Jolie's Decision to Be a Previvor of Breast and Ovarian Cancer

You may have noticed recently that the media can’t stop mentioning Angelina Jolie. For those of you who may not know her, she is an A-list actress who is well known for her adoptions and charity work in Third World countries. She also underwent a double mastectomy in February after learning that she has the BRCA 1 gene mutation.

This procedure makes Jolie a “previvor.” She doesn’t have cancer, but the gene mutation gave her an 85 percent chance that she would eventually be diagnosed with it. She underwent the procedure with that in mind, and it was only a matter of time before her attention shifted to ovaries. This is because the BRCA 1 gene doesn’t just cause breast cancer; the mutation also causes ovarian cancer.

To be a previvor of that as well, Jolie plans to have both of her ovaries removed.

Despite drawing inspiration from her decisions, readers should remember that normal women make these decisions every day. And whereas Jolie has enough money to not bat an eye at surgeries and a giant family already (a mix of biological and adopted children), most women must worry about financial concerns and family expansion. Also, it is still possible for Jolie to contract breast or ovarian cancer elsewhere in her body.

But thanks to her, women are becoming more aware of these “previvor” possibilities and the importance of genetic testing.

Facts about HPV

We've already told you that untreated HPV can result in cervical cancer. You've also probably heard that fact before. But what exactly is HPV? How dangerous is it really, can you tell whether you may have contracted it, and can you treat it?

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. Over 40 types affect the genital area, as well as the mouth and throat. HPV can be contracted during genital contact through intercourse or oral sex. Both genders can contract it. However, most people don’t realize they have it and may not show symptoms for years.

The good news is that the body’s immune system is capable of clearing out HPV from the body within two years. But a person could also show symptoms, which include:

• Genital warts, warts in the throat
• Abnormal cells—which could form cancer

In order to detect the infection, girls can undergo a Pap smear or an HPV test, which is similar to a Pap but specifically looks for HPV.   

Although there is no treatment for the virus itself, there are treatments for the symptoms. Those treatments include:

• Medications for the warts
• Removal of abnormal cells
• General cancer treatments
• Surgery

For more information, follow this link. 

Biomarkers and Determining Cancer Occurrences

Did you know that biomarkers can be used to determine ovarian cancer and recurrence? Maybe. But do you know what biomarkers are? How these biomarkers interact with each other affect outcomes of occurrence and recurrence.

Researchers try to find molecules called biomarkers that help determine a person’s likelihood of getting a disease or, if they have already been diagnosed, how far the disease has advanced. Genes, transcription factors and microRNAs are often used as biomarkers because these molecules can be heralds of disease or portents of susceptibility. 

Genes are segments of DNA that code for proteins or other molecules that perform the functions of the cell. Transcription factors regulate these genes by binding to specific DNA sequences, preventing or inducing the genes to be “expressed” at higher or lower levels.

MicroRNAs, as their name suggests, are small RNA molecules that regulate an intermediate stage of gene expression. Transcription factors and microRNAs also can regulate each other.
The relationships among transcription factors, microRNAs and target genes can be visualized as interconnected networks. These intricate webs are often used to determine how diseases such as cancer proceed. Analyzing how these networks function in cancer can offer insight into how tumor cells proliferate and differentiate, undergo (or resist) programmed cell death, and how likely they are to become invasive.

Learn more about the recent research and other findings by following this link. 

Avoidable Death of Young Woman Stresses Importance of Early Detection

Too many women are turned away at doctors’ offices when they request cancer tests—just because they’re “too young for cancer.” Often, all it takes is to transfer to another doctor and get a second opinion from someone who will listen to you. But sometimes that doesn’t happen.

A case in point is a 26-year-old woman from Bristol, England, who was deemed “too young” to be given a cervical smear test, and then died of cervical cancer in February 2013. Her story is why it is so important to trust your instincts, seek a second opinion, and rail against legislation.

Becky Ryder visited her general physician in September 2010 for abnormal bleeding, which can be a sign of either cervical or ovarian cancer. But because she wasn’t yet 25, the doctor refused to administer a smear test and, instead, diagnosed her with “harmless cervical erosion” and prescribed her a treatment.

Finally sticking to her guns after months of disappointing appointments, she visited another doctor for a second opinion and underwent a biopsy. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in March 2011 and chose to freeze her eggs in order to have children later. Despite radiotherapy and chemotherapy, she died before her third wedding anniversary.

