When she was 50 years old, Beatrice Karnoscak鈥檚 first mammogram detected breast cancer. Ten years after finishing treatment, Beatrice was diagnosed with lung cancer. Each time, early screening is what saved her life.
Early detection is essential: didn鈥檛 have mammograms in the years leading up to a diagnosis.
鈥淎 lot of breast cancer cases detected by mammography have a great prognosis,鈥 says a medical oncologist at RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center, who started treating Beatrice when she was in remission from her breast cancer diagnosis. 鈥淢ost women do well with screen-detected breast cancers, survive it and have a normal life expectancy. These breast cancers usually require less therapy than more advanced cancers caught later.鈥
Early-stage lung cancer
As a person with a history of smoking and COPD, Beatrice was already enrolled in Rush鈥檚 lung cancer screening program. In April, a screening found cancer.
鈥淲hen I answered the phone and heard my doctor鈥檚 voice, I knew it wasn鈥檛 good,鈥 Beatrice says. 鈥淪he explained what they found was suspicious, and then sent me to go see a pulmonologist, who agreed with the early-stage lung cancer diagnosis. From there I was connected with Dr. Alex.鈥
, a thoracic surgeon at RUSH MD Anderson, performed the surgery that removed Beatrice鈥檚 cancer. She was able to remove the nodule and save most of the affected part of her lung. Because the cancer was detected early, Beatrice didn鈥檛 need any additional treatment outside of surgery.
鈥淟ung cancer screenings are so important,鈥 Alex says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredibly effective screening tool. The earlier we diagnose you, the more likely you are to survive.鈥
More than medical
For Beatrice, making sure she keeps up with her screenings is more than a medical decision 鈥 it鈥檚 a personal one. Her best friend died of late-stage cancer in 2019.
鈥淪he was like how I used to be 鈥 putting off screenings. After what I went through, I told her she had to go in. She thought I was being hypervigilant. But I鈥檓 still here, and she鈥檚 not,鈥 Beatrice says. 鈥淚 tell my sons all the time that they need to be checked, too.鈥
Beatrice has no evidence of the disease once again. But she鈥檚 not taking that for granted. She continues to see Usha every six months, alternating between getting an MRI and mammogram for continued breast cancer screening.
Beatrice is now making it her mission to get people in for their screenings 鈥 both when they鈥檙e due and when something feels off. She says it鈥檚 a matter of having agency of your life and your health and believing that things can work out in your favor.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say 鈥榯here鈥檚 no hope.鈥 There鈥檚 always hope.鈥
