February 7, 2000 — The world premiere of Well and Aware: Fighting Breast Cancer Today and Tomorrow will air exclusively on The Health Network, the leading television and Internet health destination. This one-hour special highlights new discoveries from the frontiers of breast cancer research, and was developed by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the nation's leading catalyst in the fight against breast cancer.

Well and Aware will premiere Wednesday, February 9 at 9 PM (ET and PT), and will be repeated on February 11, 13 and 15 at 9 PM (ET and PT).

Among the most exciting developments featured in the program is a test like a Pap smear to examine breast cells, which may give women more precise information about their personal risk of getting breast cancer. Dr. Joyce O'Shaughnessy, director of Chemoprevention Research, US Oncology, Baylor School of Medicine in Dallas, discusses her use of a technique called fine needle aspiration to extract cells from the breast and then examine them closely for atypical cells. The theory behind this research is similar to that for Pap smears, in which cells are taken from the cervix and examined for abnormalities that could be warning signs of developing cancer.

Research to date conducted by Dr. O'Shaughnessy and others suggests that if abnormal cells in the breast are detected, a woman has about a 20-25 percent chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime. "This doesn't mean she will definitely get breast cancer," cautions Dr. O'Shaughnessy. "But her risk is higher, and there are options she may want to discuss with her doctor."

Other new developments highlighted in Well and Aware include:

Information about the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial and the STAR trial, two major clinical drug studies about breast cancer prevention;
A demonstration of digital 3-D mammography, a new MRI technology (originally developed by NASA scientists using the Hubble telescope) that improves detection of breast cancer;
A look at sentinel node biopsy, a surgical technique that can predict whether cancer has spread into the lymph nodes. Studies reveal this to be an accurate diagnostic tool for early stage breast cancer; and
A look at how human genome research is helping scientists identify genetic abnormalities, and how lasers are used to dissect abnormal cells.

Well and Aware can also be viewed on www.TheHealthNetwork.com and will be supported with in-depth text and other information, including, chat rooms, message boards and more. It will also be accessible 24-hours a day through www.TheHealthNetwork.com archives.

For more information, contact:
Ross Moonie, Schneider Integrated for The Health Network (212) 402-5455; ross@schneiderintegrated.com
or

Susan Carter, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
(972) 855-1689; scarter@komen.org