I was diagnosed with...

Breast Cancer

If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, we hope you are doing well. It is important that you let us know about your diagnosis. Please complete the Anytime Update form on our website or call us toll-free at 877-4SISTER (877-474-7837), You can also e-mail us at update@sisterstudy.org, however, be mindful that we cannot protect your personal information via this email format.

What to Expect

So that we may better understand your diagnosis, a Sister Study staff person will contact you within several months to obtain details about your diagnosis and treatment, and to request your permission to obtain information and medical records from your doctors. We will also ask your permission to request some of the breast tissue samples that were saved after your biopsy or surgery. The information we collect will help researchers understand the factors that influence the development of breast cancer and affect health following treatment. If you have a copy of your pathology report, and are willing to share it with the Sister Study, please mail a copy of it to:

The Sister Study
4505 Emperor Blvd.
Suite 400
Durham, NC 27703


• Please write your Sister Study ID number on the pathology report.
• To obtain your ID number, please call us toll-free at 877- 4SISTER (877-474-7837).

While the decision is yours whether to share this information with us, without medical records, critical information that the study needs to be successful will be missing. Sharing these details is one of the most important contributions you can make to the Sister Study.

Resources

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) provides an informational booklet about breast cancer. Information is included about diagnosis, treatment options, and follow-up care. It includes a list of questions you may want to ask your doctor and also describes how to take part in research studies. What You Need to Know about Breast Cancer.

Click the links below to access other NCI publications that may interest you:

BRCA1 and BRCA2: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing
Adjuvant and Neoadjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer
Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy: Questions and Answers

Please go to our Resources page for additional resources you may find helpful.

Any Other Type of Cancer

If you have been diagnosed with any other type of cancer, we hope you are doing well. Please tell us about your diagnosis by completing the Anytime Update form on our website or calling us toll-free at 877-4SISTER (877-474-7837). You can also e-mail us at update@sisterstudy.org,  however, be mindful that we cannot protect your personal information via this email format.

You may recall that the Sister Study is studying other diseases besides breast cancer, including other types of cancer. Details about your specific diagnosis will help in the search for environmental and genetic causes of cancer. It is very important to the success of the study that women diagnosed with cancer continue to stay with us.

What to Expect

So that we may better understand your diagnosis, you may be contacted by the Sister Study and asked for a copy of your pathology report and for permission to obtain a copy from one of your doctors if needed. Information contained in your pathology reports will allow researchers to classify your tumor by subtype in order to identify environmental and genetic risk factors that are specific for different cancer subtypes. If you have a copy of your pathology report, and are willing to share it with the Sister Study, please mail a copy of it to:

The Sister Study
4505 Emperor Blvd.
Suite 400
Durham, NC 27703


• Please write your Sister Study ID number on the pathology report.
• To obtain your ID number, please call us toll-free at 877- 4SISTER (877-474-7837).

While the decision is yours whether to share this information with us, without medical records, critical information that the study needs to be successful will be missing. Sharing these details is one of the most important contributions you can make to the Sister Study.

Resources

Please go to our Resources page for additional resources you may find helpful.

Questions?

If you have any other questions or want to speak with someone,please call toll-free at 877-4SISTER (877-474-7837) or go to the Contact Us form on our website and a Sister Study helpdesk staff member will answer your questions. You can also e-mail the Sister Study at update@sisterstudy.org, however, be mindful that we cannot protect your personal information via this email format. As we promised when you joined the Sister Study, we will keep all of your personal information safe, private and confidential. Learning about how to prevent cancer is important to all of us. By continuing to be part of the Sister Study and sharing your information you are making an important contribution to cancer research. The work we do together in this step of the study can hold the most promise for discovering the causes of breast cancer and understanding how best to promote health following treatment.

Details about your specific diagnosis and treatment will provide important information toward the search for environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer. We also want to learn how environment, lifestyle, and genetic factors influence treatment outcomes, survival, and quality of life following a diagnosis of breast cancer. It is very important to the success of the study that women diagnosed with breast cancer continue to participate.