MARG HELGENBERGER INVESTIGATES BREAST CANCER
November 11, 2002
Spotlight Health
By Adele Slaughter, with medical adviser Stephen A. Shoop, M.D.
On CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Marg Helgenberger portrays a criminal investigator dedicated to tracking down murderers. In real life, as the daughter of a cancer survivor, she’s helping to find a cure for real serial killer — breast cancer.
“I have been involved with the breast cancer cause for several years,” says Helgenberger. “My mother, Kay Snyder, is a 22-year breast cancer survivor. So when they asked me if I’d host the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this year, I was thrilled.”
Recently over 9,000 race participants joined Helgenberger at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The event raised over $800,000 to help fund local breast cancer projects as well as basic clinical research at the national level. Nancy Brinker founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 1982 after her 36-year old sister died of breast cancer.
With her mother by her side, Helgenberger walked this year’s 5K course and recalled her mother’s battle with the disease that will claim over 40,000 American lives in 2002.
“In the early 80’s, my mother had gone to a couple of doctors prior to her diagnosis,” says Helgenberger. “She kept saying, ‘I know there’s a lump here.’ The first two doctors said, ‘Oh no, don’t worry about it.’ They overlooked it because she had cystic breasts. She went to a third doctor for another opinion, and it turned out she had to have a mastectomy, and a few days later they had to take the other breast as well.”
“I wear a prosthesis,” says Snyder. “My goal was to get reconstructive surgery, but my husband developed MS and died, which took my attention off reconstruction. I got remarried and my husband tells me that he likes me the way I am and anyway, he can get closer to me. Plus you pay all this money to have them taken off, then why pay more to have them put back?”
Collecting evidence
In the United States this year, 200,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in women, while approximately 1,500 men will develop the disease. California alone reports over 20,000 new invasive breast cancer cases each year.
Every woman runs the risk of developing breast cancer. Although more women develop breast cancer as they get older, 80% of women diagnosed with the disease have no other known risk factors.
“For women’s health in general, because the statistics are pretty high in breast cancer, the message is for women to be conscientious,” says Helgenberger. “Sometimes women think that they might be safe from breast cancer, because it is more prevalent for women in their 40’s and 50’s, but even women in their late 20’s and early 30’s can get it.”
Researchers have noticed that women with the following factors run a higher risk for developing breast cancer:
Family history of breast or ovarian cancer
Under 12 at the time of the first menstrual period
Late onset of menopause — after 55
Never being pregnant, or having the first child after 30
Presence of breast cancer genes BRCA1 or BRCA2
In part because of the Komen Foundation’s support in research — over 600 grants totaling $70 million — breast cancer treatments have become more and more effective. Currently, 80% of women who develop breast cancer go into remission. And if breast cancer is caught early, most women survive the disease.
“Back when my mother had cancer, the treatment was hard-core and radical,” recalls Helgenberger. “She was in chemotherapy for six to eight months, and it just devastated her, physically and emotionally. But she has a strong will and a strong faith. I never really doubted that she was going to make it through.”
“It is helpful for women to realize that we have come such a long way in our ability to treat breast cancer,” says Snyder. “Remember the first year is the hardest and the first five years are the most anxious. Treatment is a personal choice. I realize not everyone is as lucky as I have been, but 99% of recovering is your attitude.”
Pattern Analysis
Researchers are working not only to extend lives, but to find a cure as well.
The problem with cancer is that multiple genes become abnormal, and it is difficult to know which the critical genes are. Researchers look for genetic patterns.
“There’s some interesting research that has to do with the process of fingerprinting cancers — being able to take cancer cells and figure out its genetic compliment,” says Christy Russell, co-director of Lee Breast Center at the University of Southern California. “We’re figuring out which genes are working normally, and which are mutated. Research is working to discover breast cancer with specific genetic abnormalities that will predictably respond to a specific therapy.”
“Eventually, we will be able to do a biopsy of a woman’s cancer; because it has this genetic complement, we can put her on a specific therapy to treat that,” adds Russell. “What is exciting about that is that we have the technology to do the testing.”
Today, doctors can test for a gene abnormality called HER-2 / neu; and a drug called Herceptin may stop the growth of the cancer cells that have that abnormal HER2 / neu gene.
Many, many more patients will be helped as research identifies the different kinds of breast cancer.
“I think it is really important for women to be aware, and do the self-exams, and have the mammograms,” says Helgenberger. “Some people say you shouldn’t have mammograms until you’re 35 or 40; but if you have family history, you should have them earlier. For example, because of my mom, I had my first one when I was 30. I didn’t have it yearly. I had it every three years. Now I have a mammogram every year.”
In addition to having a yearly mammogram after the age of 40, the Komen Foundation recommends:
Do a self-exam monthly, beginning by age 20
Have your doctor examine you every three years from 20-40; every year after 40
Get an annual mammography after the age of 40
Consult your physician if you have a family history of breast cancer
“For women who develop cancer, it is the time to get educated, get second opinions, and reach out to support groups,” says Russell. “It is time not to be buried in the fear. Get proactive about your options.”
“Women who survive breast cancer, even though it’s nothing they would have wished on their worst enemy — they have gone through it, and have looked something very frightening in the eye,” says Helgenberger. “And that’s something to be celebrated. I think that is why these events for survivors that celebrate their survivorship are fantastic. There is a lot of healing that takes place when survivors unite.”