Dr. Kristine Slam, COSABreast

10/04/2025

Sharing this free event, focusing on genetic testing for Jewish populations in breast cancer!

Specifically, the Ashkenazi Jewish population has a higher than typical rate of BRCA gene mutations (many studies estimate a 1 in 40 risk of having this mutation if you’re a healthy Ashkenazi Jewish woman).
Knowledge is power!

Join us on October 19 at the Bob Crane Community Center for an engaging session exploring the intersection between genetics and Jewish

10/02/2025

I’ve been talking about breast cancer pinkwashing for years. Please, only support charities and products when you know the money is going back to breast cancer research or patient care. 

Think before you pink.

09/24/2025

Lowering the cost of care for cancer patients is something that is important to me. For many procedures, an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) provides the exact same quality of care, but at a fraction of the time and cost versus being performed in a hospital setting.  For many surgeries, the facility fee will be 3-8 times higher in the hospital setting versus an outpatient surgery center.

Patients have an opportunity to demand better information from hospitals and health systems—and market innovators can help fill the gap.

09/17/2025

Seriously, don’t forget your mammogram.
And yes, 40% of us have dense breasts, an anatomic description of how much fibrous tissue versus fatty tissue you have. 
And no, mammograms do not have a lot of radiation, the dose is exceptionally low and proven to be safe. 

09/11/2025

Interesting finding on a cellular level about exercise and lowering breast cancer recurrence 

A single bout of RT or HIIT can increase levels of anti-cancer myokines and reduce the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro in survivors of breast cancer, potentially contributing to a lower risk of recurrence. This highlights the importance of exercise as a treatment with promising anti-cancer effec...

09/05/2025

As physicians, we must be vocal and protect our patients when there is grave misinformation presented in terms of healthcare. As much as I like to keep this page lighthearted, I wanted to share this data.

The vast majority of physicians and scientists do not make clinical decisions based on big Pharma reimbursement, nor are we paid more to keep patients unhealthy. If you have concerns that your physician could be influenced by industry, it’s simple to investigate your physician on the easily accessible CMS open payments website:

https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov

Additionally, the highest quality evidence based medicine is based off randomized controlled trials and large meta analyses. Anecdotal small volume studies might be helpful to discuss during patient care, but when we do, we should disclose that these are small scale, less proven studies:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147751312400617X

96% of physicians vaccinated themselves against COVID to protect themselves, the community, and their patients. Excitingly, vaccines not only protect against infectious disease, they prevent cancer, such as cervical and tonsil cancer (HPV, Gardasil)

https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-survey-shows-over-96-doctors-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-19

Lastly, in the breast cancer world, there are several great patient educational websites, supported by the American Society of Breast Surgery and the NCCN guidelines. As always, I encourage my patients to go to these websites to help understand their care better. The vast majority of these recommendations are based on the highest level data available.

breast360.org
nccn.org

09/04/2025

I had a patient in the office this week, and she was telling me she was disappointed her brain didn’t seem as sharp as it used to be. She was surprised to hear that increasing physical activity has been shown to help memory and thinking, and possibly Alzheimer’s.
Soooo, as I always say, get moving!!

Moderate-intensity exercise can help improve your thinking and memory in just six months....

08/29/2025

Any activity is better than no activity!
Just start moving!

The number of steps taken daily may be more important for cancer risk than the intensity of activity, a study of U.K. adults shows.

08/25/2025

Please be aware, the city has been doing construction just outside the driveway entrance of our East Broad Street office location. There have been sporadic closures to this driveway. Should the location entrance be closed during your appointment, please use the side entrance off McNaughton Road (a small access road off McNaighton before the light, right at Jets Pizza).

08/07/2025

89.5% of breast cancer survivors reported moderate-to-severe s*xual issues due to changes in their s*x life after breast cancer treatment. The most commonly reported problems were:

Reduced s*xual interest (85.8%)
Vaginal dryness (78.2%)
Reduced arousal (69%)
Body image issues (60%)
Dyspareunia (59.4%)
Fatigue (46.1%)
Difficulty achieving or**sm (41%)

Nearly 90% survivors of breast cancer report s*xual health problems, including reduced libido and vaginal dryness, highlighting the need for better care post-treatment.

08/01/2025

Join me tomorrow for a really fun free community event, and breast cancer high risk assessment screening! 

07/29/2025

Join me Saturday for a free community event Gym Skills Columbus 🤸
I’ll be there for all your breast questions and have screening questionnaires for high risk breast evaluation!