--- title: Breast Cancer: Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says description: Many breast cancer patients don't know the details of their experience with the disease, according to a new study canonical: https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-26T12:57:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:01.257Z article:section: Health og:title: Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says og:description: The disparity is particularly pronounced for minority women og:url: https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says twitter:description: The disparity is particularly pronounced for minority women twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=b8226901-7651-45fa-90c6-5753f9537eab&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Pink Light: Burlesque and Breast Cancer Survivors [Watch (HLS stream): Pink Light: Burlesque and Breast Cancer Survivors](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rjTuOdIi.m3u8) (6:26)  _Published 2012-01-20. The New York School of Burlesque's Breast Cancer survivors perform the first annual Pink Light Burlesque show in an effort to raise awareness about the disease_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 26, 2015 12:57 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 26, 2015 12:57 PM UTC Many breast cancer patients don’t understand the details of their disease, according to [a new study](http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-115362.html). While many believed they understood the grade, stage and type of tumor, only 20% to 58% identified those characteristics correctly. [The study, published Monday in the journal _Cancer_](http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-115362.html), found that minority women fared particularly poorly in identifying their tumor characteristics, a finding that remained true even as researchers controlled for factors like education. The lack of understanding about their own disease makes it difficult for patients to make informed medical decisions and to follow prescribed treatments, said study author and Harvard Medical School professor Rachel Freedman. “Our results illustrate the lack of understanding many patients have about their cancers and have identified a critical need for improved patient education and provider awareness of this issue,” Freedman said. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I came in, and I didn't know what to expect. Yeah I was, nervous about it. When I like, yeah, I'm gonna , be taking my clothes off in front of strangers and you know, exposing my scars and all of that. But, I have to tell you it was like, just doing one class and going through the movements, it's just like it kind of like, brought me back. Even just like, a little like, flick, of a glove just makes, you feel oh so like, pretty and feminine and juicy again. Where, I feel, with my own experience, I lost that. About a year and a half ago I was taking a shower and I do you know, self exams myself, and I found a lump. I, felt the, [ LAUGH ] earth, fall out from the bottom of my feet. Cuz I knew. And, I was scared, I felt scared. I felt really scared. When people ask, me to describe my best asset prior to my breast cancer, it's like, funny enough I would always say, my boobs. No way. And then, sure enough, I was like, damn. I'm gonna lose them. When I got out of surgery, and the first time they took the bandages off, and I saw what I looked like, it was devastating. I just, I was like, wow. They're gone. And now look what's left, it's nothing. That's also, what's very important to me about this piece is I always hide behind my voice. Mm- hm. So I have to, like, get that, and I have to, like, pull it out of me somehow. Pink Light Burlesque is a program to provide free classes for breast cancer patients and survivors. This is the first Pink Light Burlesque ever. So I'm teaching them classic burlesque, a little bit about burlesque history. How to work on costumes. How to give the number beginning in the middle and the end. And how to have fun with it and just enjoy it. This show is dedicated to my friend Diane Nagel who is a big part of the burlesque and performance community in New York. And she was really excited to be one of the first survivors to perform burlesque. And she, she passed away on September 25th, a week before the program started. They've all been in fear of losing this like, key feminine aspect, and now they're gonna come out and engage in this like key feminine behavior, those burlesque striptease and they're gonna own it. They're, they're claiming that their bodies mean whatever they want them to mean. Yeah but I just want to. Put them on. I've had other breast cancer survivors tell me they want to take classes, but they're not sure if it's appropriate with their, surgery. Or sometimes they just feel really weird about their body. And I noticed after my mom had cancer she went through a really long period of feeling like her body was just work. Like she just had to take care of it, and take care of it, and take care of it. And it took her a long time to get back into thinking of her body as a place where she played. And then you're gonna sit right, and think about how cats yawn. When people come to a burlesque show what they find sexy about it is people having fun in their bodies. And they think that burlesque is the embodiment of that personality, strength of personality. [ NOISE ] Joe and I were, like, talking about ideas. I wanted to do something rock and roll, like very vixenish, and she's like, you need to be a dominatrix. How do you feel about that? And I thought about it, and I was like, hell yeah. Screw you cancer. I'm going to kick you in the ass. That's why I walked into the operating room with stilettos on, because I was totally going to kick it. Now I totally whipped it, you know, out of my life. Anybody? This will go all over your face and their face. [ LAUGH ] You know. And that's what I need. That's what I needed. I needed something like this, because, you know, for so long I feel like I, suppressed, my feminine power. I'm ready to rock. Women, we are, mothers. We are sisters. We are lovers. We are friends. Amazing. You're really wonderful. Thank you. Congratulations Coppa Pasty. It's really been, manieving, experiences. It's been an empowering, experience. [ MUSIC ] I gave part of myself to the audience. You know, I gave my experience I showed you who I am, here is me, Jennifer, otherwise known as Brandy Hollywood. And you know, here are my, and here's what I've been through and I'm bringing you into my world so you can see what I've been through. And I'm giving something back to you at the same time. 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