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Federal task force counters American Cancer Society’s long-standing recommendation

A 33-year cancer survivor, Ann Peters recalls finding a malignant lump in her breast herself. Now 66, Peters was shocked Monday to hear a government task force is advising not only that women wait until age 50 to get mammograms but that breast self-exams are of no value.

“I can’t imagine not doing it,” Peters said. “I don’t know a woman who wouldn’t share my thoughts.” Peters is president of the Pink Ribbon Society, which provides services to scores of breast cancer patients and their families throughout Northwest Indiana.

The new guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose stance influences coverage of screening tests by Medicare and many insurance companies. The panel recommends getting a mammogram every other year after age 50. The advice is a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society’s long-standing recommendation of annual screening starting at 40.
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According to a mother who asked me to write this column, the use of chewing tobacco and other forms of smoke-free tobacco has become the rage in her son’s high school. Many assume that if the tobacco does not make smoke, it must be safe. How wrong they are!!

Nothing about the use of any form of tobacco is safe. Another myth to dispel is that smokeless tobacco helps a person quit cigarette smoking. This simply is not the case.

Because most tobacco users start before they are 18 years old, the FDA has declared tobacco use a pediatric disease.
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Men may protect more than their hearts if they keep cholesterol in line: Their chances of getting aggressive prostate cancer may be lower, new research suggests.

One study found that men whose cholesterol was in a healthy range—below 200—had less than half the risk of developing high-grade prostate tumors compared to men with high cholesterol.

A second study found that men with lots of HDL, or “good cholesterol,” were a little less likely to develop any form of prostate cancer than men with very low HDL.
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Freddy Ortega, a Clark High School junior, wears the T-shirt he designed to support breast cancer awareness. (Photograph courtesy of Michelle Kominsky.)

The National Football League’s decision to designate October’s games as American Breast Cancer Awareness games scored big with Freddy Ortega, 16.

Ortega has two aunts who are breast cancer survivors and always wears a pink wristband to show his support for them. He liked how the NFL and its teams promoted breast cancer awareness messages with pre-game and in-stadium initiatives and by having coaches and staff personnel and players wear pink ribbons and pink uniform gear.

So after the game, the George Rogers Clark High School student headed to town. He went into The Junk Yard to see if there was something there in line with the cause. Within a few moments, he decided to customize a shirt. He chose a royal blue T-shirt—Clark’s color—and had the initials of his school, ‘GRS’, printed on the upper right collar. Below the letters he added ‘class of 2011.’ In the center, he had the word ‘Supports’ printed next to a pink ribbon twisted in the shape of a heart.
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Doctors consider new tool in quest to catch breast cancer earlier

Dr. Anthony Gentile stands with the new HALO breast pap test, a new kind of breast cancer detection system that takes things up a notch in the detection of breast cancer, Dr. Gentile said. HALO uses a noninvasive technology to suction out nipple aspirate fluid (NAF), which is then tested for precancerous cells. A small group of cells won't turn up on a mammogram or ultrasound, but having abnormal cells in your nipple fluid is related to an increased risk for breast cancer. (Photography by John Luke/The Times.)

Current statistics on breast cancer have women on edge. The fact that one in four cancers diagnosed in American women is breast cancer, that death rates are higher than any other cancer besides lung cancer, and that one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, have researchers seeking ways to get in front of the disease.

Finding women at risk for developing breast cancer, who may harbor atypical cells years before a lump forms is the idea behind collecting and analyzing nipple aspirate fluid, essentially a Pap test of the breast.

A device popping up in gynecology offices across the country, albeit rare and slow to catch on in Chicagoland, is emerging as another tool in the armamentarium doctors use to zero in on breast cancer earlier.
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(Photograph by John J. Watkins.)

Dr. Marylyn Rosencranz practices at the Indiana Breast Center, located within Diagnostic Specialties, in Crown Point. Graduating from Chicago Osteopathic in 1981, Rosencranz started out in general radiology, eventually specializing in mammography. The Indiana Breast Center focuses on diagnosis, using the latest technologies to perform routine screenings, biopsies and tumor evaluations.

Q. Why does breast cancer seem more prevalent now than, say, 20 years ago?

A. A couple of theories: there’s a question of pollution. There’s a question of hormones in food. You have hormones being placed in chickens and other meat. Last is that it is not necessarily occurrence, but that we are finding breast cancer better. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people don’t even realize they have a thyroid gland until they have a problem with it. Symptoms of thyroid disorders may include weight gain, depression, thinning hair, tremors, cold sensitivity and insomnia. These are signs that something in the butterfly-shaped gland just below the Adam’s apple in the neck isn’t right. Some 1 in 13 people have a thyroid disorder in the U.S., and the large majority of these people are women. And each year, 20,699 people are diagnosed with thyroid cancer. As researchers investigate these disorders they find many answers, including some that may be environmental.

Dr. Venkatesh Segu, of Endocrinologist Specialists of Indiana in Munster, says thyroid disorders are typically found in women and run in families, but environmental factors are considered as more studies are performed. “Genetics is a big factor, and women tend to be more commonly affected than men,” Segu says. Read the rest of this entry »

Jill Kane always organized the Walk for a Cure when she lived in Naperville. Ill., with her mother until her mom passed away in 2007.

“We ran it in Naperville and when I realized there was no walk here in Valparaiso I contacted the foundation (National Breast Cancer Foundation) and asked if I could organize one here,” Kane said.

The walk is from 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 25 at Rogers-Lakewood Park in Valparaiso. Registration begins at noon. It’s a three mile walk throughout the park area. People can get pledges and donations ahead of time, but they don’t have to have pledges.

“We are asking that folks bring the pink ribbon (located on this page) with someone’s name on it and we will take any donation for them to walk.” Kane said. “This isn’t like the big walks where people have to have pledged a certain amount of money just to participate.”

Any donation is welcome but shirts for the event are $20.
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From the Get Healthy Inbox—We’re committed to keeping you informed on health care news and ideas throughout the region and nation. Here’s today’s recommendation, submitted by Myriad Genetics:

Myriad Genetics, Inc., announced last week that it has launched a hereditary breast and ovarian cancer Public Awareness Campaign in five Midwest states, including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio. The initiative is a comprehensive effort designed to reach women with a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancers and the health care providers that treat them.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 200,000 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer this year. Up to ten percent of these cases will be due to an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Myriad’s BRACAnalysis, a simple blood test, detects mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Women who carry one of these gene mutations have up to an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer and up to a 44 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer.
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From the Get Healthy Inbox—We’re committed to keeping you informed on health care news and ideas throughout the region and nation. Here’s today’s recommendation, submitted by Purina Cat Chow:

Purina Cat Chow understands the unique bond between an owner and their cat and the connection they share. Inspired by a cancer survivor’s story of how her cat helped her through her treatment, Purina Cat Chow embarked on a partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Recently, Purina Cat Chow surveyed breast cancer survivors with cats nationwide. The study results emphasized the important emotional connection and relationship owners have with their cats, and Purina Cat Chow has been raising funds for Susan G. Komen ever since.
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