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Chris Christensen had always been the corporate dad, the man with the edge.

He wore conservative blue suits over custom shirts and pricey ties. He drove modest but impressive cars and sent his kids to the right schools.

The only place he let loose was on his motorcycle.

He was a sales executive with Nortel Technologies. But when the company began downsizing, he quit to work for a start-up company, which failed.

Interviewing in his 50s proved harder than expected. And, since he couldn’t get a job, he hit the road on a 30-day, cross-country motorcycle trip. He grew his hair, kept a journal and began to imagine himself as Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck or Jack Kerouac.

Still, he wondered what he would do once he was back home.

When he returned, his wife, Jennifer, told him to continue relaxing, that he had earned it after all his hard work at Nortel.

He held a slew of random jobs: bartender, cook, antique store manager, truck driver. His hair reached his waist, and he got several tattoos of pin-up girls with exposed breasts.

People tell him his cancer is punishment for the tattoos.

THE DIAGNOSIS

He never thought he could develop breast cancer, but the disease found him Aug. 3, and changed his life.

The day before his 59th birthday, he was driving and itched a lump on his chest. He told Jennifer, who encouraged him to get it checked.

Chris’ doctor thought it was calcium buildup, but suggested a biopsy. It showed Stage 3 cancer in his right breast tissue and lymph nodes. Surgery to remove the breast was scheduled for Aug. 22.

At first, he was surprised. Cancer in his family was limited to an aunt and his dad.

Then he was embarrassed.

“You’re looked at rather strange(ly) by men and women if you have it,” Chris said. “My family has been (very) … supportive, but it gets old to them after a while. You can’t go to a support group” because none exist for men.

FIGHTING BACK

Of all breast cancer cases, about 1 percent occur in men, according to the American Cancer Society. If men carry a genetic predisposition to the disease, it most likely will occur in the BRCA2 gene. Chris is considering testing for his children’s sake. He has two sons and wants them to know if he — or they –carries the mutation.

After finding little or no support beyond his family, Chris wanted to help other men with breast cancer. He heard about a new study that evaluated how different doses of chemotherapy affect cancer reduction.

He joined the study.

His family opposed the experiment. He secretly signed up, telling only his wife. He got six chemotherapy treatments every two weeks. Many patients get only four every three weeks.

The Christensens were living in Wisconsin and Jennifer was about to take a new job. But when she arrived, they told her the position was no longer available. Both without work, they had to live on food stamps — a first for Chris, the former executive. Jennifer eventually found a job on Hilton Head Island with Bank of America, giving them both benefits.

When they moved here in November, Chris’ new doctor took him off the experimental study and gave him four treatments every two to three weeks.

He has finished his last round of chemo. Doctors believe Chris is free of the disease, but are starting radiation, which lasts about six weeks.

LIVING ON

While the cancer is gone or nearly so, it’s changed his appearance and his life.

“This is not me,” he said. “I don’t know how to get my eyebrows back. I don’t know how to get my hair back. I don’t know how to get the steroids out of my face. I don’t even know who I am.”

He feels guilty his wife is working so hard when he’s not, though the chemotherapy makes him too ill to work.

It also changed his sense of adventure.

The chemo made him tired and unmotivated. The only thing he enjoyed was building model cars from the ’60s. He had to stop even that when the treatments caused him to lose the feeling in his fingers.

But his difficulties have not dampened his will to go on.

Now that chemo’s over, Chris is starting to enjoy life again. He takes his dog, Tanner, to the beach on days he feels well.

He’s looking forward to finishing radiation and starting over with a new career in the service industry. He hopes it’s at Barnes and Noble.

His cancer has created more awareness in his own family. The men check themselves for breast cancer now. All are more health conscious.

“I really don’t know what the future will be, about getting (cancer) somewhere else,” he said. “But I look at it this way … I’m lucky, my kids are raised and grown and I’m glad I got to do what I did.”

