I can't say it better than the summary printed by the AMA Morning News so I have just copied and pasted the article here. I don't know if it is better to believe a cancer is random and unpreventible or to carry the guilt or anger that something you did caused it. Furthermore, it seems like the cancers that are suspect are the worst of the worst. Not that any cancer is a good thing.
So the next question is what can be done to prevent the gene mutation that causes the cancer? I am not convinced early detection is the answer. I read an article years ago that said people were not really living longer with breast cancer; that it was just being diagnosed earlier making it seem like they were living longer. I can't quote statistics but I do believe that very little has changed about a true cure rate for breast cancer. In fact the most recent news is that women are receiving more radiation than necessary. What is a girl to do?
Sorry to be off-topic but this article was really interesting.
Archive timeline: 2014: May and June - preparing for surgery, July - surgery and post op problems,
August - recovery and physical therapy, September - thinking medically, October - getting back to
normal. November. -still in recovery, December-6 months and holding.
So the next question is what can be done to prevent the gene mutation that causes the cancer? I am not convinced early detection is the answer. I read an article years ago that said people were not really living longer with breast cancer; that it was just being diagnosed earlier making it seem like they were living longer. I can't quote statistics but I do believe that very little has changed about a true cure rate for breast cancer. In fact the most recent news is that women are receiving more radiation than necessary. What is a girl to do?
Sorry to be off-topic but this article was really interesting.
Leading the News
Most cancers may be caused by random mutations.
The Wall Street Journal (1/2, Whalen, Subscription Publication) reports that research published in Science suggests that most cancers may be caused by random mutations occurring in DNA during stem-cell division, rather than by inherited genes or an unhealthy lifestyle.
The U-T San Diego (1/2, Fikes) reports that investigators “examined the frequency of cell divisions in 31 tissue types over an average person’s lifetime, compared with the lifetime incidence of cancer in those 31 tissues.”
TIME (1/2, Regan) reports that “after examining” the “31 cancer types,” the “researchers found 22 were from mutations in stem cells that could not be prevented.” The “cancers that could be explained with biological bad luck included pancreatic, leukemia, bone, testicular, ovarian and brain cancer.”
The New York Daily News (1/2, Engel) reports that the researchers “concluded that 65% of all cancers are because of random genetic mutations that happen when cells divide, and that more needs to be done about catching cancer ‘at early, curable stages,’ according to co-author Cristian Tomasetti.”
Archive timeline: 2014: May and June - preparing for surgery, July - surgery and post op problems,
August - recovery and physical therapy, September - thinking medically, October - getting back to
normal. November. -still in recovery, December-6 months and holding.
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