Cancer

A new outpatient center is the first at Lee Health to offer the 3T MRI magnet, which produces high-resolution images with a magnetic field that’s twice as strong as a standard MRI.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month was first observed in October of 1985 with the goal of promoting awareness of breast cancer, encouraging early detection, and helping to raise money for research. Data from the CDC shows that in the U.S., 42,211 women died from breast cancer in 2022. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S., after lung cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2024, an estimated 310,720 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month was first observed in October of 1985 with the goal of promoting awareness of breast cancer, encouraging early detection, and helping to raise money for research. Data from the CDC shows that in the U.S., 42,211 women died from breast cancer in 2022. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S., after lung cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation 1 in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2024, an estimated 310,720 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

Lung cancer poses a significant threat, surpassing combined risks of prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers. Lee Health emphasizes the importance of early detection through screenings in Southwest Florida.

For more than a decade, a medical device equipment sterilization plant emitted carcinogenic air pollution in Central Fort Myers, creating an increased lifetime cancer risk for those exposed. On Nov. 1, officials with the EPA and the Florida DEP met with concerned residents. WGCU’s John Davis gets details in a conversation with News-Press Senior Writer Amy Bennett Williams, who has been covering this developing story.

Rep. Ralph Massullo, a Lecanto Republican who is a dermatologist, is seeking to require health insurers to cover the costs of annual skin-cancer screenings.

September was National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Community supporters proved bald is brave by letting pediatric cancer patients shave their heads to raise money for the Golisano Children's Hospital cancer fund.

Dr. Arie Dosoretz, one of the founders of Advocate Radiation Oncology, announced a partnership this week between Southwest Florida Proton and Lee Healthcare Holdings, a subsidiary of Lee Health, at an event to celebrate the final pouring of the foundation for the company's 35,000-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Three Oaks and Estero parkways in Estero.

Certain types of cancer occur more frequently in firefighters than in the general population, according to CDC research. A training program can help local firefighters.