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The Keep A Breast Foundation and Alacer Corp., makers of Emergen-C(r), have strengthened their partnership in the fight against breast cancer. Alacer Corp. launched Emergen-C(r) PINK(tm) in September 2007, the first cause-related product from the corporation, and has vowed to contribute 50 percent of all Emergen-C PINK profits to the Keep A Breast Foundation. Keep A Breast received the first quarterly installment of $40,000 this past month and, with the help of consumers, is hoping this amount will continue to grow in the upcoming years.”We are so excited about this new partnership,” said Shaney Jo Darden, Keep A Breast Founder. “Both Emergen-C and Keep A Breast are focused on staying healthy, and the added commitment to breast cancer awareness through PINK products fits perfectly with our mission. We feel lucky to have the opportunity to collaborate with such a remarkable organization.”

Emergen-C PINK is an innovative, delicious pink lemonade flavored drink mix dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness and providing consumers with a staple in their daily health and wellness regimes. Formulated with 1,000 milligrams of Vitamin C, plus energy-boosting B vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, Emergen-C PINK packs the same amazing punch as all Emergen-C products plus a Feel the Good(tm), Share the Good(tm) experience.

“Emergen-C’s Feel the Good(tm) experience stems from the health and energy boost crammed in each packet of Emergen-C,” said Meghann Seidner, Emergen-C Brand Manager. “Now we have taken that one step further by allowing our consumers to Share the Good. By contributing 50 percent of our PINK proceeds to Keep A Breast, the fight lies in the consumer’s hand; they are the ones who will make the difference.”

The collaboration with Alacer Corp. will help Keep A Breast advance its goal of sharing a fresh perspective on the fight against breast cancer in a way that is relevant and inspiring to today’s youth. Emergen-C PINK will be featured with Keep A Breast during youth outreach efforts on Warped Tour, ASR, GVR Surf, GVR Snow and the upcoming AP TOUR.

“Breast cancer affects people of all ages,” Shaney Jo Darden said. “It doesn’t care how old you are, what you have or what you know. And now, through Emergen-C PINK, all generations can join together to help in research, treatment and prevention of this prevalent disease.”

Emergen-C PINK is available at all Whole Foods markets and Target stores nationwide, and should be available soon at all your favorite retailers. For more information visit http://www.emergenc.com.

About Keep A Breast

The Keep A Breast Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Our mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by educating young people on methods of prevention, early detection and support. Through art events, educational programs and fundraising efforts we seek to increase breast cancer awareness among young people so they are better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit their long-term health and well-being. For more information, please visit www.keep-a-breast.org.

About Alacer Corp.

For over 35 years, Alacer Corp., based in Foothill Ranch, CA, has been an industry leader and innovator in the development, manufacturing and marketing of nutritionally enhanced products that support an energetic, healthy lifestyle. Alacer produces and sells over 300 million packets of its Emergen-C brand dietary supplement annually. For more information visit http://www.emergenc.com.

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CHICAGO — March 17, 2008 – The standard-of-care axillary lymph node dissection biopsy can be safely omitted in early-stage breast cancer patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) micrometastases, according to one of the longest follow-up studies of recurrence and survival presented here on March 14 at the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) 61st Annual Cancer Symposium.

“[The] clinical relevance and therapeutic implications of SLN micrometastases remain controversial,” noted Igor Langer, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. “We found there was no statistically significant difference in overall (P = .572) and distant disease-free survival (P = .15) between [early-stage breast cancer] patients with negative SLN and SLN micrometastases.”

A prospective analysis of long-term survival included 236 SLN biopsies (examined by step sectioning and stained with hemotoxylin and eosin, and immunohistochemistry) performed in 234 patients with early-stage breast cancer who were examined between 1998 and 2002. Patients with negative SLN or SLN micrometastases (International Union Against Cancer measurement of >0.2 to ≤2 mm) neither underwent further axillary surgery nor radiation to the axilla. Only patients with SLN macrometastases underwent axillary lymph node dissection.

The SLN was negative in 55% of patients, while SLN micrometastases were detected in 12% of patients.

After a median follow-up of 76 months (range, 12-108 months) neither axillary recurrences nor distant metastases occurred in the 27 patients with SLN micrometastases.

In the SLN-negative group, 1 patient suffered from axillary recurrence and 5 patients from distant metastases.

Between 15% and 48% of all SLN metastases are presently detected as SLN micrometastases, Dr. Langer said in an interview.

