Pink covered Davidson Field in a field hockey game at Newport Harbor High between Edison and the Sailors on Tuesday. The ball was pink, instead of the standard orange. There were pink ribbons tying back ponytails of the players. Even the officials wore distinct dark pink jerseys for a Play for the Cure event, with proceeds from sales of pink ribbons going toward Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The result seemed pretty inconsequential compared to the overall cause - Newport Harbor won the Sunset League game, 1-0, on a goal by junior forward Taury Hlinka - but the real winner appeared to be breast cancer research and awareness.

To many newly single women, cleaning out the closet can be just as cathartic as sitting on a therapist's couch. The Divorcée Sale, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Resort at Pelican Hill, is a way for women to shed pieces of their past for a good cause. Jill Alexander, founder of The Divorcée Sale , wanted to find a way to combine her love for fashion and philanthropy with a point of transformation in many women's lives: divorce. "I've never even been married," Alexander said with a laugh.

There are those who can turn a negative into a positive and those who can turn a negative into positive cash flow. The second Divorcée Sale, also billed as "A Charity Shopping Event at Pelican Hill Resort," unfolds July 22 through 24. If you think you've heard of everything, you probably haven't heard of this. What a concept. A woman named Jill Alexander and a confederacy of compadres, many of whom belong to the Divorcée Society of America, came up with a brilliant idea to resell gently used luxury merchandise that had to go when they had to go. For most women - and plenty of men - purging the closet, cleaning out the house and emptying all of the drawers is cathartic.

Birth control hormones (BCH) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) are on my artist's palette as a psychosexual gynecologist. Their judicious use, mostly out of regular pharmacies, safely improves the quality and length of life of females from puberty to the grave. Additionally, their intimate partners, family, friends and coworkers benefit when health, mood and relations are enhanced. I know the phobias. First, there is the erroneous notion that use of hormones makes women gain weight.

The Orange County affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure will kick off a new education series devoted to breast health on Saturday. Program topics, hospital system partners and presenters for the 2011 Breast Health Education Series will be announced at a morning event taking place from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Westminster Rose Center, 14140 All American Way, according to a news release. "The launch of the Breast Health Education Series provides a unique opportunity for survivors, supporters and the medical community to learn about progress in the fight against breast cancer directly from those at the forefront of the effort," Lisa Wolter, executive director of the Komen Orange County Affiliate, said in a prepared statement.

Breast cancer research advocate Nilo Ghandehari began eight years ago with a small backyard fundraiser, about $400 in donations and a goal to give young people a way to get involved. Now in its eighth year, the annual OC Breast Cancer Fundraiser aims to raise $25,000 and award one deserving survivor with free reconstructive breast surgery. Ghandehari, 27, was moved to action when a close friend's mother, who she described as "my mentor and my world," was diagnosed with and survived breast cancer.

An Ashkenazi Jewish woman in her 50s, Rachel, is diagnosed with breast cancer. Her mother, Sadie, age 80, has a history of melanoma, which was treated successfully. Sadie's younger sister, Zelda, died of breast cancer in her early 40s many years ago. Zelda had two daughters who live far away, with whom they have lost contact. Rachel's father and his family have no history of cancer. An astute clinician recommends genetic counseling for Rachel and Sadie to estimate their risk of carrying the hereditary ovarian and breast cancer gene mutations for BRCA1 and BRCA2.

NEWPORT BEACH — The audience cheered and clapped every time Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina threw a jab at Sen. Barbara Boxer. "She's ineffective and can't get anything done," she said. But other than that, the former technology executive didn't give many details on how she plans to do a better job than her Democratic opponent during the Grass Roots Community Forum at the Newport Beach Golf Course's "Tee Room" on Tuesday. "She painted a broad brush," said Tom Pollitt, a Costa Mesa resident.

Each September she's a familiar sight at the Orange County Fairgrounds, whizzing by in a golf cart saturated in patriotic bling, while inspecting men's arms for a telltale bandage or cotton ball. For Orange County resident and Cruisin' for a Cure founder Debbie Baker, the annual (and wildly popular) car show serves two purposes: entertainment and prevention. Her mission is to ensure that every man of "a certain age" who attends the event is tested for prostate cancer — via a simple, free blood test; not the probing digital test that most men abhor.