WANTED: YOU!

Periodically I comb through Dr. Susan Love's Army of Women current research projects to find a few broad-based studies that are easy for people to participate in. My goal is to entice you to get involved in one. (Or two!) Taking a simple online survey doesn't take much of your time, it doesn't cost a dime, and it has the potential to help a great many people.

Of course, you can also donate money to a respectable organization that is putting its dollars directly into breast cancer research — and lord knows we need that, too — but guess what all researchers need even more than moola?

Study participants! Women with breast cancer! People like you and me! Lots and lots of them!

There is power in them thar numbers. Put it to good use by checking out one of the studies below. (If you don't remember if you have participated in any of them before, no worries; just click on the Yes! Sign me up! button on each study page. If you get a "According to our records, you have already submitted an RSVP for that project. Thanks!" Well, then, thanks! 

(PS: KNOW SOMEONE WHO MAY QUALIFY FOR ONE OF THE STUDIES BELOW? PAY IT FORWARD AND FORWARD THIS POST. PLEASE!)

• Boston University's Phase 2 study of the Variations in Health Needs of BC Survivors needs 600 women within the U.S.A. to take part in a telephone survey. The research team will assess the health and well-being of women who have any of the following: recurrent breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer, a recent diagnosis of breast cancer, an additional invasive cancer diagnosis, or you are currently undergoing treatment. The information gathered from this study will be used to develop programs and services for women with breast cancer.
• UCLA's Latina Breast Cancer Initiative is looking for 150 Latina/Hispanic women in the U.S.A. who have been diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time — at any stage — within the past 12 months. This telephone survey is in English or Spanish (your choice) and will look at the psychological impact of breast cancer.
• Washington University School of Medicine's The Breast Cancer Risk in Young Women Study (which I first blogged about here) is looking for a total of 5,000 women across the U.S.A. and CANADA who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer — at any stage — at age 40 or younger. It doesn't matter how old you are now. It also doesn't matter what stage of treatment you are currently in. All you need to do is submit a blood sample, which can be drawn at your next doctor's appointment. You will be sent a kit that includes shipping materials and all of the documentation your doctor requires to draw and ship your blood to the research staff. There will be no cost to you and you don't have to handle anything icky.
• The University of Louisville Brown Cancer Center's The Breast Cancer, Uterine Cancer, and YOU Study (which I first blogged about here) is an online survey for U.S.A. participants that looks at whether a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer at any age or stage (including LCIS and DCIS) is at higher risk for developing uterine cancer.