BE
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VOL. 4 • NO. 8
© April 2010
Against the odds PH O TO C O U RT ESY O F AU G U STA W IL L IAM S
Thanks to significant medical advances over the years, Americans diagnosed with cancer are living longer with the once dreaded disease. Say this about Augusta Williams: she is fearless. Like the time she faced down a robber who invaded the beauty parlor where she stopped to have her hair done. Williams is equally combative when it comes to her health. Diagnosed with bone cancer in 1984 and breast cancer four years later, Williams plans to celebrate her 70th birthday — and almost 30 years of survival — next year in Australia. But don’t ask her about being a “survivor” of two different forms of often fatal cancers. “I’m a thriver,” she said. “I’m at a level of happiness and joy that I had not experienced before. I’m moving on with my life.” Indeed, thriving appears to be an operative word these days when it comes to living with cancer. As one of the most feared diseases, cancer is no longer an automatic death sentence. Because of significant medical advances, survival rates have improved dramatically over the years. As of January 2006, for instance, the National Cancer Institute Augusta Williams insists she is not a cancer survivor; she is a (NCI) estimated that more than 11 million people — or almost 4 percent of the population — had survived cancer. thriver. Williams battled both bone and breast cancers more than 20 years ago — and won. Furthermore, roughly 14 percent of those survivors had lived 20 years or more after their diagnosis. Cancer is still no joke. It is the second leading cause of sachusetts is 10 percent higher than that for whites, and death in this country and is now the leading cause of death roughly twice the rate for Hispanics and Asians. in Massachusetts. Blacks are the hardest hit by the disease. The numbers on disparity are similar across the counThe death rate from cancer in African Americans in Mastry. Blacks have the highest death rates in the four most
A radical solution As a registered dietitian at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Stacy Kennedy has heard it all before. She knows most people are busy. She knows processed foods are convenient and cheaper. But she also knows that a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables can help prevent cancer and ultimately, save lives. “Eating certain foods may decrease the risk of cancer or the aggressiveness of a current cancer,” Kennedy says. When it comes to fighting cancer, lifestyles matter. Just ask the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). The Institute contends that eating a plantbased diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, can help ward off many cancers. Add exercise and weight control to the mix and one third of all cancers each year in this country could be avoided, according to the AICR. Dr. Christopher Lathan, an oncologist at DFCI agrees. “There are certain lifestyle choices we can make to benefit us,” he said. “But you can still do those things and get cancer.” He stresses, however, that when a person follows a healthy lifestyle, “the odds are in your favor.” Though shrouded in many misperceptions, the science on cancer has become clearer over the years. First of all, it is not one disease. The cancer detected in the prostate
common cancers — lung, breast, prostate and colorectal — as well as several less common cancers. The causes of the disparity are many — lack of access to good care, lack of insurance, delayed diagnoses, fear and denial. And, unfortunately, misperceptions. A recent survey conducted by the American Cancer Society found that as many as 41 percent of the respondents clung to myths that pain medications were ineffective in treating cancer; that surgery caused the cancer to spread throughout the body; and that there is a conspiracy to withhold a cure in order to allow medical institutions to continue earning profits. Though generally considered to be more in tune with their bodies, women are also prone to misperceptions. Ask them to name the leading cause of death among women and they are likely to respond “breast cancer.” But that is incorrect. In fact, more women die of coronary heart disease — the leading cause of death — than the top ten cancers in women combined. But heart disease doesn’t have the same negative cloud that surrounds cancer. It’s so bad that many refuse to say the word “cancer,” and prefer terms like “the Big C” or “the C word.” Dr. Christopher Lathan, an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute specializing in lung cancer, admits he gets a bit frustrated. What’s worse than the misperceptions, Lathan says, is that blacks are less inclined to seek timely treatment for cancer and are slower to recognize the symptoms or understand how to prevent it. His recent research bore that out. Lathan and his coresearchers found that blacks are less likely to link lung cancer with smoking and think that pain or other symptoms must occur before a positive diagnosis can be made. There is one problem with these perceptions — they are all wrong. “At least 85 percent of all lung cancers are caused by tobacco,” said Lathan. “And lung cancer is the number one cancer killer.” Furthermore, while many cancers are silent for years Williams, continued to page 4
is completely different from the cancer detected in the colon. As a matter of fact, there are more than 100 different cancers; breast cancer alone has more than seven. Put simply, cancer is an unnecessary proliferation of cells, the body’s basic unit of life. Normally, cells grow and divide in an orderly fashion to keep the body sound. Even a scratch or cut sets this process into motion to replace the damaged goods. Cells also grow old and die. But every now and then problems arise. New cells form when the body does not need them or old cells refuse to go when their time is up. These extra cells form tumors. Some of them are benign, which means they can grow but do not spread to other parts of the body. Once removed, they seldom come back. A malignant tumor, on the other hand, is cancerous. These cells grow out of control, and invade and destroy tissues around them. What’s worse, they can break off, travel through the bloodstream and wreak havoc on other parts of the body. While overweight, obesity and lack of exercise are highly correlated to several types of cancers, including postmenopausal breast, endometrial (uterine) and colon cancer, the importance of healthy eating cannot be overlooked. Certain foods are protective for overall good health. The reason for this protection is a bit radical — literally. There is a constant process of building, dismantling and re-building of molecules to help the body function properly. Sometimes the process goes awry and results in an unstable molecule — or free radical — that hunts around for an acceptable partner to bond. The problem is that the free radical can do its share of damage during the search, most notably to the DNA, the body’s blueprint. A damaged DNA can result in a mutation, which can in turn result in cancer. But all’s not lost. The body has a defense system to stabilize the free radicals. A cadre of organisms called antioxidants devours the free radicals. Radicals, continued to page 4