The Sunnyvale Sun

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Everything you need to know about breast cancer

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

For most of her life, 22-year Sunnyvale resident Bobbe Smirni worked hard to keep herself healthy, eating right and doing aerobics four times a week.

But her 1999 breast cancer diagnosis told her more than just diet and exercise were needed to prevent the disease that killed approximately 40,000 women last year.

"By 2002, I started to get an inkling that someone had to do something about it," Smirni said. "Once something like that happens in your life, you have to do something."

At the end of 2003, Smirni started the Sunnyvale-based New Frontiers in Prevention of Breast Cancer to educate the community on breast cancer research, prevention and other issues.

As part of the 2006 Breast Cancer Awareness Month, New Frontiers is putting on a day of programs, discussion and education.

Dr. Marcia Stefanick from the Stanford Prevention Research Center will present a research update titled "Preventing Breast Cancer Recurrence." Brenda Salgado, program manager for Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco will talk about "Environmental Influences Impacting Breast Cancer," and Amy Moody, executive director of the Community Breast Health Project in Palo Alto, will discuss "What Can We Do When Breast Cancer Occurs?"

During lunch, the movie "Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer" will be shown.

"The intent of the program is to move people into action and get them to start working and thinking about what action items they want to take on in their own lives," Smirni said.

In addition to the New Frontiers event, the Sunnyvale Sweet Potatoes restaurant at 1210 Kifer Road will donate 5 percent of all beverage sales on Fridays in October to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a group that supports breast cancer research and programs around the world.

The New Frontiers event will take place Oct. 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Farana Center of the Church of the Resurrection at 1395 Hollenbeck Ave. For more information, call 408.245.5554.

For more information on the Komen Foundation, visit www.komen.org or call their national helpline at 800.462.9273.