NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - In Tennessee, breast cancer impacts thousands of lives, and two women in the Nashville area are making strides to help improve outcomes for women battling the disease across the nation.
One survivor participated in a clinical trial for a newly Federal Drug Administration-approved breast cancer treatment.
Nicole Odum, a Rutherford County mom and breast cancer survivor, credits early detection with possibly saving her life.
Diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2018, just 10 months after a clear mammogram, Odum said she knew something was wrong. She is thankful she got checked out immediately rather than waiting until her next annual check up, or holding off even longer.
"What if we would have watched it for six months? Like, I possibly couldn't be here talking to you and have lived my life six years later," Odum said. "We really have to be an advocate for our own self."
After chemotherapy, radiation, and a two-year trial, Odum is now cancer-free. She's grateful for the opportunity to try Kisqali, a drug recently approved by the FDA to help prevent breast cancer recurrence in early-stage patients.
"This was presented to me as, 'Why not take a bonus if it's going to help keep the reoccurrence low or slim to none?' And so, that's why I said it was just no brainer for me to say, 'Yes, I'm all in,'" Odum explained.
Kisqali was offered to Odum by her doctor at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute. The drug has been shown to reduce the risk of recurrence by 25 percent.
For early detection, accessibility is key. That is where Nashville-based OnSite Women's Health comes in.
The company is working to bring mammograms directly into OB-GYN offices to help remove barriers to screening.
"We know through data that when you have to have a second appointment, you have to go elsewhere, you have to schedule additional time off from work, whatever that may be, you are much less likely to obtain that life saving service," said OnSite Women's Health CEO Jillian Wright.
OnSite Women's Health is working with 135 doctor's offices nationwide, including in Tennessee, and has raised mammogram compliance rates from around 60 percent to as high as 90 percent.