SALSCAN 2.0:
Cousin Sal Goes WHOLE-BODY MRI

8/8/2023- Ret. FDNY Sal Banchitta signs in to experience his Whole Body MRI from Prenuvo, NYC- a state of the art imaging company founded out of Vancouver, Canada. As one of the founding cancer awareness producers of NYCRA (NY Cancer Resource Alliance0 and F.A.C.E.S. (Firefighters Against Cancers & Exposures), Mr. Banchitta gladly accepted the invitation to receive this complete body scan as part of his pursuits of a base line for future scans and a preventative measure against cancer. "My mission alongside my fellow advocates is to learn about the latest modalities in diagnostics and treatment to bring awareness about cancer resources to the rescue community", says Sal. Prenuvo’s cutting-edge whole-body scans are based on 10+ years of clinical work while curating the biggest data set of whole-body MRI scans in the world. Unlike conventional MRIs, which take hours and often involve contrast injections, Prenuvo scans for 500+ conditions, including most solid tumors which can be detected as early as stage 1, in addition to aneurysms, cysts, and more – all without radiation, in under an hour. (See full article)

National Cancer Awareness Foundation Recognizes Bard Diagnostic Research Lab for Advancements in Dense Breast Imaging
Joseph Cappello, Sr. National Advisor for breast cancer initiatives with the Integrative Cancer Resource Alliance, presented the 2023 NYCRA Cancer Research & Innovations award to cancer imaging specialist Dr. Robert Bard. Mr.Cappello delivered the award with fellow executives Donna Johnson (Pres. Of Are You Dense Foundation) and Marion Bradley (Pres. Of Are You Dense Advocacy Foundation from Woodbury CT to personally honor Dr. Bard at his midtown NYC practice for his life's work. Since 2019, Mr. Cappello's Are You Dense Advocacy Foundation succeeded in helping to pass National legislation to federally mandate breast screening centers to address the dense breast crisis with the ultrasound complement. Mr Cappello's commitment to enforce this legislation nationally, started with his wife, the late Dr. Nancy M. Cappello who passed away due to complications with her late stage breast cancer treatment.


12/11/2022- The AngioFoundation (501c3) announced its official sponsorship of the RESPONDER RESILIENCE PODCAST. This recent funding boost (alongside a lineup of new corporate and foundation sponsors) aimed at advancing the programming of the responder-media initiative's national footprint. Since its inception in the fall of 2021, the podcast's popularity in the fire, law enforcement and other responder groups maintained a steady growth, continuing to bring in some of the most respected and recognized guests from the rescue service. This steady rise in subscribers led the show to reach over 60 memorable episodes and a respectable set of subscribers in the public sector. In its 3rd season, Responder Resilience earned national recognition thanks in part to another AngioFoundation partner-- F.A.C.E.S. (Firefighters Against Cancer & Exposures).

December 7, 2021
NYCRA & "ARE YOU DENSE" GOES TO CALI
We welcome our newest member to the NYCRA circle: meet CHRISTY JOHNSON, Cancer Survivor and Holistic Health Coach from Santa Barbara, CA. Christy is committed to providing support for woman diagnosed with hormone-receptor positive breast cancer. She empowers them to make choices about their health that feel aligned. She guide them toward discovering what is stopping them from having the health they want and help them get really clear about what they do want; together, we work toward those goals. Check out her video & a short presentation on Dense Breast detection.

The NEW YORK CANCER RESOURCE ALLIANCE (or NYCRA) is a self-funded (Linkedin Based) independent volunteer group of non-profit foundations/charities, researchers, educators, community leaders and survivors. Under the spirit of collaboration and partnership, we are joined to bring a new level of support to cancer patients, survivors and all those seeking current information about cancer care. We form a unique network of support for one another- while driven to help those who need additional resources, technical updates or empowerment on the road to recovery.

NYCRA's evolution launches our 2021 banner: The Integrative Cancer Resource Society, expanding our connective reach far beyond our New York borders. Through all the states of the continental US and beyond the pond with a growing list of European and Asian countries, we have engaged some of the most impressive minds, perspectives and resources and enjoyed the exchange of vital information that is useful to all. Thanks in part to digital collaboration, these "foreign" connections have always been a part of our cancer crusade, now joining us in what we call "BORDERLESS MEDICINE".

NO POLITICS: We cut through the corporate red tape that tends to limit (and inhibit) most non-profit groups. We do this by simply reaching out, building relationships, extending a hand to help and joining LIKE-MINDS to make things happen.

Our ACTION PLAN includes:
- AWARENESS EFFORTS through public education
- PARTNERSHIPS on joint projects with cancer resources
- OUTREACH WORK to all cancer orgs, resources & survivors
- PUBLISHING cancer care news, articles, videos & book projects
- BUILDING new educational projects & resource groups

If you are a clinical professional, a survivor, a community leader or a caregiver, we want to meet you!

* This is a private group by invitation only. Our moderators reserve the right to flag any uninvited parties in order to keep our group members' privacy and the core theme of our community.

