Sister by Sister: Discovering the Causes of Breast Cancer
(Text-Only Version)
OPEN
(The logo comes up as a still over white and then fades off the screen. Then upbeat music with a montage of women we will see later as profiles but also women in different occupations and geographic locations, women of all ages and racial backgrounds. Music under for quick interview bites of women starting to tell stories of their experiences with breast cancer, interspersed with an explanation by Dr. Sandler of what the study includes.)
Barbara: “We are not knowledgeable enough about what causes breast cancer. There are many, many guesses, but they’re just that, guesses.”
Olivia: “I exercised. I watched what I ate.”
Marcia: “There was no history of breast cancer in my family.”
Pat: “A lot of women, unfortunately, feel that when they reach a certain age that well…I’m home free and that’s not true at all.”Dr. Sandler: “So we need to study things like reproductive history and hormones, diet, exercise. But what’s unique about our study is that we are also placing a great deal of emphasis on environmental exposures.”
Dr. Sandler: “We actually know very little about environmental factors that may influence breast cancer risk.”
Tina: “We need to know how it affects African-American women and what treatments are effective with us.”
Dr. Sandler: “We identify a group of women who are potentially at risk for breast cancer and we follow them over time.”
Wanda: “They did tell me that minorities are more predisposed to having breast cancer early.”
Dr. Sandler: “And so that’s our goal, is to create this resource from which we can then go back and look at a wide range of questions about the role of the environment in breast cancer risk.”
Heather: (covered partially by reveal of animated logo) “We need to find a cause, because if we could reach a point where no women got breast cancer, that would be wonderful.”
SISTER-BY-SISTER:
DISCOVERING THE CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER
BODY
Narrator-Voice Over
WHY DO WE GET BREAST CANCER?
IS IT THE FOOD WE EAT, THE AIR WE BREATHE?
COULD BREAST CANCER BE CAUSED FROM DRINKING TOO MUCH ALCOHOL OR BECAUSE WE SMOKE?
COULD OUR JOBS CAUSE BREAST CANCER OR MAYBE STRESS?
PERHAPS IT’S BECAUSE OF WHERE WE GREW UP OR OUR ETHNIC BACKGROUND?
OR MAYBE IT’S JUST BAD LUCK.
-BREAST CANCER IS THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF CANCER DEATHS IN WOMEN OVER 65 AND THE SECOND MOST COMMON CAUSE OF CANCER DEATH IN WOMEN OF ALL AGES.
-MORE THAN 215-THOUSAND WILL BE DIAGNOSED WITH MALIGNANT BREAST CANCER THIS YEAR.
-OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER IS EXPECTED WITH THE AGING OF BABY-BOOM WOMEN.
- BREAST CANCER RISK INCREASES WITH AGE.
Cruz: “So it’s like, OK, if she had breast cancer at 40, I could have it at 70. So therefore, it’s important to be part of a study to try and find the answer before...I hope it never hits me.”
Narrator-Voice Over
THE SISTER STUDY, CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES, IS DESIGNED TO HELP DISCOVER THE CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER THROUGH A…
-10 YEAR STUDY OF
-50,000 U.S. WOMEN, WHOSE SISTERS HAD BREAST CANCER .
-IT’S IMPORTANT FOR WOMEN OF ALL RACIAL AND ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS TO JOIN.
SISTER PROFILES
(Snap shots of picture of sister with breast cancer next to sister who is participating in the study.)
Marcia ( picture of Deborah): “We were shocked, devastated to find out that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was just a model of health.”
Denni (picture of Sara): “All of us thought it was clearly a death sentence.”
Tina (picture of Wanda): “I was scared that I might lose my sister.”
Heather (picture of Barbara): “Frightened. Definitely frightened, for her.
Pat (picture of Sally): “It was a very devastating time for my family…my sister was in complete denial.”
Cruz (picture of Olivia): “She was the baby, the princess of the family and it’s like why?”
Narrator-Voice Over (Pictures of participants only, Marcia, Denni, Tina, Heather, Pat, Cruz)
MEET SOME OF THE WOMEN WHO JOINED THE SISTER STUDY. EACH IS COMMITTED TO HELPING FIND THE CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER. THAT IS WHY THEY ARE VOLUNTEERING IN THIS LANDMARK STUDY AND WHY THEY ARE SPREADING THE WORD, ASKING WOMEN FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS TO JOIN.
