WOMEN'S CANCER FACTS SHARED AT SYMPOSIUM.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

Those attending the AAUW Women's Health Forum on Saturday took the opportunity to learn about the risks and early detection of cancer and to ask questions about how the disease affects women.

Event organizers said that at a time when doctor visits are increasingly short and patients are reluctant to inquire about health issues, they wanted to provide a chance for women to open up and get answers.

``There's an interest in women wanting to know more about their own health care,'' said Andrea McFadden, co-chairwoman of the event, sponsored by the American Association of University Women. ``It's about empowering ourselves with information so that we can make good decisions about health care.''

The event, the association's third, drew more than 150 people to the conference center on the Amgen campus in Newbury Park. The forum's 10 workshops dealt with issues ranging from breast cancer, lung cancer and gynecological health to prostate cancer, risks for and prevention of the disease.

Attendees took notes as they heard lectures from scientists and local physicians. Many said they had been to the two other AAUW-sponsored forums, on cardiovascular disease and general health issues.

Barb Wilson of Thousand Oaks said she rarely asks questions during the sessions, but she learns a lot by listening to what others say and inquire about.

``Hopefully I'll never have to use this information, but at least I'd be prepared,'' Wilson said during a break between sessions. ``I think people are a little intimidated sometimes when they're in a doctor's office, especially if they have some health concerns and everything is coming at them at once.''

Some primary messages of the forum were the need to support cancer research and to educate the public about the research process, which is often a mystery to people.

Dr. Richard Schilsky, director of the University of Chicago's Cancer Research Center, said one penny of every $100 in federal tax money is given to the study of treatments and a cure for cancer.

``If we're really going to make a dent in treating this disease and preventing it, we need more money funded for research,'' he said.

Schilsky's keynote speech to the group was about research, diagnosis methods, treatments and the new drugs being developed to treat patients, including tamoxifen, which is used in the treatment of breast cancer.

He said 1,500 people die from cancer in the United States daily. He likened that to three jumbo jets crashing each day, with all the passengers dying.

``If that actually happened, people in this country would be outraged,'' Schilsky said. ``They would be crying: What's happening to these airlines? Why is there no government oversight?

``And yet the equivalent is happening every day, and nobody says anything about it.''

With its 250 members, the American Association of University Women in Thousand Oaks is part of a national organization that promotes education and equity among women and girls.

The event was sponsored in part by donations from Amgen, Kaiser Permanente and Borders Books and Music.