Tamara Tialavea of Auto was only 42 years old when she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in November of 2014. Without hesitation she left for Hawai'i to find treatment. Her sister, Petrina, accepted her $500 stipend check at Neil’s ACE Hardware Center, whose energetic staff help raise donations for the American Samoa Community Cancer Coalition (ASCCC) each year during the Christmas season.

Petrina is pictured here with two of the Ace staff members who were instrumental in collecting donations for local cancer patients this year. It is from the generosity of this community that ACE and their partner, ASCCC have already helped 13 cancer patients with stipends this year.

The National Cancer Institute says that Endometrial Cancer is the leading gynecologic form of cancer among women, and it forms in the tissue lining the uterus.

There were over 52,000 new cases of endometrial cancer in the United States in 2014.

The only thing better than early detection of this type of cancer is to prevent it from developing in the first place. Since most uterine cancer is caused by an excess of estrogen compared to progestin, this is a potentially preventable cancer, according to websites devoted to understanding the disease. Doing the following may reduce your chance of getting uterine cancer:

*            Using birth control pills.

*            Maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active.

*            Taking progesterone, if you are taking estrogen.