The Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund is Georgia's premier Breast Cancer Advocacy organization. Our members lobby legislators on both the local and federal level to insure that laws protecting patients and survivors a given proper attention, that monies earmarked for research are distributed to researchers working in evidence-based theories and that women who are uninsured or underinsured will have a resource both for breast and cervical cancer screenings, treatment and prevention.
If you or a loved one is facing a Breast Cancer Diagnosis, it can be unclear which non-profit or cancer organization to call for what.
If you'd like to become a local breast cancer advocate or volunteer: Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund: 404-633-6499
If you need a ride to a doctor's appointment: The American Cancer Society: 1-800-ACS-2345 OR Breast Friends: 404-843-0677
If you are a woman under the age of 40 who has, or fears she has Breast Cancer, the Young Survival Coalition: 404-250-6508
If you need assistance with a wig or prosthesis: The American Cancer Society: 1-800-ACS-2345
If you or someone you know needs a free or low cost screening mammogram: (Call with county of residence to inquire about qualification) Georgia Cancer Control Section, Division of Public Health: (404) 657-6611
If you would like to become a member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition: Visit: www.stopbreastcancer.org. Your annual membership fee is only $35!
Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund
12195 Highway 92, Suite 114-340
Woodstock, GA 30188
Phone: (404) 633-6499
Email: Contact@gabcc.org
We have office hours available by appointment. Additionally, GBCCF is purly a Volunteer Organization, as such someone may not take your call in person 24/7. However, we check voicemail and email frequently and will return your call/email as soon as possible.
Our Board Members
Executive Committee
Jennifer Tracz - Interim President
Wendy Rohssen - Treasurer
Marge Kellog - Executive Committee Member at Large
Michael Koziol - Executive Committee Member at Large
Myra Belote
Marianne Chung
Ilene Cohen
Kathy Cosgrove
Delma de la Fuenta
Sara Hanna
Daniel Hoodin
Karen Korshack
Jodi McMahon
Scott Taylor
Nancy Whaley
- The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund: www.stopbreastcancer.org
- Thank you to Mattress4You (www.Mattress4You.com), who is a Silver Level Sponsor of the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund in 2008-2009. Currently, Mattress4You provides us with our working office and storage space. Thanks to Jack & Karen Korshack.
- Thank you to It's the Journey, Inc. (the Avon Breast Cancer 2-Day Walk) for a generous grant for 2008.
- Thank you to the Georgia Cancer Coalition Fund, for a generous grant for our Health Fair Program for 2008/09.
- Thank you to all of our board members who have paid their "$1 a Day" $365 annual dues for the 2008 calendar year.
Cancer has a lot of associated "jargon" and unique terms.
- Anthracyclines - A class of chemotherapy drugs that is highly effective against breast cancer.
- Aromatase inhibitors - A class of drugs used to treat hormone-sensitive breast cancer. They help to prevent estrogen from forming. So tumors that depend on estrogen, also called estrogen receptor-positive tumors, are deprived of the "fuel" they need to grow.
- Biomarkers - Substances, often certain genes or proteins, used to measure the spread of a disease like cancer. They are also used to predict how well a person might respond to a particular treatment.
- Bone mineral density - A test used to measure bone health in a specific bone or bones, usually the spine, hips, and wrists. Bone health is a concern in women whose breast cancer is being treated with aromatase inhibitors.
- Estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer - The female hormone estrogen serves as a fuel for the growth of some breast tumors. Such tumors are said to be estrogen receptor-positive. The receptor sites, which work like doorways to the tumors' cells, allow the hormone to enter.
- Genes - The basic unit of heredity. There are approximately 30,000 genes in each cell of the human body. The combination of all genes makes up the blueprint for the human body and its functions.
- HER2-positive breast cancer - HER2 is a gene that makes a protein, also called HER2, that controls cell division. If a breast cancer cell has too much HER2-that is, if it's HER2 positive-it tends to grow more rapidly.
- Hormone receptor-negative tumors - Breast cancer tumors that lack receptors, or entryways, for female hormones. Such tumors do not depend on hormones for their growth. These breast tumors tend to grow more quickly than hormone receptor-positive tumors.
- Hormone receptor-positive tumors - Breast cancer tumors that depend on female hormones for their growth. These tumors tend to grow more slowly than hormone receptor-negative tumors and respond better to hormonal treatments.
- Invasive breast cancer - Any breast cancer that has spread outside the milk ducts, where it originated, into the fatty tissues of the breast or other parts of the body.
- Locally advanced breast cancer - This term indicates one of two situations: the tumor is confined to the breast but is too large to be effectively removed, or the tumor has spread to nearby areas outside the breast such as lymph nodes in the armpit, neck, or chest wall.
- Lumpectomy - Surgery to remove a tumor and conserve the breast.
- Lymph nodes - A linked system of small bean-shaped structures throughout the body that helps filter out and destroy bacteria and other toxic substances.
- Mastectomy - Surgery to remove one or both breasts.
- Metastases/ Metastatic - Cancer that has spread from its original tumor site to other parts of the body.
- Neutropenia - A low white blood cell count that can increase the risk of infection. Neutropenia is a complication of chemotherapy experienced by some patients.
- Progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer - Cancer cells that have receptors, or doorways, on their surface that allow the female hormone progesterone to enter and stimulate their growth.
- Triple-negative breast cancer - Women are said to have triple-negative breast cancer when they lack the receptors, or entryways, for the hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as the HER2 protein. Tumors that do not depend on these hormones for their growth tend to grow more quickly than hormone receptor-positive tumors.