Resources and Information
Discovering You Have Cancer
CancerCare
https://www.cancercare.org/diagnosis/breast_cancer
CancerCare is a national organization that provides free, professional support services and information to help people manage the emotional, practical, and financial challenges of cancer. They offer free counseling from oncology social workers, financial assistance to eligible families for cancer-related costs, breast cancer-specific online support groups led by oncology social workers, and call-in one-hour workshops led by oncology experts that discuss up-to-date information about cancer-related issues.
National Cancer Institute at NIH - Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer: https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast
Dictionary of Cancer Terms: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms
The National Cancer Institute at NIH is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training. The National Cancer Institute leads, conducts, and supports cancer research across the nation to advance scientific knowledge and help people live longer, healthier lives. The first link will provide the most up to date information on everything you need to know about breast cancer, based on the latest research, ranging from understanding cancer and treatment to coping and breast cancer. The second link provides a dictionary of common cancer terms you might encounter as you navigate breast cancer.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Care Network (NCCN) is a non-for-profit network of comprehensive cancer centers across the United States. The NCCN site provides clinical practice guidelines as well as resources to help people with cancer understand their diagnosis and treatment options.
Patient Resource Cancer Guide
https://www.patientresource.com/Breast_Cancer.aspx
The Patient Resource Cancer Guide provides resources for newly diagnosed patients and their loved ones, by cancer type. Their website provides helpful information regarding staging, treatment, common side effects, fertility, survivorship, caregiving, and more.
Decisions about Treatment
American Cancer Society
Breast Cancer Treatment: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/treatment.html
Cancer Treatment Decisions Tool and Resources: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/finding-and-paying-for-treatment/treatment-decision-tools-and-worksheets.html
The American Cancer Society is a national voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating all types of cancer. These links provide information about breast cancer treatment types and outlines the choices, as well as benefits and risks to help with decision making after a breast cancer diagnosis.
NCCN Guidelines for Patients - by Breast Cancer Type
The NCCN Guidelines for Patients® provides information by breast cancer type based on the treatment information doctors use. These step-by-step guides are developed to assist people in talking to their doctors about the best treatment options for their specific disease. These guides take into account the latest advances in cancer care, and outline questions to ask your doctors, patient-friendly illustrations, and provides a glossary of terms and acronyms.
Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/breast-cancer/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352475
Mayo Clinic is a non-profit American academic medical center. Their site is a reputable resource for up-to-date information on everything from signs and symptoms to diagnosis and treatment of all types of breast cancer.
People Living with Cancer
https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/breast-cancer
People Living with Cancer is a patient information site that helps patients and families make informed health care decisions by providing information on all stages of cancer, from prevention to diagnosis and treatment to survivorship.
Health Care and Treatment
Consumer Reports – Guide to Health Insurance
https://www.consumerreports.org/health-insurance/guide-to-health-insurance/
Consumer Reports is a nonprofit consumer organization that provides unbiased information to consumers on an array of topics. Specific to health care and treatment for breast cancer, this site can assist with understanding insurance, covering topics from choosing a health insurance plan and finding affordable, high-quality care to avoiding surprise medical bills.
Medicare.gov – Pharmaceutical Assistance Program
https://www.medicare.gov/pharmaceutical-assistance-program/
Medicare.gov, the official site for Medicare, has a Pharmaceutical Assistance Program resource page where you can learn more about assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical companies for the drugs they offer.
USA.gov – Government Health Insurance
https://www.usa.gov/health-insurance
This site is the official guide to Government health insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare, and provides resources on paying for medical bills.
Living with Breast Cancer
American Cancer Society - Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention
The American Cancer Society is a national health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem and has offices throughout the country to ensure they have a presence in every community. This site provides helpful resources around living a healthy lifestyle to help you prevent cancer, information about cancer and its causes and lifesaving policy changes.
Living Beyond Breast Cancer
https://www.lbbc.org/get-support/additional-resources
Living Beyond Breast Cancer is a national nonprofit that provides recourse to help people impacted by breast cancer, focused on connecting people with trusted information and a community of support. Their list of up-to-date resources are helpful to individuals at all stages of their breast cancer journey.
National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF)
https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/
The NBCF provides help and inspires hope to those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education, and support services. The NBCF site provides basic knowledge about Breast Cancer, information on mammograms and the importance of early detection, connections to support groups, and patient navigation services for individuals seeking care.
Advocacy and Breast Cancer
After Breast Cancer Diagnosis
https://abcdbreastcancersupport.org/
After breast cancer diagnosis (ABCD) is a resource that provides free, customized support services to anyone impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis. In coordination with professional mentors, ABCD pairs people who have similar diagnoses, treatment plans, interests, personal traits, etc., to support each other through breast cancer. ABCD’s support services are delivered at time of diagnosis, during treatment and into survivorship.
The Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research
Breast Cancer Organizations https://drsusanloveresearch.org/breast-cancer-organizations/
Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research is a nonprofit charitable organization focused on improving the lives of people impacted by breast cancer through education and advocacy. Their resources page provides a list of organizations based on personal needs, ranging from resources to help navigate your diagnosis, financials, living with cancer, and support groups based on cancer type.
National Breast Cancer Resources
https://www.breastcare.org/national-breast-cancer-resources/
National Consortium of Breast Centers, Inc. is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to excellence in breast health care for the general public. Members include breast health professionals who provide direct patient care and corporations and businesses that provide services or products to breast health professionals and their organizations. This site provides a very comprehensive list of national breast cancer resources, based upon individual needs.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network: Advocacy and Support Groups
The NCCN provides up-to-date information on advocacy organizations, which are organized by their mission and you can filter by group or by cancer type using a dropdown menu. According to NCCN, the groups they provide links for all work to ensure patients receive what the need when they need it, ranging from timely care and education to financial assistance.
Patient Advocacy Foundation
https://www.patientadvocate.org/
The Patient Advocate Foundation is a non-profit charity that provides services directly to patients with an array of diseases to help them access care and treatment, including case management services and financial aid.
Research Advocacy Network
The Research Advocacy Network (RAN) is a nonprofit organization that advances cancer research through advocacy by developing a network of advocates and researchers to influence cancer research and improve patient care. RAN serves patient advocates and the research community by establishing partnerships between research and patient communities, providing networking opportunities, through measurement and evaluation of activities, education with in-depth trainings, and research dissemination.
Resources Recommended by Participants
Many of the people we interviewed shared resources they found helpful in their breast cancer journey. Below are links to some of those breast-cancer-specific resources, aside from ones listed above, that were identified during their interviews. Some of these groups and the resources they offer are regional and others are national.
Breast Friends
Casting for Recovery
https://castingforrecovery.org/
FORGE Breast Cancer Survivor Center
Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered / FORCE
Gilda’s Club
https://www.gildasclubmadison.org/
Knitted Knockers
Male Breast Cancer Coalition
https://malebreastcancercoalition.org/
Metavivor
National Breast Cancer Coalition
https://www.stopbreastcancer.org/
SHARE
https://www.sharecancersupport.org/