A cancer doctor in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is marking breast cancer awareness month by wearing a different kind of pink for each of the 31 days in October, and it’s more than a fashion statement.

Advocates say the color pink is linked to breast cancer because it symbolizes femininity, care, and solidarity.

Dr. Lori Alfonse at Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, part of Jefferson Health, has a lot of snazzy pink shoes.

“Each shoe has its own personality, its own shade, its own fabric and those are personality traits that are very similar to my patients,” Alfonse said. 

In honor of her patients, the surgical oncologist is wearing a different pair of pink shoes each day for October.

“I started out getting just enough for 31, and now I’m up to well over 72 pairs of just pink shoes. So I can wear more than one in a day,” she said. “You have 71 pairs of pink shoes. I do. I have a lot of other reasonably colored shoes too.”

This shoe connoisseur says there’s a serious side to her pink passion, a message of strength and survival.

“Breast cancer is not a death sentence. It is two words that represent many different types of cancers as individual as our personalities,” she said. “We have gotten very, very good at treating breast cancer. We still have a lot of work to do. But the vast majority of our treatments are tolerable. They are successful.”

Alfonse sported a light pink boot on Friday while seeing patients, always reminding them about the importance of mammograms for early detection.

She says patients look forward to her pink shoe show; it’s a special connection she has with them.

Dr. Alfonse says pink for breast cancer has a special place in her heart; her mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother all had the disease.

Suzanne Somers had long battle with breast cancer before death

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Suzanne Somers died Sunday in California, one day before her birthday after a long battle with breast cancer.

Somers wrote a number of health and wellness books and she was very public about some of her controversial medical decisions

Somers played the cheerful blonde on the TV show “Three’s Company” until she was fired after demanding equal pay.

She went on to star in many other roles and said she made millions with the ThighMaster, a personal fitness device.

Somers was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000. She initially embraced organic nontraditional therapies. 

“We women are the sickest women in the world in the United States from excessive chemicalization,” Somers previously said. 

But research shows for treating aggressive cancer chemotherapy, a combination of toxic chemicals, is proven to work.

“We all know that chemotherapy has its own side effects but it’s something that’s been shown to extend the duration of life and actually improve the quality of life,” Dr. Deborah Butzbach of Virtua Health said. 

Dr. Butzbach, an oncologist with Virtua, said there’s not a lot of science on organic cancer treatments

“There’s very little in the world of alternative medicine that’s been proven and validated,” Dr. Butzbach said. 

Somers, who was eventually treated with traditional therapies, advocated using bio-identical hormones, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone to fight aging after menopause. 

“Hormones do increase our risk of breast cancer in a small percentage of people,” Dr. Butzbach said. “But there are also significant  benefits improving quality of life.”

Somers said she was at peace with her decisions and will be remembered for her courageous decades-long fight against cancer.

Doctors said decisions about hormone therapy and cancer treatments are very personal and individualized decisions that are best made consulting with doctors.

Stephanie Stahl

Stephanie Stahl is an Emmy Award-winning health reporter. She can be seen daily on CBS3 Eyewitness News and The CW Philly.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There are now more breast cancer survivors in the U.S. than ever, with four million and counting.

It’s all about early detection and better treatments aiming to save even more lives.

The American Cancer Society is reminding women to grab your girls. That’s about holding friends and family accountable for mammograms. It’s a message being shared by two special sisters.

Side by side, these South Jersey sisters have stepped through the ordeal of breast cancer together.

“I was scared, I was really scared,” Charmella Roark said.

Charmella Roark was diagnosed last summer, four years after her sister, Kiki.

“I saw three doctors and they told me it was nothing,” Kiki Roark said.

She was just 37 at the time with a lump in her breast and in spite of what doctors said, she insisted on a mammogram.

“You have to be an advocate. Yes, we trust doctors. Yes, we listen to doctors, but listen to your body. I say this all the time,” Kiki Roark said.

Through different treatments, the sisters helped each other navigate the physical and emotional rollercoaster of breast cancer.

Now they’re happy to be part of the American Cancer Society’s “Grab Your Girls” campaign, encouraging women to hold each other accountable for screenings.

“It’s bringing someone that you love and you care about, holding her hands through something that could be scary,” Charmella Roark said.

“Tell your friends, tell your family, everyone — it’s so important to get these mammograms,” Kiki Roark said.

Doctors say mammograms are still the best way to find breast cancer early, the American Cancer Society said they should start at age 45. 

“We know outcomes are so much better when cancers are detected earlier,” Karen Knudsen with the American Cancer Society said. 

Knudsen said there’s still work to do, however.

“A combination of early detection as well as improved treatments have helped us reduce the breast cancer rate by 43% percent,” she said. 

For the Roark sisters, it’s now about helping other women and staying healthy. They’ll be out here at Cooper River Park for the annual Making Strides Walk.

“All walks of life here to celebrate life,” Charmella Roark said. 

The 25th Annual Making Strides of Greater Philadelphia will take place at Cooper River Park Jack Curtis Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 8:30 a.m.

The American Cancer Society has more information about how to get a cancer screening.