Director's Update

June, 2018

Current Enrollment in the Breast Cancer Registry of Greater Cincinnati

I am very pleased to report that as of June 2018, 6,471 persons who have ever been diagnosed with breast cancer have enrolled in the Breast Cancer Registry of Greater Cincinnati.

The statistics below describe in general terms the first 6,257 registrants whose information has been entered into the Registry database. 

The average age of the Registry participants is 56 years.  Men represent about one-half percent of the Registry members; this is consistent with the incidence of breast cancer among men.

African-Americans represent a little less than five percent. It is a goal of the Registry to increase this percentage to more than eight percent.  Our recruitment strategies will continue to include a special focus on being present at events in the African American community. We also aim to promote recruitment among other minorities, including our Hispanic and Jewish communities.

The other characteristics of persons in the Registry suggest that the Registry members are representative of people in the general population with a history of breast cancer.  The proportion with ductal (55.9%) versus lobular breast cancer (10.3%) and nodal involvement (34.4%) are consistent with other reports.  First breast diagnoses are equally distributed between the right and left breast.  As expected, more persons knew whether their tumor was estrogen versus progesterone receptor positive (49.9% vs. 18.0%).  Estrogen receptor testing has been performed for many more years than testing for progesterone receptors.

The percentages of Registry members with a mother, maternal grandmother or paternal grandmother with breast cancer (15.6, 6.0 and 5.6%) coincide with other study reports and represent expected inheritance proportions.

Multiple strategies have been used to recruit breast cancer survivors into the Registry. Over half of the participants received their registration packet from a physician’s office, such as a surgeon or oncologist.  Recruitment packets also area available at some mammography sites and radiology centers. Some of the Registry members received their packets at public events like the yearly Looking Upstream for Environmental Links to Breast Cancer education program, the Breast Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati’s annual Survivor Luncheon, the Black Family Reunion and others.

If you are a breast cancer survivor and haven’t joined the Registry, please do!  This web site includes the forms you need to complete to join the Registry.  Please go to Female Survivors or Male Survivors, depending on your gender.  Or you can call 513.558.0559 and request a registration packet.  If you leave a voice message, please include your name and complete mailing address so we can forward a packet to you.