Just two decades ago, a breast cancer diagnosis was something a patient likely wouldn't share beyond close family and friends. Even the word "cancer" was barely spoken out loud. And no wonder: It raised immediate thoughts of a death sentence.

So when Elizabeth Edwards greeted the waiting media with a smile, a frank account of her worsening illness and a declaration that her life would go on exactly as before, it was an important reminder to many in the cancer community of how far things had come — and how people like Edwards are representing a new face of the disease.

It wasn't just the striking openness displayed by Edwards and her husband, former Sen. John Edwards. It was the message that a patient can approach cancer, even the serious metastatic disease that Edwards now has, as a manageable condition similar to diabetes. As something that, while grave, can be lived with — even in the grueling contest for the White House, and perhaps even as first lady.



"I expect to do next week all the things I did last week," Elizabeth Edwards said, "and the week after that and next year at the same time, all the same things I did last week ... I don't expect my life to be significantly different."

And her husband, acknowledging the cancer would never be cured, quoted their doctor as using the analogy of diabetes: "The disease never goes away. But you treat it ... you take your medicine. And that's exactly what we intend to do."

To Dr. Richard Wender, president of the American Cancer Society, looking at advanced cancer this way is relatively new.

"The comparison to something like diabetes — that's a whole new concept," says Wender. In large part, he says, it's a function of new treatments and better drugs that can preserve quality of life, for months or years. People like Edwards can show that "cancer has been converted from a short battle that you either win or lose, to a chronic siege," he says. A chronic siege, he adds, that you can fight while still enjoying life and pursuing your goals.

Edwards "will have a very important impact for many individuals," Wender says. "She can offer hope and courage to others facing more advanced disease."

When Dana Kaplan watched replays of the Edwards' news conference, she says she immediately felt as if it were she and her own husband talking. "That's exactly how we felt when I was diagnosed a second time," says the two-time breast cancer survivor from Westfield, N.J.

Kaplan and her husband had just returned from their honeymoon when the second round of cancer was discovered, five years after the first. She elected to have a double mastectomy.

"We said, 'You know what, let's get through this and move on and keep as normal a life as possible,"' Kaplan says. "And I think it was John Edwards who said, 'You can cower in the corner and hide or you can be tough.' It's true — you can't just stop life when something like this happens."

"It's wonderful that they've decided that it will be empowering for them, to fight back and pursue their goals," said Kaplan, now 41, a partner in her law firm and a mother of two young sons.

Dr. Linda Vahdat, an oncologist, remembers how not long ago — perhaps 15 years — people wouldn't talk about cancer. "They spoke about it in hushed tones," says Vahdat, director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "People wouldn't even say the word."

But now all that has changed, with huge marches for breast cancer research and people wearing pink ribbons, Vahdat says. And patients like Edwards.

"She can send a message of hope — absolutely," Vahdat says. "She's not letting breast cancer run her life, and I think that's great." Of patients who have stage 4 cancer like Edwards — meaning it has spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes, in her case to a rib and possibly elsewhere — Vahdat says "the majority are living normal lives — taking care of their families, going to work, and living their lives."

That wasn't always the case. "Decades ago, a diagnosis of Stage 4 breast cancer meant not a very favorable prognosis at all," says Margaret C. Kirk, CEO of the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, a Chicago-based support group. "But we see people living for a long time with cancer now, realizing there IS life after a diagnosis."

Of the Edwards' decision to continue the presidential campaign, "I applaud them for it," says Kirk, whose organization runs a 24/7 hotline staffed by breast cancer survivors. "They obviously sat down together, discussed what was important to them and decided to go forward," she said. "It's their decision, and no one else can second-guess them."

Of course, the course of the campaign depends on how Elizabeth Edwards fares with treatment. And no amount of positive thinking can erase the fact that with breast cancer at any stage, you can never be sure you're home free. Edwards spoke of the constant fear of recurrence that survivors feel. And the singer Sheryl Crow, interviewed on CNN Thursday night, said that like many others she couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear when she heard Edwards' story — even though her own cancer was caught early and she believes she has been cured.

