If you have seen businesses around Baton Rouge decorating their storefronts and entrances with pink ribbon, banners, and decorations, it most likely because of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Baton Rouge, which is an affiliate of the world's largest breast cancer advocacy group. Executive Director Janet Dewey-Kollen stopped by the studio to tell listeners about the organization and what it does.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW WITH JANET DEWEY-KOLLEN

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW WITH BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR WENDY KENNARD

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR THE CURE

WHITE: October is Breast Cancer Action Month. I've heard of awareness month, but now it sounds like it's action month.

DEWEY-KOLLEN: It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Susan G. Komen for the Cure really wants people to take action. We know people are aware of breast cancer, but many people are still not getting screened, and so it's time for action. In fact, our message is less talk more action. We really want people to take three steps. The first one is get screened and take a friend. The second one is advocate. Stand up and support programs, and the third one is to donate. Money that comes from the Baton Rouge affiliate, 75 percent stays locally for grant programs, screening, education, treatment and then 25 percent goes to fund research, which we're really excited about that and the potential for real breakthroughs in the future.

WHITE: What are the statistics like for breast cancer in Baton Rouge and Louisiana?

DEWEY-KOLLEN: The numbers in Louisiana are really sad, and we are number two in the nation for the rate of deaths caused by breast cancer, and to make that even sadder we are below average in the diagnoses rate, so that means not as many people get it in our state that other states, but more people die in our state.

WHITE: Why do you think that is?

DEWEY-KOLLEN: We really believe that it is people are not getting screened on time annually or early enough when they detect a problem because the numbers are just amazing. If this is diagnosed in an early stage than there is a 98 percent rate of five year survivial.
WHITE: Do you think that maybe in Louisiana and Baton Rouge that breast cancer hasn't been de-stigmatized as much as the rest of the country and that has led to this high rate?

DEWEY-KOLLEN: I think there are several things. I think one of it is some people think it's just handled, think I'm not going to get breast cancer, it's cured, and that's not true. What we're trying to do is say everybody get serious about this, get screened, bring a friend. The other thing is it's kind of scary - that going in there and thinking someone might tell you [that] you might have cancer, and you have to do this every year - that's very frightening. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, but seven in eight won't be diagnosed. So fear, access - that's one of the things that we do to raise funds to help provide funds for Woman's Hospital's digital mobile mammography unit that goes to rural areas.

WHITE: Do you work with the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center?

DEWEY-KOLLEN: We do. In fact, we're really excited about all the grants we've been able to give. Over the last fifteen years, we have given $2.4 million in local community resources. And when I say we have given the community has donated and then provided these resources. And we fund Mary Bird Perkins to help with the clinical screening part. You know there's really three parts. One is every woman knowing her own normal, and that's the self-exam every month. The second part is the clinical exam that your doctor will do, and the third part is mammography. It's interesting because different tumors can be detected in each one of those three ways. It may not show up on mammography, but it will show up on self-exam. We also fund cancer services to do exercise programs. We fund the American Cancer Society to do what's look good feel better - wigs when people's hair falls out we try to get them wigs.

WHITE: Breast cancer is very branded. What do you think has led to it to become branded as opposed to testicular cancer or another form of cancer?

DEWEY-KOLLEN: Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Nancy Brinker was in Baton Rouge recently and she talked about The Power of One, and this organization grew from 200 names in a shoebox to world's largest [testicular cancer] organization and from $200 cash to more than $2 billion invested worldwide. What Ambassador Brinker says is her sister Suzy was diagnosed and died at age 37, and a couple of weeks before she died she asked Nancy please promise to do something. Please promise to end breast cancer. Really Nancy took it to heart, and she talked about it become her mission, and you talked about stigmatizing and the branding of people with breast cancer - that was the whole mission because when Suzy Komen had breast cancer there was no internet. She couldn't find resources. Doctors didn't always have the answers. There was no support. And so she really said make this better for other people. You could barely say the word cancer. You had to say a woman's disease, and you couldn't say the word breast, and in fact when Betty Ford had breast cancer she was the first public person to say the words I have breast cancer. Komen has really worked hard to help everyone understand that it's ok.