Exercise For Prevention
There is a link between exercise and breast cancer
prevention, as well as prevention of cancer
recurrence. Doing regular exercise helps reduce body
fat and improves muscle tone.
The American Cancer Society says; "Evidence suggests that one third of the 550,000 cancer deaths that occur in the United States each year are due to unhealthy diet and insufficient physical activity."
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Dr. Rache M. Simmons |
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 Dr.
Rache M. Simmons is a breast surgeon at the New York-Presbyterian
Weill-Cornell Medical Center's Strang Breast Cancer Center. She holds a
position on the teaching faculty as Associate Professor of Surgery at
The New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell
University. Dr. Simmons received her bachelor's degree cum laude from
Duke University and her medical degree from Duke Medical School.Dr. Simmons is the immediate Past-President of the American Society of Breast Surgeons. She is the author of numerous scientific articles, abstracts, and book chapters on the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. She has lectured throughout the world, including recently at the International Oncology Expert Forum in Berlin, and the American Hospital of Paris. She is a medical consultant to several leading U.S. women's' publications such as GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MAGAZINE, HARPER'S BAZAAR, and GLAMOUR and is a television commentator and advisor for Fox News TV, ABC Evening News, CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, and TV Spain. She is currently involved in multiple research studies investigating ways to improve treatment options for women diagnosed with breast cancer. Much of this research is evaluating methods of breast cancer treatment that require less invasive and more minimal surgical techniques. In the fight against breast cancer, it seems, the two most powerful weapons are education and money. Citing the successes of women’s fight against the deadly disease—the most common form of cancer among U.S. women—it has been reported that the government now devotes $700 million a year to breast cancer research, significantly more than a decade or so back, when women began to realize that government funding for their health concerns seemed woefully inadequate in comparison to other research grant monies. “Seventy percent of women are now involved in screening,, but for us the clock is ticking. Every three minutes a woman in this country is diagnosed with breast cancer.” Such statistics paint a bleak picture but there is reason for hope, both for finding a cure and because “it’s a different breast cancer than it was for our mothers.” Public awareness has helped to alleviate the shame and isolation from patients’ experiences. Dr. Rache Simmons, Professor of Surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, has also presented hopeful news about new advances in surgical treatments. Simmons and her colleagues, who use a simple needle biopsy to diagnose breast cancer, are currently investigating a similar treatment for cancerous growths. A needle, no larger than a matchstick, is inserted into the breast, where tiny wires then attach to the tumor, destroying it with heat. Another promising procedure uses the same technology to freeze the tumor, destroying the cells’ structure but leaving the DNA inside the body, providing a vaccine-like protection against recurrence. Simmons reported that this technique has already been used to treat benign tumors, “and it works beautifully.” Due to advances in screening–only 2 percent of patients are diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer, with 70 percent diagnosed in stages 0 or 1–fewer and fewer women (20-25 percent, according to Simmons) are faced with the prospect of mastectomy, which can have horribly disfiguring results. The skin-sparing and areola-sparing mastectomies that Simmons regularly performs improve cosmetic outcomes by leaving plastic surgeons with a mold to reconstruct the breast’s original shape, often with fat and skin taken from the abdomen. Simmons strongly believes that “a reconstruction is important for a woman of any age.” Despite advances in treatment and surgical procedures, early detection is still a woman’s best protection. NABCO recommends that all women over the age of 20 have their breasts examined by a doctor or nurse every year and do monthly self-breast exams; women over 40 should have a mammogram each year as well as an annual breast exam by a doctor or nurse and should continue to examine their breasts every month. Visit www.nabco.org for more information or to sign up for their free e-mail reminder service for mammograms and breast exams. Nutritional Interventions as a Strategy for Prevention of Breast Cancer: Based on studies in large populations of different countries and experiments in laboratory animals, nutritional interventions have been propose3d as a potential method of reducing breast cancer risk. There is no data at the present time to prove whether or not such interventions are effective. These interventions are attractive because they are likely to be safe. Many consider such interventions to be consistent with a healthy lifestyle and have the added benefit of possibly preventing heart disease, stroke and other cancers such as large bowel cancer. The following nutritional strategies may be considered. Dietary Fat: The "normal American diet" contains 40% of the calories as fat. It is believed that a reduction of this to below 30% and optimally to 20%, which is similar to the Pritikin diet, may be beneficial. The amount of fat is one factor but the type of fat may also be another. For example, polyunsaturastes such as corn oil, sunflower oil, etc. promote breast cancer in experimental animals. In contrast other polyunsaturates such as olive oil and oils derived from marine sources may be beneficial. Fish oils, otherwise known as omega-3 fatty acids, are found in Arctic fish such as salmon, bluefish and sardines. These oils are also being evaluated for their potential benefit for prevention of heart attach and stroke. Dietary Fiber: The Western diet is low in its fiber content. Fiber has the ability to remove estrogen products from the body. It is difficult to obtain enough dietary fiber to make a significant impact; however, adding bran to the diet is effective but not palatable. Fiber supplements, which are non-prescription, are obtainable from a drug store. Various formulations are available, such as Metamucil and Citrucel, the latter being a very palatable form of fiber. Fiber is also currently being evaluated as a preventative agent for colon cancer and a method of lowering blood cholesterol. Cruciferous Vegetables: Our own research group in the Strang-Cornell Cancer Research Laboratory is interested in components of the cruciferous vegetables that may have potentially beneficial effects on estrogen metabolism (breakdown) These compounds are found in high concentration in vegetables which include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, etc. This information is meant as a broad outline for preventive health maintenance. Breast self examination, annual mammography after the age of 40 and annual physical exams remain effective methods of reducing breast cancer mortality. The primary area of Dr. Simmons' research is developing methods for less invasive treatment of breast cancer. One of these techniques investigates if women with ductile carcinoma insitu (DCIS) who take tamoxifen after lumpectomy and radiation do as well as women who take anastrazole after lumpectomy and radiation. This research trial is being conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project and is supported by the National Cancer Institute. Another exciting area of breast cancer treatment is bone
marrow aspiration. This is a simple technique to detect breast cancer
micrometastases.(Not all breast cancer surgeons perform this test,
ask if your Dr. plans to do a bone marrow aspiration.) The bone
marrow aspiration is performed on surgical patients who have invasive
disease at the time of surgery with the removal of 4-6 cc of bone marrow
from the iliac crest. This sample is then sent to pathology to detect
breast cancer cells. The presence of metastatic cells in bone marrow is
associated with an increased risk of relapse, and decreased survival.
The presence of these micrometastases is not correlated with axillary
nodal status. This information is used in conjunction with axillary
status to assess risk and recommend therapeutic options such as
chemotherapy. This process is done prior to surgery in the physician's
office and uses extreme cold to destroy the cancer. There is no
discomfort associated with this procedure. The surgeon will perform a
standard lumpectomy removing the cryoablated tumor the following week.
The tissue, which is removed, will be sent to pathology, as usual and
examined by the pathologist. In addition to the standard evaluation of
the tissue, the pathologist will determine the effectiveness of the
Cryoablation procedure at destroying breast cancer. Data has shown that there is no increase in recurrence rates with skin sparing mastectomy and the cosmetic result is far superior. Areolar-sparing mastectomy is an extension of the concept of skin sparing mastectomy for appropriate patients such as those with non-invasive breast cancers. “Breast cancer survivors tend to go through phases,” “Disbelief, Panic, Dread, Anxiety, and finally, I think, the emergence of a tremendous Sense of Strength and Belonging, even though this is the last club you had wanted to join.”
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