One grandmother of seven who's survived both breast and ovarian cancer says she still has fears, even at 73. Mickey Scherl was diagnosed at age 57 — the same age Edwards is now.

"I've never stopped worrying about recurrence," says Scherl, "but that's the reality. I can't live my life thinking about it. I have things to do, and people depend on me."

Scherl watched the Edwards' joint appearance, and was struck by John Edwards' words of support.

"He's obviously totally devoted to her, and to the country," Scherl said. "He said he'd be there for her, and I believe that. As long as she's feeling well, they should go for it."

And, says Scherl, she and countless others are rooting for them — politics aside.

"If I have anything to do with it," Scherl says, "she's going to make it."

JOCELYN NOVECK
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.





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Just two decades ago, a breast-cancer diagnosis was something a patient likely wouldn't share beyond close family and friends. Even the word "cancer" was barely spoken out loud.

So when Elizabeth Edwards greeted the waiting media with a smile, a frank account of her worsening illness and a declaration that her life would go on exactly as before, it was an important reminder to many in the cancer community of how far things had come - and how people like Edwards are representing a new face of the disease.

It wasn't just the striking openness displayed by Edwards and her husband, former Sen. John Edwards. It was the message that a patient can approach cancer, even the serious metastatic disease that Edwards now has, as a manageable condition similar to diabetes. As something that, while grave, can be lived with - even in the grueling contest for the White House, and perhaps even as first lady.




"I expect to do next week all the things I did last week," Elizabeth Edwards said, "and the week after that and next year at the same time, all the same things I did last week. ... I don't expect my life to be significantly different."

And her husband, acknowledging the cancer would never be cured, quoted their doctor as using the analogy of diabetes: "The disease never goes away. But you treat it. ... You take your medicine. And that's exactly what we intend to do."

To Dr. Richard Wender, president of the American Cancer Society, looking at advanced cancer this way is relatively new.

"The comparison to something like diabetes - that's a whole new concept," says Wender. In large part, he says, it's a function of new treatments and better drugs that can preserve quality of life for months or years.

People like Edwards can show that "cancer has been converted from a short battle that you either win or lose, to a chronic siege," he says. A chronic siege, he adds, that you can fight while still enjoying life and pursuing your goals.

Edwards "will have a very important impact for many individuals," Wender says. "She can offer hope and courage to others facing more advanced disease."

When Dana Kaplan, 41, watched replays of the Edwardses' news conference, she says she immediately felt as if it were she and her own husband talking. "That's exactly how we felt when I was diagnosed a second time," says the two-time breast-cancer survivor from Westfield, N.J.

Kaplan and her husband had just returned from their honeymoon when the second round of cancer was discovered, five years after the first. She elected to have a double mastectomy.

"We said, 'You know what, let's get through this and move on and keep as normal a life as possible,"' Kaplan says.

Information from: www.denverpost.com



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Arnon Krongrad, MD, CEO of the Krongrad Institute, has been appointed the founding Medical Advisor to the not-for-profit American Prostate Cancer Initiative. The appointment comes as the APCI gears up to launch a first-of-kind national prostate cancer awareness campaign in time for Father's Day.

Said Dr. Krongrad: "The American Prostate Cancer Initiative aims to do for men what women have done for breast cancer: raise awareness. Men are increasingly open to discussion of what had until now been a somewhat stigmatized illness. When we communicate better, we will more quickly develop better means of treating prostate cancer. The time for awareness is now."



The appointment by APCI recognizes Dr. Krongrad's history of innovation. In 1996, Dr. Krongrad and colleagues published the first dietary cancer prevention trial with selenium. Dr. Krongrad has formed clinical care models that uniquely combined urology, radiation oncology, and psychiatry. In 1999, Dr. Krongrad and colleagues published a Technical Manual on a revolutionary form of prostate cancer surgery, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, which profoundly reduces pain and bleeding. Dr. Krongrad's experience and vision will now be applied to the critical task of changing how we think and talk about prostate cancer.