August 29, 2021
THE ARE YOU DENSE MUSICFEST 2021
Each year, top music performers draw large crowds for the Annual Are You Dense MusicFest to unite the community in celebration of the collective efforts of the foundation to bring awareness about dense breast health concerns. Director and Founder Joe Cappello shares a day of family, fun and fabulous music as part of his amazing service to the world. Are You Dense, Inc., promotes a global mission that combines research and public education on continued advancements in the push to save more lives from dense breast misreadings. Each MusicFest is a fundraiser to keep the torch of advocacy alive as part of breast cancer awareness Live entertainment, a raffle and more. Additional guests are the new partners of the NY Cancer Resource Alliance. Features the musical talents of recording artist Eddie Seville and Blues Hall of Famer Tom "the Suit" Forst. Sunday, August 29, 3-6pm at the Quassy Amusement & Water park, Lakeside Pavillion (2132 Middlebury Rd, Middlebury, CT) - Click for Deets.
April 4, 2021
THE 2021 CANCER POWERMEET SERIES: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH RISKS
The Integrative Cancer Resource Alliance launches the first virtual town-hall style video meeting called The 2021 Cancer PowerMeet series. This interactive event is part of a set of panel-driven meetings covering the topics of OCCUPATIONAL TOXIC EXPOSURES and SURVIVORSHIP AFTER THE JOB - with a list of prominent guests from the Medical and First Responders' communities. Headliners for this event include nationally recognized spokesman for fire safety and fire rescue veteran from the 1975 NY Tel Fire & 9/11 DAN NOONAN. Alongside Mr. Noonan is 35+ year cancer medical imaging professor DR. ROBERT BARD (NYC) + associate director of the First Responders Cancer Resource Group and active duty responder in 9/11 Sal Banchitta. Together, they all share their powerful experiences about notable disasters in history, answering targeted questions from a panel of top members in the cancer care community steering public awareness and education about prevention and early detection as part of I.C.R.A.'s "Get Checked Now!" program.
March 30, 2020
CANCER SURGEON USES TELEMEDICINE FOR SAFER VIRTUAL CONSULTS

Dr. Stephen Chagares is a board certified general and breast surgeon in Monmoth Cty, NJ. He stays above the technology curve with patient care (not just by being a pioneer in the U.S. for conducting the first robotic mastectomy but by using TeleMedicine even before the Covid-19 Pandemic. "Some of the examples of TeleMedicine that have been very useful are in the elderly population. Many of them have never used the video function on their phones. And we, as my office helped them learn how to use that function, either bring an app onto the phone or using an indwelling app like FaceTime, and show the patient how easy it is to use it. Many times the first time I click on with the patient, I will implant them onto the video conference. I'll tell them to hit the accept button on the bottom right, and they hit it". (SEE ARTICLE LINK)
March 25, 2020
REMOTE 'DOCTORING' IN REAL-TIME

One of the current updates in patient care is the advancement of TELEMEDICINE. Thanks to the expansion of our web-based means of communication, doctors and patients are now able to convert the standard office visit to a virtual consultation or a remote, face-to-digital face exchange. Patients enjoy the benefits of the complete elimination of costly travel time and the potential viral exposure of sitting in a busy waiting room. By definition, TeleMedicine is the implementing of any health-related services and information through the use of electronic and telecommunication technologies. It allows for REMOTE patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions.(SEE ARTICLE LINK)
March 7, 2020
NYCRA PARTNERS WITH MOVEMBER™ TO SAVE MEN'S LIVES

Alliances continue to form between philanthropic orgs and charitable foundations across the globe to undertake some of the most prominent missions in the never-ending battle against cancer. A stylishly memorable community group called MOVEMBER (crafted around growing moustaches to support fundraising for men's health) became NYCRA's most recent ally. Greg Oliva (Community Development mgr) joined NYCRA's online community in February, 2020 and has since been an active participant and supporter of our First Responders Cancer Resource and has also joined Dr. Bard's educational program for Prostate and Testicular Cancer diagnostics. Movember uses donations to invest quickly in innovative projects across the world. True North Prostate Cancer A revolutionary project that helps men living with prostate cancer find better support and care, from diagnosis, throughout treatment, and beyond. True North operates across 6 countries with a team of more than 80 collaborators. True North Testicular Cancer An innovative digital resource that not only provides men with useful information and advice about testicular cancer, but also connects them with a supportive community of others who have experienced (or are experiencing) a similar journey. (SEE PROSTATESCAN PROJECT)
March 9, 2020
"TEACHING" T-CELLS TO KILL CANCER TUMORS (with Dr. Aisha Hasan)

The initial success achieved by all researchers during this time have set the stage for the main development of T-cell therapies for cancer. According to Dr. Hasan, "what we've been able to do right so far with T-cell therapies is cancer antigens that are ubiquitously or constantly expressed on the surface of the cell. However, the bulk of cancer associated antigens present on solid tumors are in fact intra-cellular, and not easily targeted. They cannot be targeted with the CAR-T that have been approved thus far. Therefore, T-cells engineered to express TCRs are attractive as a therapeutic approach because they are able to target intra-cellular antigens associated with tumor cells. Meanwhile the issue still remains that (so far) we have not been able to attack, cure or get to a good efficacy with solid tumors. Cancer cells typically have a very thick or dense conglomeration of tumor cells that are embedded within a very immune inhibitory micro-environment with very little blood supply... cells within the tumor actively inhibit the activity of T-cells. So a lot of our efforts at the moment are focused on the issue of the tumor micro-environment and how to target solid tumors with T-cells to make them more effective.". (SEE ARTICLE LINK)
February 24, 2020
DOCTOR SHOPPING 101 - by Sally Kalksma

