Kpeli 1

Yanira Kpeli
Mrs. Douglas
Eng 112-78
Nov. 6, 2014

Round Table Essay

Breast cancer is a serious disease which affects one in eight women. Though there is no
known cause for breast cancer there are some risks factors one should take into consideration.
Some risks factors to consider are family history of the disease, increased exposure to estrogen,
first pregnancy after the age of 31, or no pregnancy at all, being overweight, and having had been
previously diagnosed with cancer. It has been said that getting mammograms is a great way to
increase ones chances of survival. If a person is diagnosed with breast cancer, they have
different treatment options depending on the results from the pathologist who test the tissue
sample from the biopsy. Men too can be diagnosed with breast cancer but women are 100%
more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
The voices in the round table, regarding breast cancer are, Susan Love, Katherine Hobson
and the Harvard Medical School. Each voice talks about different aspects of breast cancer. Susan
Love explains the politics of breast cancer and explains how little awareness of breast cancer
there was in the past and the abundance of knowledge we have on the topic today and why.
Katherine Hobson described how little treatment options women had in the past and compares it
to choices women have today. The Harvard Medical School demonstrates the different types of
invasive and noninvasive breast cancer diagnoses, risk factors, treatments, ways to help prevent
breast cancer and symptom.

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Susan Love explains in, The Politics of Breast Cancer, how back in the 1950s there
was only one group named Reach to Recovery, which was a group of women who were breast
cancer survivors, and would go to the hospitals to talk to recently diagnosed women. Soon after
supports groups were formed, but members did not have medical degrees. In the past, breast
cancer was a disease which was not talked about. Once celebrities like Shirley Temple Black,
First Lady Betty Ford and then governor of New York, let the world know they had breast cancer
people realized how serious and dangerous the disease really was and still is today.
Susan Love did not realize how much the lack of support from the White House affected
the women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer until she was on tour for her book.
Susan said sarcastically, in the article named, The Politics of Breast Cancer, I dont know
what we have to do to make President [HW] Bush wake up and do something about breast
cancer. Maybe we should march topless to the White House. Soon after, she got a huge
response from women who wanted to know where they could sign up for the march. The
response made her realize a national organization was needed for these women to get the
answers to their questions and the help they need.
Susan started speaking to leaders of different organizations and scheduled an open
meeting in Washington for all of those interested in the cause. The day of the meeting they had
no idea who would show up, and to their surprise, the room was packed. Representatives from
different well known organizations came; such as, The American Cancer Association, American
Jewish Congress and many more. On that day, they started The National Breast Cancer
Organization. Fran Visco, a breast cancer survivor and lawyer from Philadelphia, was elected
president and she still is today. Their first project was called Doing the Write Thing in 1991.
The purpose of the project was to collect 175,000 letters for the 175,000 women diagnosed with

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the disease and take them to the White House, but they were overwhelmed and received 600,000
letters. They boxed the letters and took them to the White House where women who had
mastectomies lifted these boxes on to the conveyer belt because the guards did not help them.
Though they were ignored by the White House, Congress finally granted them forty three million
dollars. After, what they considered a minor success, they held meetings with scientists and
realized they needed another $300 million. Through much fighting and pursuance, Senator Tom
Harkin was able to get them $310 million dollars. The hard work was a great success and the
beginning of the awareness as well as research. They started more projects and eventually were
able to get into the White House and meet with President Clinton about the issue. Four years
after they started the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act was enacted; this was a big win
because it helped the low income women who were screened and diagnosed with cancer.
Katherine Hobson is a health and science writer based out of New York City. Katherine
wrote an article named, New Treatment for Breast Cancer, where she compares the increase in
survival rate and decrease in recurrence between old and new treatments/drugs. Herceptin, which
is a drug previously given to women to give them some extra time because the cancer had spread
to different parts of the body, is now being used in combination with chemotherapy. This
combination has reduced the recurrence rate from thirty three percent to fifteen percent from
those treated with chemotherapy alone. Though the women are not considered cleared and cured
from the disease, they have hope and knowledge that new drugs and treatment methods are still
in the works. New treatments are formed based on the new information discovered about the
disease.
Women diagnosed with HER2, a breast cancer tumor which makes too much protein, had
little options after chemotherapy. After a few studies completed by researchers, it was concluded

