Mary J. Blige joins first lady Jill Biden at White House to launch cancer-fighting effort

First lady Jill Biden and singer Mary J. Blige – both of whom have had sorrowful experiences with cancer – came together with cancer survivors and oncology experts Monday for a White House roundtable to highlight the Biden administration's "moonshot" effort to reduce deaths from cancer.

It got emotional.

Blige, who's become an advocate for cancer screening, talked about how cancer has affected her family, choking up at one point.

“So I'm convinced that if all my aunts, godmothers and grandparents had seen campaigns like this," she began, before pausing to take a breath and say, “Oh God.”

"They would have a different outcome today,” she finished.

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Blige said she's dedicated time to increasing awareness of the importance of preventative screenings, "reminding people that their health is your wealth and urging them to make it a priority,” according to the pool report.

After her remarks Blige took her seat on stage next to Biden, who reached over and held her hand while American Cancer Society CEO Karen Knudsen spoke.

“Mary, thank you for lending your powerful voice to this cause,” Biden told Blige.

Biden hosted the event in the State Dining Room as part of the administration's Cancer Moonshot initiative, which includes helping launch the American Cancer Society’s series of national roundtables on breast and cervical cancer.

The roundtables are intended to bring together oncology leaders and other experts to help improve the lives of people living with cancer and support their families, according to the White House.

About 100 guests attended the White House event, many of them women wearing pink in all shades from pale to shockingly bright.

"The Cancer Moonshot is about a future where we don’t have to be afraid of cancer anymore. And today, we are coming together to make that future real," Biden said in her prepared remarks. "None of us can beat cancer alone, and it will take all of us putting patients and their loved ones at the center of their own cancer journey, from screenings to survivorship."

The first lady's family and friends have been shattered by cancer, including son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. She has talked about how four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer in one year in the early 1990s. Three survived; the one who did not inspired her to take up the cause of cancer prevention and education, she has said.

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Last week in Florida she appeared on the conservative TV channel Newsmax to talk about the moonshot effort and the unifying power of fighting cancer.

"Cancer is such a terrible disease, but it is unifying people," she said on "Conversations With Nancy Brinker." "They're all coming together, saying, 'Yes, let's work with one another, and let's reduce the incidents of cancer as we know it, and change the face of cancer.'"

On Oct. 16, Biden attended an NFL game between her hometown team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Dallas Cowboys for a cancer awareness night "to honor cancer patients, survivors, and their families."

Blige is leading a breast cancer campaign aimed at Black Americans, especially young people, after confessing she ignored testing and mammograms until she was 40. One of her aunts died from breast cancer, another from lung cancer, and her grandmother from cervical cancer, she says.

Last year, while taking part in a panel discussion organized by Hologic, the company behind the 3D mammogram exam, Blige urged women of color to set aside lingering medical mistrust and negative experiences with doctors to stay on top of their cancer check-ups.

She blamed misconceptions about mammograms among Black women and “the practice of not wanting other people in our business” for disparities in breast cancer outcomes between Blacks and whites.

"They don’t discuss this when we’re children," she said. "They don’t say, ‘Go get a mammogram.’ You learn about this as you get older."

Breast cancer is the leading cancer for women, and is the No. 1 cause of death among Black and Latino women. More than 14,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths, Knudsen said.

According to the American Cancer Society, Black Americans have a higher cancer burden and face greater obstacles to cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and survival, and they have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group for most cancers in the U.S.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mary J. Blige first lady Jill Biden launch cancer fight at White House