Breast cancer survivors at Fox push to make mammograms more accessible to American women

FOX Business anchor and correspondent Gerri Willis is no stranger to cancer. 

Willis first discovered she had advanced-stage breast cancer in 2016 after going in for a test when she noticed that her right nipple was inverted. 

That marked just the beginning of her battle against stage 3 lobular breast cancer. Her nine-month road of treatment included a mastectomy of her right breast and four months of chemotherapy followed by reconstructive surgery and five weeks of daily radiation treatment. 

It didn’t stop there. Just a few years later, Willis confronted a cervical cancer scare and had a hysterectomy for precancerous cells in her cervix caused by the HPV virus. 

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Willis, a two-time cancer champion, didn’t let the emotional and physical strain stop her from owning her hair loss by embracing a natural look when she returned on air or from becoming an advocate for increased breast cancer awareness. 

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, Willis, along with Fox Senior Vice President of Human Resources Lauren Hallam and health care professionals coordinated the first-ever mammogram van in New York to provide screening access for employees. 

The reason? During the pandemic, many women stayed away from or had trouble with screening, with screening rates dropping by as much as 87%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mammogram screenings were down by 63.7% at the peak of the pandemic, while diagnostic mammograms, breast biopsies and cancer diagnoses were down by 42.1%, 52.7% and 51.3% respectively.

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With the pandemic easing, screenings, biopsies and diagnoses have since rebounded but still remain below pre-COVID-19 rates. 

Breast cancer makes up roughly 30% of cancer cases among women. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, almost one in eight U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetimes. 

Doctors tell FOX Business they are worried testing rates will never return to those levels and raise concern about treating cancers that have metastasized after going unchecked. 

"We have evidence that if you even miss one year, that increases the likelihood that your tumor will be larger and more aggressive," said William Dahit, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society. "It's important if you're going to have a cancer that we find it as early as possible because it's small, easier to treat and much more likely to have a better outcome."

Willis is joined by a team of breast cancer survivors and advocates at Fox to encourage women to get screened, especially after so many women missed screenings over the past couple years. 

FOX Business correspondent Jackie DeAngelis is one of the women who could not get a mammogram for six months due to COVID-19, but her cancer was caught early enough to evade chemotherapy or radiation. 

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"I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer," DeAngelis said. "I do wonder if I had my mammogram six months earlier, if we would have even had that much more of a chance to attack it." 

Kayleigh McEnany, co-host of "Outnumbered" on Fox News Channel, did not have breast cancer but had the breast cancer gene passed down from her mother's father.

The former White House spokesperson found out she had tested positive for the BRCA2 gene the same day her mother underwent a preventative double mastectomy in 2009 during Kayleigh's final year of college. While the genetic mutation meant that McEnany had an 84% chance of developing breast cancer, eight aunts and relatives on her mother's side had been diagnosed with the disease, including several who were diagnosed in their 20s.

After living a "decade of worry," engaging in constant surveillance and mammograms every six months on top of sonograms and MRIs, she decided to follow her mom’s lead in preventative measures. McEnany had a preventative double mastectomy after marrying her husband. 

"Modern medicine has advanced so far that you can still look amazing and feel strong as a woman," McEnany told FOX Business.

Unlike Willis and McEnany, DeAngelis did not experience any symptoms or signs and had no history of breast cancer in her family. 

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Jennifer Griffin, Pentagon correspondent for Fox News, also noticed something felt abnormal while breastfeeding after her third pregnancy. She didn’t realize that breast cancer could come on during pregnancy and skipped out on testing, only to find out that she had a 7½-inch tumor growing inside her breast that was the the size of a grapefruit.

Griffin learned of her diagnosis of stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer shortly after in 2009. 

Griffin is cancer-free now after a treatment regime that required 17 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and over three weeks of radiation treatment later at Georgetown University.

"Choose a date every year when you get your mammograms, your other screenings. Do the same for your mothers, your sisters. Everybody should have their annual screenings," Griffin said. 

Cancer has deeply touched Dagen McDowell. McDowell, anchor and analyst for FOX Business, has had a family history of the disease and has also lived with fiber, cystic breast tissue. Without the ability to conduct a hand exam, Dagen started going in for annual checkups and tests in her mid-teens and also had two breast biopsies. 

"If women particularly have the way to catch a cancer early and live a full life and save their lives, then why wouldn't you take every opportunity to get that mammogram every year?" Dagen said.

Early detection helped save the life of Fox News editor Walter Whitley’s friend, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. Whitley, an advocate for the organization Real Men Wear Pink, shared his story about a friend diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. 

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"When it came time to have a serious discussion about treatment, he was well-informed," Whitley said. 

While breast cancer occurs mainly in women, experts predict that the number of men with breast cancer is expected to climb over the next decades as obesity rates tick up.

Nonetheless, early detection has contributed to preventing further development of the disease and saving lives.

"When your doctor tells you to go for the mammogram, you should go," DeAngelis said. "It's very important. I believe it saved my life."