MEET CRUZ AND OLIVIA.
(Snapshot of both. Shots of cards & getting Cruz measured & blood pressure taken)
Olivia: “I thought I was gonna die. I thought I was gonna die the next day…I’m almost ten years out and I can still remember that feeling. It’s scary…There isn’t a morning that doesn’t go that I just thank God, that you know we’ve made it this far. And like I said there’s answers out there and we need to find them.”
Cruz: “Most of the time I find that Latinas and perhaps African Americans and Native Americans do not participate in studies because they are afraid, afraid of the unknown… We just have to do what we have to do so that…my grandchildren, her grandchildren don’t have to go through this.
Narrator-Voice Over
SISTERS SARA & DENNI HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCES TOGETHER AND THEN SARA DEVELOPED BREAST CANCER.
Sara: “Not only had no one in my family ever been diagnosed with cancer, but I knew absolutely nothing about breast cancer.”
Denni: “You know it was just the worst thing we had ever heard, the worst.”
Sara: “I’m thinkin’ about my baby sister, I’m thinking about my daughter and I’m think’ about her daughters.”
Denni: “I don’t remember hearing about our grandmothers or their mothers or people before us having the statistics that this generation does and it can only get worse.
Narrator-Voice Over (shots of Tina & Wanda in the kitchen & getting measured & blood pressure taken)
TINA AND WANDA HAD ALREADY LOST THEIR MOTHER TO CANCER. THEN WANDA WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER.
Wanda: “I was scared for my life, because cancer is that word that some people associate with death…I think it’s an ugly disease, because a lot of women, even if they don’t die…they lost something that makes them a woman.”
Tina: “It’s really important for African-American women to participate in this study, because they need to know what’s goin’ on with their bodies and they need to be able to prevent things that are happening in family as a heritage.
Narrator-Voice Over (shots of Barbara and Heather walking, looking at photo album)
HEATHER, A SISTER STUDY PARTICIPANT, IS A NURSE. HER SISTER, BARBARA, IS A PATIENT ADVOCATE AND WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER 15 YEARS AGO.
Barbara: “My youngest child asked me if I was going to die.”
Heather: “With two first-degree relatives with breast cancer, it certainly puts me at a higher risk.”
Heather: “I think the Sister Study is important to help identify risk factors for women, whether they’re environmental, hereditary or just what.”
Barbara: “Everything we know so far is a guess and we really need more certainty.”
Narrator-Voice Over (shots of Pat in garden, with her breast cancer quilt & pic of her sister & family):
PATRICIA LOVES TO GARDEN BUT ALSO TAKES TIME TO WORK WITH BREAST CANCER PATIENTS. SHE LOST HER SISTER SALLY TO BREAST CANCER.
Pat: “Every woman must take responsibility. We have to take responsibility for our health and we have to be proactive…Breast cancer…is one of the leading causes of death in women today. I feel it doesn’t have to be…My only sister died of breast cancer two years ago and I just truly believe that she would want me to do anything that I could possibly do to help researchers find a reason for what causes breast cancer…until we find a cause for breast cancer we’re not going to find the cure for breast cancer.”
Narrator-Voice Over (shots of Marcia in her home office & pictures of her sisters & family):
MARCIA IS A COMMUNITY ACTIVIST AND A BREAST CANCER AWARENESS ADVOCATE. SHE LOST HER SISTER DEBORAH TEN YEARS AGO.
Marcia: “She was nine months pregnant and her cancer was very aggressive and after the delivery of her son, her cancer became more aggressive. And within three years, it had overtaken her…I was shocked, angry and then I had to begin to reassess what was happening to my sister to also begin to think about my health…Minority women are…very busy in raising their families and making day-to-day decisions meeting the day-to-day needs…I think it’s important for all of us to stop, to take some time to give back to the community.”
Narrator-Voice Over (map of US with pictures of women & bullets revealed):
YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO JOIN THE SISTER STUDY IF
-YOUR SISTER, LIVING OR DECEASED, HAD BREAST CANCER,
-YOU ARE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 35 & 74
-YOU HAVE NEVER HAD BREAST CANCER AND
-YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES.
