CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The development of breast cancer and other types of cancers in the Mountain State continues to be top of mind for medical professionals.

The cancer research was among the 60 different presentations being given by students and residents in collaboration with medical professionals Wednesday at Charleston Area Medical Center’s annual Research Day.

The event showcases the research they have gathered over the past year that pertains to specific health conditions common to West Virginians.

Dr. Amir Kamran

Medical Oncologist Dr. Amir Kamran said he and his team have been looking into breast cancer in patients who, additionally, over the past 20 years or so, were diagnosed with breast cancer a second time, or other types of cancer as well.

He said they have also been looking into the different health circumstances that can create the risk of further developing these cancers.

“Most importantly, what we found is that obesity and hypertension are probably the highest factors that create the risk of second breast cancer and other cancers as well,” Kamran said.

Kamran said breast cancer is particularly common in West Virginia.

He said an interesting find within the research has been that people can be cancer survivors for 20 to 30 years before additional cancer starts to develop, and it’s crucial to look into the factors leading up to that new diagnosis.

“What we are looking at is if they develop a second cancer or even a third cancer, what are the risks involved, and how we can improve the overall health of this patient once they have a new cancer diagnosis,” he said.

Kamran said what happens after a patient’s diagnosis is very crucial.

He said the most important thing they can do to combat breast cancer is through going in for annual screenings or mammograms.

Kamran said failure to get these types of screenings has most-likely been one of the major reasons breast cancer has become so commonplace in West Virginia, and why it keeps coming back.

“Unfortunately, much of the population doesn’t get mammograms in on time and it usually presents a later stage of the cancer,” he said. “But once they are diagnosed we treat them, they get the best care from the guidelines.”

Kamran said there have been some significant positive advancements in this over time, however, as the cancer care, treatments, and mammograms and other screenings have only improved across the last two decades.

He said this research is dynamic and ongoing, and will only continue to get better.

“So, the research is not just presenting what we have done over the past year and for this day, it’s how we can improve on that,” Kamran said. “So, looking at all of West Virginia’s patient population specifically, and looking at what are the unique factors for this population, and then moving forward and how we can improve it.”

Director of Health Services and Outcomes Research at CAMC Elaine Mattox said the event also showcases work being done on other health conditions common to West Virginia such as diabetes and heart disease.

She said the progress and medical advancements seen over the past 45 years since the event was first held has been remarkable.

“The number of treatments we have now that are available is outstanding,” Mattox said. “We have many procedures that weren’t available five to ten years ago, and everyone went to surgery or they didn’t have any other option, now we have minimally evasive procedures for many things that people used to have open surgeries for.”

Elaine Mattox

Mattox said along with commonplace health conditions, they have also started to address social aspects of healthcare during the annual research day.

She said the health impacts among the homeless population in the area, risk factors of taking medication, and some public health issues that were brought to the attention of medical professionals at CAMC have been gaining more momentum over the past year, and were also being presented on during Wednesday’s event.

Mattox said only the best of the best research is selected to be showcased during the annual day. She said this year, they had 135 studies submitted and just 60 were chosen.

All of the research that gets presented was conducted at CAMC on patients from West Virginia.

Mattox said this event is important because they get to share this research with the community, as well as the medical community, on exactly what kind of work they are doing for the state.

“We hope to inspire our residents, fellows, and medical students to keep doing research now that they’ve reached this point, and to keep up this as they further their career and begin working in private practice,” she said.

Mattox said that at the conclusion of the day, only 12 winners were going to be selected and receive an award for their work.