For some University of Florida students, Breastology offered a reminder that cancer is not limited to older adults or women.
The educational program by the Gainesville nonprofit Blossoming Butterfly Inc. brought health educators and a cancer survivor to campus on Tuesday to discuss breast health, cancer risk and the importance of knowing your family history.
Breastology is on tour during October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The program is designed for high school and college campuses. The topics covered included the warning signs of breast cancer, risk factors, genetic testing, and common misconceptions.
About 40 UF students attended Breastology on Tuesday evening. UF’s STOP Cancer division of Alpha Epsilon Delta, a pre-professional health honor society, hosted the event.
One of the program’s central messages was that breast cancer can affect younger people and can occur in men as well as women.
Alyssa Gomez, co-director of UF’s STOP Cancer division of Alpha Epsilon Delta, said she believes sharing that message with students will help spread awareness overall.
“It does happen in young people and you don’t have to be over the age of 40 to have breast cancer,” Gomez said. “Sharing that [message] with college students so then they can share it with their friends to create a bigger movement and spread information.”
Samay Patel, the other co-director of STOP Cancer, agreed.
“Before this information session, I did not realize that breast cancer can happen to males too,” Patel said. “It’s important for us to understand that this is not just a female disease that we don’t need to be concerned with at all.”
STOP Cancer focuses on cancer education and community outreach, making Blossoming Butterfly an ideal organization to collaborate with, according to Patel.
“We are responsible for the education of the community about cancer prevention, cancer treatment, and family support,” Patel said.
For another student, Phillip Carcamo, a senior nursing student and member of STOP Cancer, the discussion offered information that complemented what he learned in nursing school.
“I learned a lot of interesting facts that I didn’t know about breast cancer,” Carcamo said. “We’re taught in nursing school when to report the signs of breast cancer, but it’s not talked about enough outside of that realm.”
The presentation also highlighted what changes in the breasts to look for, including a new lump or thickening, unexplained swelling or changes in size or shape, skin dimpling or redness, nipple changes or unusual discharge.
The program also included the role genetics can play in breast cancer risk. The founder of Blossoming Butterfly, Nicole Miller, encouraged those with a family history of breast or related cancers to talk with their healthcare provider about genetic testing.
“The purpose of genetic testing is so that you know, and you are aware if you carry the gene, and then you can make decisions for yourself,” Miller said.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genes that help cells repair damaged DNA. Inheriting a harmful change in either gene can increase a person’s risk of cancer, most significantly breast and ovarian cancers. Those changes can be inherited from either parent.
Miller explained that genetic testing can help identify whether someone carries the specific gene and, with guidance from a healthcare professional, can inform decisions about screening and risk reduction.
“Pay attention to your bodies, know your family history, ask questions and don’t be afraid,” Miller said.
Miller started Breastology in 2025, and said the goal is to reach students because they can carry information from the classroom into their families and communities.
“Our students are the way to reach the parents,” Miller said. “What other way than to have the students give their parents the information and they actually listen?”
For Carcamo, the information also provided a reason to pay attention even if he does not have a known genetic risk.
“Even though I may not carry that genetic gene or someone in my family does, it will help me treat other people who do have it and just be more sympathetic about the care that I’m providing.”
The UF event was one stop on Blossoming Butterfly’s Breastology tour. The program visited Florida A&M University on Sept. 29 and is scheduled to visit Clark Atlanta University on Oct. 8 and Morris Brown College on Oct. 15.
Miller said she hopes to schedule more events across the country. Schools and organizations are able to submit a tour inquiry atblossomingbutterflyinc.org.
“It is for every person that will listen and take the information and share it because we know cancer is a diagnosis that anybody can get,” Miller said.
“In any situation, you can blossom, you can bloom,” she said. “Mine just happened to be cancer.”