Central Ohio woman’s cancer diagnosis drives her to educate on Black health disparities

Shanise Pearce says the scary words out loud. Cancer. Breast cancer. Chemotherapy. Mastectomy. Survival rate. These are some of the words that have defined her life since 2023 when she was first diagnosed with the especially aggressive triple-negative breast cancer. But other words that define the life of the Pataskala mother of three, age 45, are survivor, educator and advocate. Since her diagnosis, Pearce has thrown herself into educating the Black community, and anyone else she can, on breast cancer. Black individuals have the lowest survival rate of any racial group for most cancers, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, and also are diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer at twice the rate of white women. “What Shanise is doing is she is putting a face to the diagnosis of breast cancer, particularly triple negative. She is showing people that you don’t have to be afraid,” said Kimberly Saxton, director of nursing for the Stefanie Spielman Breast Center and fellow advocate. “You put a face to it, and you realize, like, oh, I can get through this, and I can get through this successfully.” Genetic testing...