ROCHESTER — Dr. Elizabeth Cathcart-Rake's passion for practicing LGBTQ-affirming health care is inspired by a childhood friend. "His experiences were just really eye-opening for me, and that he faced unbelievable discrimination and stigma when he came out and then, on top of that, he had some health care challenges and again experienced stigma," Cathcart-Rake said.
Her friend, who is transgender, also shared that he has a family history of breast cancer. As a medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer, Cathcart-Rake wondered what that meant for him. "I started digging into the literature, and there is such a dearth of information there about cancer care and trans folks," she said.
To address these needs, Cathcart-Rake and a handful of her colleagues formed the Rainbows Breast Cancer Clinic, which is embedded within the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in downtown Rochester. Patients officially began receiving care through the Rainbows clinic in June. "We offer patients the multidisciplinary, resource-filled team that our general breast oncology patients get as well," Cathcart-Rake said.
"It's just that their care is tailored to their gender identity, sexual orientation. It's really individualized." For patients, that individualized care can include fertility preservation, something that isn't discussed as often with queer cancer patients, Cathcart-Rake said.
There are also discussions about cancer treatment's side effects that impact one's sexual health. "Fo.