A Lifeline for Jewish Women With Ovarian Cancer
The genetic mutations that greatly increase a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer — mutations that are common among Ashkenazi Jewish women — also put her at high risk for ovarian cancer. So it makes sense that Sharsheret, which, since 2001, has been offering free support services to young Jewish women living with (or at high risk for) breast cancer, will be expanding to provide for women with ovarian cancer and those predisposed to the disease.
“We’ve found that women [with breast cancer] who are in our program, and women who are thinking about genetic testing, also have ovarian cancer on their minds,” Elana Silber, Sharsheret’s director of operations, told The Sisterhood.
Sharsheret is targeted at Jewish women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. The organization offers confidential genetic counseling, peer support groups, health information, and seminars on topics such as parenting young children while undergoing cancer treatment. Within the next year, these services will made available to women suffering from or at risk for ovarian cancer, Silber said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30