The appointment by APCI quickly followed validation by the American Cancer Society of Dr. Krongrad's pioneering role in laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Writing in QuickFacts 2007, the ACS says: "LRP is associated with greater precision and control. LRP has advantages including less blood loss, less pain, and shorter hospital stays." Adds the ACS: "The factor most determining success is the surgeon's experience and focus."

The Krongrad Institute is America's longest running program for laparoscopic prostate cancer surgery. The Krongrad Institute is focused exclusively on laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. For information, log on to www.laprp.com.




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A women's medical group is joining the fray over the cervical cancer vaccine by issuing guidelines that call for inoculating all girls ages 11 and 12.

During a national meeting today in Orlando, the American Medical Women's Association also will recommend that doctors use advanced testing to check all women age 30 and older for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that can cause the cancer.

The association's president said the group wants to re-direct attention to the medical benefits of these new tools to fight cervical cancer, which kills more than 230,000 worldwide annually. In particular, the association wants to take a stand in favor of the vaccine -- a politically sensitive topic because HPV can be transmitted through sexual contact.




Just this week, Florida legislators discussed the possibility of making the vaccine mandatory, but decided against doing so.

"We wanted to reaffirm that girls really do need access to this vaccine," said Dr. Susan Ivey,the association's president and an adjunct associate professor at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. "We wanted to frame the discussion in a public-health context, where what you really want is to make your population resistant to diseases and one way to do that is through vaccination."

The HPV vaccine, approved by the government in June, already has been endorsed by an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Medical Women's Association says it is the first non-government body to recommend routine vaccination for young girls. Doctors say the vaccine is most effective when given before sexual activity starts � thus making the target ages 11 and 12.

That's why the vaccine has raised the ire of some religious and conservative groups, which say that widespread vaccination could be perceived as giving girls a green light to have sex.

Many states are considering mandatory vaccination policies, and a few, including Texas, already have adopted them. In Florida, legislators debated various options for educating parents about the vaccine and eventually requiring the shots. One measure was voted down; another was removed before it could be voted upon.

The vaccine targets four strains of human papillomavirus, including two that cause up to 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases. Many women will carry HPV during their lifetimes, but most will fight off the infections and never realize that they had it.

Even so, more than 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, and an estimated 3,600 women will die from the disease.

Ivey said her 14,000-member group is also pushing insurance companies to pay for the vaccine and the advanced HPV test. Both the test and the vaccine may not be readily available, and coverage varies from one health plan to another.

Beyond the vaccine, the American Women's Medical Association is advocating wider use of a relatively new test that goes beyond the standard Pap smear that typically is used to check women for cervical cancer.

This test -- which detects the genetic material of the human papillomavirus -- can help find early cases of cervical cancer that might be missed in the standard Pap, Ivey said.

Christine Baze is a Boston-area musician and cervical cancer survivor who is scheduled to perform Saturday for the association.

Baze, 38, underwent extensive surgery then subsequent radiation and chemotherapy to treat her advanced case of cervical cancer in 2000. She thinks the vaccine and HPV test can help a lot of women avoid that turmoil.

"It's incredible the tools that are available to prevent cancer now," she said. "I just don't want anybody to have to go through what I went through ... and the good news is, they don't have to. We have an amazing opportunity to eliminate this cancer."

Information from: www.orlandosentinel.com




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The ingredient curcumin -- found in the common curry spice, turmeric -- may help treat prostate cancer.

In the most recent issue of Cancer Research, researchers from the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Alabama in Birmingham report curcumin has anticancer effects.

"Curcumin, a turmeric root extract, has been shown to possess activity in the treatment and prevention of cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease," according to an article on UroToday.com in response to the findings of the University of Alabama study. "The molecular mechanism for its anticancer effect is largely unknown, although it is thought to inhibit the synthesis of MDM2, an oncoprotein known to bind p53 and modulate p21 expression."

Turmeric is ground from the dried root of a plant of the ginger family. Because it is one of the cheaper spices, researchers say if more studies find curcumin effective in treating prostate cancer it could be a cost effective, natural option for patients.

According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, about one in six Americans has prostate cancer. And more than 218,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with the disease this year.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.



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