Document 01nBxR4dJgV7wBoqg5a2p0BO

I . r Greensboro Daily-News, Tues., Oct. 9,1979 - : ' :.:? i#?'>:S<? `*O,; A ' ' . :;-* ' iv ?:- :*-*$*5*$i,riy\f-iiS^Vvfft'liii.r. !: ; r*. 11 . ' ' fei'ii'Vii!: i- OMAHA, Neb. (AP)?- About 15 mil-, "Because of the excess incidence of lion Americans are cancer''.'time' v breast cancer, in her. family, 1 advised bombs" with an enormously high risk of her to have prophylactic (preventative) developing cancer -- or of passing their / removal of her other breast even though high-risk genes .-.to: ]their ^childrenifre} . ; after extensive testing,-we saw absolute- searchers say. : " -' '!' fly no evidence of cancer" Lynch said. ""I* i * But doctors at the Creighton School of ff The woman sought opinions from four Medicine here say they, have a way to ; other doctors. "Two did not think there defuse what ..they' call "the Hiroshima. was -sufficient evidence to proceed with I among us" - - compile a complete family1 preventative surgery,-! Lynch said, but, history; 'f 'y' % V the. woman approved the.1 second opera- -A": . :V--. (!.iyp . The doctors say`proper interpretation? of family histories can lead to early detection, control -A possibly{prevention. of; fiftibn.!':'?'};"-;;';/ . 'f i-fVi' When) the surgery was performed, an ff.yiearly tumor was discovered}; \ ; ^hereditary/cancer.'-' l-iV-':??: ifl,1-111 Lynch'said breast cancer checks for a? v"What's so important here, is the pa-";ffy relatives of women whose histories indi- I tent simplicity in gathering family histo ; cate patterns of cancer should differ ries --Jit's just there," said Dr.--, Henry..-; k}f from the rest of the population. Lynch. "That's the beauty of this. It may , Hr - be simpler than some of the most expen-, f,;} " "More vigilance is indicated, more fre- sive and tedious diagnostic tests in medi-f '-iiquent examinations by physicians and -cine." y- :- If;- ' ' ' i }.}} more ./meticulous examinations,"/Lynch .". Lynch aiid; Dr. William Albano are; f said. -; '."f ' ; members of the Creighton research ff V Researchers are also looking beyond -ilteam which,published its findings in They y family histories, trying to identify, chem- ; Journal of the AmericanMedicafAsso-, ;c!}';icals in families with the cancer-carrying 1 Iciation last month:1--1' " f;: genes, f ,, ' ., ' ;" 1 - " Lynch and Albano said their research;}Iff With those chemicals isolated, they shows that between 10 percent and 20 }| r;say, persons destined to develop cancer ; percent of all varieties of cancer are.;* can be identified through tests V even .transmitted from generation to genera--*/-.`fat birth -- and seek preventative'treat-- tion. At the high,end of the estimate is 1!;i" breast cancer; one of the deadliest . ment. But a ' '. | big hurdle in. establishing, the ..V: ; ' H- '. forms. ' y; ". . family history as an important tool, to . "We. think about 20 percent of all , ; detect or control family cancers, is. the breast cancer is familial," Lynch said. . doctors themselves.' ' : ;; ' "So given the fact that the American "The philosophy that most doctors, Cancer Society estimates that 107,000}; live with today (is) that cancer is an on . U.S. women will develop breast cancer i , vironmental disease," Lynch said. "But -during 1979, we predict a little over 21, the situation has changed, radically.. 1 000 of those cases will be familial cases. . There are now over 100 clearly defined ; .(.: vi -."This means these-' 21,000 women all .hereditary cancer and pre-cancer dis- have families that'' bugfitSto;-beJiio|lfiedj''^eases.,w!,-,:;; .. ' - ; " " ' ' or made aware of this." m ? : '`We're dealing with a cancer risk that ..} Albano described what usually hap pens in a family which passes the breast, cancer gene from mother to daughter to * far exceeds that of cigarette smoking, as bestos exposure and other occupational ; risks such as with uranium miners.' granddaughter. ; f. "Because of the genetic predictability , "Each generation, these daughters get : born. While they're still teen-agers, they .. , watch their mothers die of breast can cer. Then they get married, have their of specific target organs in the body for cancer, we're talking about being able to identify -- at very early ages -- those destined to develop cancer," Lynch said. own families and die of breast cancer A patient "pedigree" is compiled by when they're 35. . asking questions about ages of living par } ; "The key is not just identifying the pa tient with cancer but identifying their families," Albano said. Lynch said a relatively young woman . who'd -had one cancerous breast re moved came to him for counseling. When a family history was completed, Lynch, saw a pattern of cancer. ents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and children, the ages at death of any of ;^,: them, and whether any had been diag- ;. nosed as having cancer. If it appears a family cancer pattern is emerging, the pedigree is expanded to include aunts and uncles -- even great-, aunts and great-uncles. . <f:.v . s- f iv-. PCB-ARCH-EXT0378569