After recovering from a complicated surgery, Asha Miller was enjoying working out, eating healthy, and finally being in control of her body. One day in the shower, she noticed a tiny bump in her armpit. After a few weeks it disappeared, and she dismissed it as an inflamed lymph node. At 33 years old and in the best shape of her life with no family history of cancer, Asha never suspected she had breast cancer. Yet when the bump returned, she sought a doctor’s advice. An ultrasound showed nothing abnormal, but a little voice inside urged her to get a biopsy anyway.

Teenage actress and Broadway performer Mikari Tarpley was in her performing arts studio when she felt unusual soreness and swelling in her neck. At first, she wasn’t too concerned, knowing her family’s history of thyroid disease. However, a myriad of tests revealed irregular lymph nodes and suggested a thyroid carcinoma. Mikari kept her positive attitude as she courageously prepared for surgery.

Enjoying motherhood and a successful career, Dwan Thomas was getting ready to celebrate her 36th birthday when she noticed her breast felt more dense than usual. She quickly dismissed it, deeming it a benign cyst. After all, she hadn’t even gone for her first mammogram; she was way too young for breast cancer. But by Valentine’s Day, the area in her breast felt rubbery, like chewed up bubble gum; and by March, it was hard as gravel. Dwan could not ignore it any longer. She immediately went for an ultrasound and a biopsy.

In Nigeria, receiving a cancer diagnosis usually means you will die soon. However, Toyin Adewumi is no stranger to fighting battles, and she was not about to let cancer take her life.

After surviving a violent attack on her family as a teenager, Toyin immigrated to the United States to attend college. Years later, this courageous mother, wife and entrepreneur was preparing to open her dream restaurant when she was diagnosed with an aggressive and invasive stage 3 breast cancer.

PSA is a blood test used to check men for harmful prostate cancer (PCa). A man with high levels of PSA may have harmful PCa, but if we catch it early, it is almost 100% curable. Men with high PSA may also have harmless PCa or they may not have cancer at all. To diagnose harmful PCa, doctors take biopsies of the prostate using painful needles. Fortunately, most of the men end up having large prostates or harmless forms of PCa. This causes many men to suffer through the biopsy and then worry about potentially having a harmful cancer. Some men with harmless PCa will have surgery or radiation from fear, but can have bad side effects.