Two-time breast cancer survivor Joanne Sassano wears her Relay For Life 2026 shirt while sitting on the porch of her city home. Sassano was chosen as ambassador for this year’s event on June 13. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow

A breast cancer diagnosis didn’t come as a surprise to Altoona resident Joanne Sassano.

“There’s a big history in my family,” she said, as not only was her mother diagnosed with breast cancer, but so were her aunts on both sides of her family.

Her maternal cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer within a week of Sassano.

However, she beat cancer in 2007 and once again in 2024 because of the grace of God, her family, friends and medical providers, she said.

A longtime member of Relay For Life of Blair County, she was recently chosen as this year’s ambassador and will carry the torch toward the luminaries section at the June 13 event.

Understanding that breast cancer may spread to her daughter and granddaughters, she is advocating for early detection and future medical breakthroughs with her platform.

“Hopefully, in our lifetime, there will be a vaccine,” she said.

Born and raised in Altoona, Sassano attended the Altoona School of Commerce to become a medical secretary after graduating from Bishop Guilfoyle High School.

She said she always gravitated toward health care, being someone caring and compassionate.

She began working at the Altoona Hospital in 1982 and lasted through four administrations, the most recent being UPMC.

“And loved every minute of it,” she said, adding that she retired last year.

The thing she said she misses most about her job is the patients, with whom she formed close bonds.

During her time as a medical secretary, she married her husband, Ron Sassano, and the couple is celebrating 40 years together this year. They have two children, Michele and Michael.

Before Michele’s high school graduation in spring 2007, Sassano was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I didn’t tell anybody,” she said. “I waited until the graduation party was over. I didn’t want to dampen anything for any of that.

That July, she had a lumpectomy, eight chemotherapy sessions and 45 radiation sessions at UPMC Altoona. All the lymph nodes on the right side of her neck were removed.

She used Tamoxifen and then Arimidex for 10 years following her surgery.

“Life changes when you are diagnosed with cancer,” she said.

Second diagnosis

Sassano’s mother was also a two-time survivor of breast cancer, but she eventually passed away from colon cancer at 83.

After her surgery, she continued with mammogram appointments because of her mother’s two-time diagnosis.

“I never missed one,” she said.

Those mammogram appointments saved her life when doctors caught a spot on the left side of her breast in 2024. It was a new cell, not a recurring cell, she said.

“‘And they said to me, ‘That’s better than (your) current cell. If there’s one that you’re going to get. That’s probably the best one to get,'” she said.

Receiving another cancer diagnosis mentally devastated Sassano, as she had already been through the painful and grueling treatment process once. She remembered telling one of her doctors that she didn’t want to go through it again.

The spot was small enough to be detected through a mammogram, so they went through an ultrasound and a biopsy at the UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.

She was able to avoid chemotherapy treatment completely by having a segmental mastectomy and 16 radiation sessions. She also had a bilateral breast reduction using plastic surgery at UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.

“Best thing I ever did,” she said. “It made me comfortable again. It’s life-changing.”

Her husband stayed by her side through two cancer diagnoses, and he recalled the fear surrounding those battles.

“It’s a rough journey for anyone mentally, along with physically, and she trooped right through it,” Ron Sassano said.

Throughout bleak times, however, he said she managed to stay positive, being involved with the community through the Bavarian Aid Society.

She maintained a positive attitude throughout her two diagnoses, realizing that keeping a positive mindset was something she had to have to beat cancer, he said.

Before her first cancer diagnosis, the couple played in a few rock bands together, with Sassano on keyboard and her husband on guitar. She continued playing the organ for St. Rose of Lima until the early 1990s.

Today, the couple converted one of their rooms into a music studio where they go to play their beloved instruments, as music continues to be their tool for self-expression.

Early detection and prevention

Early detection can change the game, Sassano said, as prevention tactics can reroute how cancer affects someone’s life.

“Because prevention’s the cure, it really is,” she said. “I’m living proof of that.”

As a result, detection and prevention is her platform as this year’s Relay For Life Ambassador, encouraging individuals to check in on their health early and often.

Some of her prevention tips include showing up for mammogram appointments, colonoscopies and yearly exams, listening to medical specialist recommendations and staying up-to-date with prevention public service announcements.

Susan Boland, co-chair for Relay For Life of Blair County, said the board chose Sassano as this year’s ambassador for her experience and positive outlook.

Sassano built her life around surviving cancer, Boland said, which is a message the board wants to spread within the region. That message can give others hope during an uncertain future.

“We hope that people will see there is a positive, there is hope, that life after cancer, and she represented that for us,” she said.

Sassano said she’s honored to share her story at this year’s event from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on June 13 at Mansion Park, with the theme, “Give Cancer the Boot!”

“I’m honored to tell my story,” she said. “If I can get out there to women and men, with all the cancers that are out there, whatever is preventative, go for it.”

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.

The Sassano file

Name: Joanne Sassano

Age: 64

Education: St. Rose of Lima Elementary School; Bishop Guilfoyle High School, 1980; Altoona School of Commerce, 1982

Occupation: Medical secretary – 44 years

Family: Husband, Ron; children, Michele and Michael

Pets: Dog, Maggie, 6

Hobbies: Playing the keyboard