People will test drive several cars, sample multiple paint colors on their living room wall, even try different hairstylists in a 10-mile radius before finding their perfect match, but people just won’t go through all that research and time to find the right doctor! I just can't understand why some people will take the tie to research what type of weed wacker to buy, but then just listen to the first doctor they talk to when they find out they have a serious illness. How does this make any sense? The first vacuum we see could have the worst suction power or shortest cord. We've got to shop around, yes, even for doctors. The first thing I did when a general oncologist diagnosed me with Multiple Myeloma 12 years ago was research. Research on the type of cancer I had, the different treatment plans available, and who the best Multiple Myeloma specialists in the world were. There is a reason why there is some saying that goes “reading is power”. As a good rule of thumb, it is ideal to get at least three opinions before settling on a doctor and treatment plan.(SEE ARTICLE LINK)
DR. NOELLE CUTTERAssociate Professor at Molloy College Director/ Cancer Researcher
"My advocacy primarily is centered on education and raising public awareness for this disease and better choices patients/families can make. I work with primarily #undergraduate students and help them find their own voice in #advocacy and disseminating science #research to the public."
JESSE A. STOFF, MD
Onco-Immunologist
"I am so proud to meet the growing list of our new members... truly the salt of the earth and some of the most remarkable people doing incredible work. I personally have grown exponentially as a professional thanks to the joint efforts with folks like you all... let's all stay in the fight!" -www.imofny.com
TAMARA J GREEN, LCSW, Psychotherapist
"Happy to be a part of this great group! "We created the Loving Meditations APP (Stress Management programs) that assist cancer patients, caregivers and survivors to dramatically reduce anxiety, pain and discomfort. ... I feel honored to share the benefits and tools of Mind Body Practices with all cancer support groups and hospitals." www.lovingmeditations.com

 


 
FDA DIRECTLY LINKS ALLERGAN BIOCELL BREAST IMPLANTS WITH CANCER RISK, PROMPTING RECALL
From the July 24th article at MedtechDive.com, Allergan's textured breast implants have been at the center of an escalating safety scandal in recent months. Health Canada and its French counterpart ordered the removal of the drugmaker's Biocell implants from their respective markets earlier this year after analyzing cases of BIA-ALCL. Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration recently proposed a ban on the devices, too, with Wednesday being the deadline for Allergan to respond before regulators make a final decision. (See MedtechDive for complete article)

NYCRA is a group of professionals who are committed to helping others in the fight against cancer! From saving lives to creating valuable information to building and growing charities that bring true support to others, NYCRA is a special network of compassionate and courageous crusaders.

There are many ways to provide support and care & NYCRA members do it every day! Some are in the clinical front lines of treating cancer patients while others bring aid to the suffering through an expanded list of public support. Meet our fellow members and ask them questions about their work. It's the greatest way to learn just how wide the world of care truly is!

 

As with all social media groups, The New York Cancer Resource Alliance was created with the hopes of providing better connectivity with colleages and exclusively selected members with similar common interests in the cancer community or have chosen to pursue care-giving work in this field. From medical doctors to survivors, book publishers to cancer coaches, fundraisers and advocates and the many other roles in between, our founders established this group to help unite this special community through the benefits of digital media and grow lasting relationships going forward.

WE SUPPORT THE SUPPORTERS
The world of cancer care is comprised of some of the most dedicated and compassionate individuals who committed much (if not most) of their lives into the pursuits of helping others. To truly get in the fight, there is no better way than to bond with colleagues and gain the support of our fellow do-gooders. AFAC and NYCRA has been established to bring support to the existing resources (that's YOU) in the form of increasing your web visibility, new exposure to your events or article posts and grow your alliance.

NETWORK BUILDING IN LINKEDIN:
There's no denying that the internet brings the world closer! But unlike other websites, LINKEDIN is a special vibe over others because everyone here is a professional. That's the spirit of networking in action. You may find corporate owners, medical directors and others who have decision making power to help others (including fundraising orgs). This is just one of the ways that AFAC helps to bring visibility to our cancer related friends.

GROUP INTEGRITY & CONDUCT
Once you have joined the group, the FORUM allows for easy POSTING of blog articles, links to interesting websites, videos or announcements... information that helps enrich others. Please start by reading the GROUP RULES. We respect the privacy and expectations of our many members and in order to get the best experience, we need to ensure that our group website is COMMERCIAL-FREE from solicitors and spammers. Because of this, we have a MODERATOR reviewing all posts & member applicants with the ability to flag any solicitous marketing posts that may otherwise be deemed "self-serving".

 

NOTE: As of 1/2023, the NYCRA group has frozen our status as a public resource program. Please do not contact us for any public services, fundraising or listing requests.