If the first doctor had allowed the cervical smear test, Ryder may have been saved. However, the first doctor wasn’t just at fault in this case. England legislations had changed and raised the smear test’s minimum age requirement from 20 to 25.

An article on dailymail.co.uk explains Ryder’s story. It states:

“The Mercedes Curnow Foundation For The Early Detection Of Cervical Cancer now campaigns for a reduction in the screening age to 20. It also funds private smear tests. But the Department of Health said routine screening of under-25s did ‘more harm than good’, giving too many false positive results that lead to needless treatment.”

Follow this link for more information.

Dave Brown Encounters Ovarian Cancer Stories During Trek Across America

By now, most of us have seen the popular movie “Forrest Gump,” the story of a man with a learning disability who tells his life story to strangers at a bus stop. He grew up in the south with Jenny as his only friend. He goes on to become a Vietnam war hero and then the man who ran across the country, crisscrossing from coast to coast a few times. “Run, Forrest, run!” is a joke that most people use without a second thought.

In real life, Dave Brown may not be Forrest Gump, but he’s just as determined to walk across the country. But instead of doing it because he “just felt like running,” Dave is promoting ovarian cancer awareness and fundraising for research because his wife had died of the disease a few years ago.

In “Forrest Gump,” Forrest grows a beard and loses weight throughout his trek. In real life, Dave has actually gained weight because of support from residents across the county. On April 11, Dave had crossed into Indiana from Ohio on his 42 walking day.

“I am definitely going to be the first person to walk across the country and gain weight,” he blogged after receiving cookies and other treats from an Ohio woman who lost her sister and mother-in-law to ovarian cancer.

And like Forrest Gump, Dave has gained a following on the road. A steady stream of walkers have joined Brown throughout his trek.

“I had expected my walk to be much more of a walk of solitude,” he blogged. ”Nine of the last ten days someone has walked at least part of the day with me which has been great.”

To donate to help Dave’s cause, click here.

To read Dave’s blogs, click here.

Celebrities with Ovarian Cancer

Some of the best people to use as models for the fight against ovarian cancer are people, friends, or family members that you know personally. Because the disease touches your heart through these people, you’re more likely to advocate for research and a cure.

However, if those people aren’t available, then most of us turn toward celebrities in order to live vicariously through them. So what happens when one of our favorite celebrities is diagnosed with cancer? We feel like the disease has touched our lives as well. These people become figureheads for the fight against the disease, and we cheer for their survival. Most of the time, they don’t survive because ovarian cancer is often discovered in a late stage. However, as you can tell from the list below, many women were able to live long and fulfilling lives. Take a look at this sampling, and check out the link at the bottom for a much more extensive list.

• Evelyn Ankers, American film actress (died at age 67)
• Eileen Barton, Brooklyn-born American singer (died at age 81)
• Kathy Bates, Oscar-winning American actress, surviving; later treated for breast cancer
• Laurie Beechman, American actress/singer (died at age 44)
• Marcheline Bertrand, American film actress; mother of Angelina Jolie and James Haven (died at age 56)
• Carol Bly, American short-story writer/essayist (died at age 77)
• Diem Brown, Reality TV star (MTV's The Real World and Road Rules, as well as MTV's documentary of her experience with the disease), surviving
• Dorothy Brunson, American businesswoman; first African American woman to own radio and television stations (died at age 72)
• Pam Brown, American politician (died at age 58)
• Carol Channing, American stage and musical comedy actress, surviving
• Maureen Connolly, tennis great; first woman to win four grand slam titles in one year (died age 34)

Follow this link for a much larger list. 

German Lab Apologizes and Retracts Info about Henrietta Lacks's Genome

It seems that the German lab that published Henrietta Lacks’s genome realized its mistake, apologized, and “withdrew” the data from an online journal.

Henrietta Lacks was a poor Virginian tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors. Society recently became aware of her and her cells because of Rebecca Skloot’s 2011 book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” The book’s summary explains the many uses that science has gleaned from HeLa cells. The summary says:

“HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.”

Science has used her cervical cancer cells, taken in 1951 without her consent and called HeLa cells, to develop vaccines (such as the one for polio) and treatments, and to unravel the secrets of cancer. Lacks is called the immortal woman because even though she died and is buried in an unmarked grave, her cells have been replicated and kept alive to this day. But because her cells were taken without her consent in 1951, her family members are concerned that the world now has information regarding their genetic traits--the most personal of personal information. In addition, the family has not received monetary compensation or royalties from all the experiments and scientific advances.

Follow this link for more information.