Breast and Ovarian Cancer
Testing, Diagnosis, Treatment and Other Resources
· Prevention
– A Way of Life
· Testing
and Screening for Breast Cancer
· The
Metropolitan New York Registry of Breast Cancer Families
· Diagnosis
of Breast Cancer
· Treatment
of Breast Cancer
· Breast
and Ovarian Cancers – A Jewish Genetic Disease?
· http://www.abreast.org
Prevention – A Way of Life
If you are at increased risk for breast or ovarian cancer, you can make choices
that may help reduce your risk of getting cancer or enable early detection.
These steps are beneficial for all women, regardless of whether they have tested
for a BRCA1
or BRCA2 alteration.
Increased surveillance and close monitoring for signs of cancer
· Frequent mammograms
Please note: Mammography
should be done annually after the age of 40 (recommended by most physicians)
or as an adjunctive method when there is a suspicious lump.
Please note: Excessive mammograms
should be avoided in patients with a strong family history of breast cancer
because such patients may harbor genes that increase their susceptibility to
radiation-induced damage.
· Physician performed breast exam
· Breast self examination
Please note: Breast self examination
should be done monthly. Studies have shown that the survival rate almost doubles
for women who practice BSE (Breast Self Exam).
· Ovarian ultrasound.
Prophylactic surgery
A radical though sometimes recommended procedure is the removal of healthy breasts
and/or ovaries. This surgery has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, however,
doctors do not know by what percentage the risk is lowered. Additionally, since
not all of the breast and ovarian tissue can be removed, some women who had
their breasts and ovaries removed, later developed cancer of the remaining tissue.
Practice preventative measures – Commit to a Healthy Lifestyle
Engage in practices that have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, which
include
· Regular exercise
· Avoidance of smoking
· Limit alcohol consumption to no
more than two alcoholic drinks per week (this increases your liver's ability
to regulate blood estrogen levels).
· Limit consumption of red meat and
other sources of animal fat (this includes dairy fat in cheese, milk, and ice
cream), because they may contain stored hormones or pesticides.
· Try to stick to a relatively vegetarian
diet.
· Attempt to shed extra weight and
try hard to keep those pounds off.
Genetic
Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancers
Genetic testing is a process that searches for genetic alterations that may
be associated with an increased risk of particular cancers. Genetic testing
may reveal whether the cancer risk in a family is passed through their genes.
Although the lab test
itself is quite complex, only a blood sample is needed. Genetic testing for
breast and ovarian cancer risk involves looking for altered genes such as BRCA1
and BRCA2.
Genetic Testing is available at the following:
Cancer Genetics Program
Call Toll Free 1-800-454-8256
Visit the Cancer Genetic Program’s web site at http://www.pitt.edu/~tawst14/Genetics
The
Metropolitan New York Registry of Breast Cancer Families
The Metropolitan New York Registry of Breast Cancer Families, which enrolls
families that have several members stricken with breast and/or ovarian cancer,
is a resource for future studies. Qualified researchers will be able to use
the resources of the Registry for research on genetic and environmental factors
in cancer.
The Registry will include members of families with a history of breast and ovarian
cancer.
Families with the following health histories will be encouraged to participate:
· Two or more relatives with breast
or ovarian cancer
· One or more relatives with early
age at diagnosis
· A relative with both breast and
ovarian cancer, or bilateral breast cancer
· A male relative with breast cancer
Contact the Metropolitan New York
Registry
Telephone: 212-263-5964
or
Fax: 212-263-8570
Web Site: http://www.med.nyu.edu/Biostat-Epi/mnyr.htm
Collaborating National & International Institutions:
· New
York Univerisy Medical Center
Department of Environmental Medicine
341 East 25th Street, Room 209; New
York, NY 10010
· Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Cancer Information Service - call
1-800-4CANCER
· Beth
Israel Medical Center
· Columbia-Presbyterian
Medical Center
Women at Risk Program – Call 212-586-9525
· Mt. Sinai Medical Center
· SUNY-Stonybrook Medical Center
· Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia
· Northern California Cancer Center,
San Francisco
· Huntsman Cancer Institutes, Salt
Lake City, Utah
· Ontario Cancer Treatment &
Research Foundation,Toronto, Canada
· University of Melbourne, Australia
Diagnosis
of Breast Cancer
The earlier breast cancer is found and diagnosed, the better your chances of
beating it. Breast Self-Exam is important for you to do, in addition to regular
mammography.
When lump is found, a needle aspiration biopsy is performed. The biopsy is taken
from a tumor and evaluated under microscope to determine whether it is benign
(non-cancerous) or malignant.
The good news is that 80 percent of all suspicious areas found
and biopsies performed reveal a benign (non-cancerous) change.
Treatment
of Breast Cancer
Hormonal Therapy - Tamoxifen
When you take tamoxifen, it passes into your bloodstream, joining all kinds
of hormones, nutrients, oxygen, and other molecules, and circulates through
the tissues of your body. If breast cancer cells are present, tamoxifen flows
around them as well. If these cancer cells have estrogen receptors (about two-thirds
do), tamoxifen slips into the receptor "locks," filling up a space
that would normally be taken by the body's natural estrogen.
Five Benefits of Tamoxifen:
· Tamoxifen can prevent recurrence
· Tamoxifen can halt the progression
of metastatic breast cancer
· Tamoxifen can reduce your risk
of cancer in the other breast
· Tamoxifen can help prevent osteoporosis
· Tamoxifen can lower cholesterol
levels
Tamoxifen’s Potentially serious side effects
· Blood clots (thrombosis)
· Endometrial cancer
· Other uterine effects
Read more about Tamoxifen and hormonal therapy at http://www.ibreast.org
Other Methods of Treatment
· surgery - removing the cancer
in an operation
· radiation therapy - using
high-dose x-rays that kill cancer cells
· chemotherapy - using drugs
to kill cancer cells
· hormone therapy - using
drugs that change the way hormones work, or removing organs that produce hormones,
such as the ovaries
· biological therapy - using
the body's immune system to fight cancer, such as bone marrow transplantation
or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation
Read more about genetics and heredity of Breast and Ovarian Cancers. Click Here!