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that Herceptin was a successful drug to use after chemotherapy, for those diagnosed with HER2,
which is a very aggressive tumor. Women now have a drug that can increase their chances of
survival, something they did not previously have. Many women will be alive in the future that
would probably not have survived the disease. Researchers are trying to figure out new treatment
methods, as well as trying to figure out who it will work for and who it will not, is a continuous
struggle.
One drug that isnt limited to a specific tumor type is Avasin, a drug already shown to
help in other cancers by choking off the tumors blood supply. Genentech, a biotechnology
corporation and Roche, a Swiss global health care company, both stated that a combination of
chemo and Avastin doubles ones survival without recurrence. For example, a woman named,
Heraleen Broome, was going through chemo when she was informed that the cancer has spread
to her lungs. Broome was about to give up, but decided to stay in chemo and try Avastin and
soon after the eleven tumors in her lungs turned into three. With all the good results from the
new treatment methods, there are also negative side effects. Herceptin for example, can cause
heart problems in a small percentage of patients. A low-fat diet may be a risk free and
inexpensive way to reduce recurrence of breast cancer. There are also studies which demonstrate
that exercise could increase the patients chance of survival. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee
that a healthy lifestyle will beat the disease.
No matter what ones background, age or beliefs are, each breast cancer diagnoses is
unique to the individuals. Also, patients treatment decisions will be different from others based
on insurance, their doctors recommendations, and what will work best for them. One thing to
take into consideration, if diagnosed, is to ensure your doctor is up to date on all the therapies
available. It is also important to get involved, informed and participate in available clinical trials.

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Clinical trials allow patients to be constantly monitored, receive better care and given new
treatments not available to others.
The article from the Harvard Medical School named, Breast Cancer informs readers on
exactly what is breast cancer from beginning to end. Breast cancer is the uncontrolled growth of
abnormal cells that can develop in one of several areas of the breast, including the ducts that
carry milk to the nipple, small sacs that produce milk and non-glandular tissue. The main forms
of invasive breast cancer, starting from most common to least common are: invasive ductal
carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, medullary, mucinous, and tubular carcinomas, Pagets
disease and inflammatory carcinoma. The non-invasive or precancerous conditions are known as:
ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS).
Most women would only be concerned about breast cancer if she or her physician felt a
lump, but there are some symptoms all women should know. The symptoms are a lump or
thickening in the breast or under the arm, a clear or bloody discharge from the nipple, crusting or
scaling of the nipple, a nipple that no longer sticks out (inverted), redness or swelling of the
breast, dimpling on the breast skin resembling the texture of an orange, a change on the contours
of the breast and a sore ulcer on the skin of the breast that does not heal. Once a physician finds a
patient having any symptoms or abnormalities, a mammogram would be recommended, which
will be followed by an ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A biopsy would follow
if the lump is found to be solid. A pathologist will examine and test the tissue sample from the
biopsy and determine what type of breast cancer the patient has. The results from the pathologist
will help determine the patients treatment method. Breast cancer will continue to grow and
spread until it is treated, according to the Harvard Medical School. Bones scans, CT (computed
tomography) scans or PET scans could be required to ensure the cancer has not spread.

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Most treatment for breast cancer begins with surgery. A mastectomy removes the entire
breast. A lumpectomy removes only the cancerous tumor and a small amount of healthy tissue
around it, according to the Harvard Medical School. Testing can be completed on the cancerous
breast tissue removed in surgery. The testing will help determine if and what kind of therapy is
needed. According to the Harvard Medical School, The types of therapy are radiation therapy,
chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy or a combination of therapies. The therapies
listed help lower the chances of recurrence of the spread of cancer. Physicians might prescribe
chemotherapy prior to surgery in order to compress large tumors, this process will make it easier
to remove the tumor in surgery. Early detection is important because women whose tumors are
found small and restricted to a certain area have a ninety percent chance of surviving five years
or longer. However, if the disease spreads, chances for survival are lowered to twenty percent. It
is very important for women to continue to have regular check-ups and mammograms if they
have had breast cancer on one breast, even if they are still in treatment, because they are at
higher risk of getting the disease on the other breast.
The three voices in this essay explain different aspects of breast cancer but in the end
they have one thing in common, which is bringing awareness and knowledge to their readers. All
the voices, in their own way, demonstrate the seriousness of breast cancer. The fight to bring
awareness to the world is discussed in Susan Loves article. Loves article is the reason
researches were and still are able to learn so much about the disease and new treatment, and
better treatments, were discovered. The evolution of the treatment methods were described in
Katherine Hobsons article. Of course, all the information documented by the Harvard Medical
School wouldnt be available to readers today without information required from the past.

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Today we know that breast cancer is a serious disease: every woman should be concerned
about it. Thankfully, there are treatments available today to help women beat breast cancer and
new developments about the disease are still in progress. The Harvard Medical School and is a
place where the members of the round table come together with researchers to find a cure for
breast cancer.

Work Cited:
"Breast Cancer." Harvard Medical School Health Topics A-z. Boston: Harvard Health
Publications, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 20 October 2014.

Hobson, Katherine. "New Treatments for Breast Cancer." Cancer. Ed. Clayton Farris
Naff. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Contemporary Issues Companion. Rpt. from
"Beating the Odds." U.S. News & World Report (13 June 2005). Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

"The Politics of Breast Cancer." Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book. New York: Da Capo,
2010. Credo Reference. Web. 07 October 2014.