Narrator-Voice Over:
WHAT WILL YOU HAVE TO DO IF YOU JOIN THE STUDY? DO YOU HAVE TO GO TO A CLINIC OR HAVE A LOT OF TESTS? THE ANSWER IS NO. PARTICIPATION IS EASY. FIRST WE SEND YOU A SISTER STUDY KIT. IT HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GET STARTED.
Denni: “I received a kit in the mail which was extremely organized and easy to read and user-friendly.”
Narrator-Voice Over:
IN THE KIT ARE 3 QUESTIONNAIRES TO FILL OUT AND
SUPPLIES FOR YOU TO COLLECT: A URINE SAMPLE,
TOENAILS CLIPPINGS AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF HOUSEHOLD DUST.
WE’LL ALSO CALL YOU TO CONDUCT TWO TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS AT TIMES THAT ARE BEST FOR YOU. EACH LASTS ABOUT ONE HOUR.
Kristin (call center): “The Sister Study calls take about an hour…sometimes we can feel that they’re getting tired, so what we’ll do is just ask them how they’re doing and then we will see if we can schedule for a different time.”
Cruz: “Everything’s volunteer, at your convenience. Whatever’s good for you is good for them.”
Narrator-Voice Over:
THE SISTER STUDY WILL SCHEDULE A HOME VISIT BY A FEMALE EXAMINER. THESE VISITS ARE USUALLY IN THE MORNING AND LAST ABOUT 15 MINUTES.
SHE’LL TAKE A BLOOD SAMPLE AND
YOUR BODY MEASURMENTS INCLUDING BLOOD PRESSURE.
SHE’LL ALSO PICK UP YOUR COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES AND YOUR URINE, TOENAIL AND HOUSE DUST SAMPLES SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO MAIL THEM BACK YOURSELF.
Olivia (in Spanish with translation on screen): “As a ten-year survivor of breast cancer, I would like to tell them to take part in the Sister Study in order to help all the people that need it, our daughters, our mothers, our grand-daughters.”
Narrator-Voice Over:
WOMEN WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE, BUT STILL WANT TO HELP, CAN CALL US TO LEARN HOW TO SPREAD THE WORD.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, YOUR MOTHER, AUNTS AND COUSINS ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT STUDY.
CLOSE
Marcia: “There are women out here that are very concerned about generations coming behind us and…we’re doing this for them so that they can fully live the lives that they should.”
Pat: “It’s certainly not asking much of us when there is the potential of being part of a life-saving research.”
Tina (shots of African American group): “Think about the benefits it has for you and your family. Think about the African-American culture and it surviving as a people.”
Dr. Sandler: “I love this study. I think it’s the most exciting study that I’ve ever done and because it’s so big and so challenging, it’s actually the most interesting.”
Pat: “I am so proud and delighted to be a part of it and to contribute in some small way…my sister would say, right on, you go girl. She would be very pleased.”
Narrator-Voice Over (NIEHS stills with font of telephone numbers):
JOIN THESE WOMEN WHO ARE ALREADY PARTICIPATING IN THE SISTER STUDY.
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES, A BRANCH OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH IS CONDUCTING THE SISTER STUDY.
MAJOR PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS ENCOURAGING WOMEN TO JOIN THE SISTER STUDY INCLUDE:
THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY,
THE SUSAN G. KOMEN BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION,
SISTERS NETWORK, INCORPORATED
AND Y-ME NATIONAL BREAST CANCER ORGANIZATION,
AS WELL AS MANY LOCAL AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES.
WE NEED 50-THOUSAND WOMEN FROM ALL PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND ALL BACKGROUNDS TO JOIN THIS IMPORTANT STUDY,
TO LEARN HOW OUR ENVIRONMENT AND GENES CONTRIBUTE TO THE CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER. IT IS EASY TO JOIN THE STUDY. PLEASE CALL OUR TOLL-FREE NUMBER TODAY OR VISIT OUR WEB SITE.
Toll-Free
1-877-4SISTER
(1-877-474-7837)
WWW. SISTERSTUDY.ORG
Deaf/hard of Hearing
1-866-TTY-4SIS
(1-866-889-4747)
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