This study limited its focus to breast cancer patients with SLN micrometastases,
in whom a completion axillary lymph node dissection was systematically
omitted. It confirms the findings of smaller studies, however, which have also indicated SLN biopsy can be safely omitted in patients with SLN micrometastases, “sparing the substantial morbidity of the surgery.”

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“Big C risk is worse if you’re fat” reads the headline in The Sun today. The news story it refers to goes on to say that fat women are “less likely to get low-risk breast cancer – but more prone to life-threatening versions”. The researchers have “discovered a link between the fiercest types [of breast cancer] and high blood sugar”, the newspaper adds.

The newspaper report is based on a Swedish study investigating metabolic factors and breast cancer risk. There were few results of statistical significance this study so it is impossible to reach firm conclusions. Although this study adds evidence to previous research which suggests a complex link between metabolism and breast cancer, more studies are needed to identify what this risk is. This study is not conclusive and The Sun and other news sources have overstated its significance.

Where did the story come from? Dr Anne Cust, Tanja Stocks and colleagues from the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (France), Umeå University in Sweden and the German Cancer Research Centre carried out this research. The study was funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, the Swedish Cancer Society and the council of Västerbotten county in Sweden. It was published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, a peer-reviewed medical journal.

What kind of scientific study was this? The study was a nested case-control study designed to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI), the hormones involved in metabolism (leptin and adiponectin), some of those involved in controlling blood-sugar levels (C-peptide and glycated haemoglobin) and breast cancer risk among women in northern Sweden.

The researchers had access to data from several different groups of women who were involved in the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Cohort (NSHDC). One part of the NSHDC ran from 1985 to 1996 and another part has taken place since 1995. In September 2005, they linked all women for whom they had blood samples to the regional cancer register (which records 99% of breast cancer diagnoses). Of these women, 561 had a diagnosis of breast cancer. From the same population (i.e. women who came from the original groups and had blood sample records available), they selected one control for each case. The case-control pairs were matched on age at baseline and the date when their blood samples were taken.

The researchers looked at the blood samples from the women who had breast cancer and compared them with those who did not. They were particularly interested in whether the levels of particular hormones that regulate metabolism (leptin and adiponectin) were different between the groups. They also compared the levels of chemicals involved in regulating blood sugar: C-peptide and glycated haemoglobin.

What were the results of the study? Overall, the researchers found that BMI, leptin, adiponectin, C-peptide and glycated haemoglobin had no effect on the levels of risk of any type of breast cancer (stages I-IV). When the researchers divided the women into two groups (those with stage I tumours and those with stage II-IV tumours), they found a slightly different pattern of results: obese women were much less likely than normal weight women to have stage one breast cancer.

Women with higher levels of glycated haemoglobin were also less likely to have stage I breast cancer than those with lower levels. The researchers acknowledge that the mechanisms underlying this decreased risk are unclear.

For breast cancer stages II-IV, there were no statistically significant patterns. That is, although a greater number of obese women had stage II-IV breast cancer than normal weight women, this was not statistically significant.

In overweight or obese women, higher levels of glycated haemoglobin had a borderline significant association with risk of more severe tumours.

What interpretations did the researchers draw from these results? The researchers conclude that their study has found an inexplicable reduction in risk of stage I breast cancer among obese women compared with normal weight women. They also found a reduced risk of stage one breast cancer among women with high “blood sugar” compared with those with normal blood sugar. Furthermore, the study found that higher levels of leptin and glycated haemoglobin together with higher BMI had “a suggestion of an increased risk” of stage II-IV breast cancer.

What does the NHS Knowledge Service make of this study?

• In isolation, the lack of statistical significance in the results linking BMI and other markers of metabolism with risk of more severe breast cancer mean that this study is not conclusive. The claim in The Sun that “high blood sugar in overweight women hugely increases the risk of aggressive tumours” is an overstatement of these results. The authors discuss other evidence that links a particular metabolic profile (overweight, insulin resistance) to progression of tumours. However, they are cautious about their conclusions from this study, saying that there is only a “suggestion of an increased risk”.
• Other limitations that the authors raise include the study’s reliance on the results from only one blood sample, which is unlikely to represent metabolism over the long term. They were also unable to explore in detail the contribution of age differences between the women to the differences in risk.

This research is inconclusive, though it may add some evidence to other research into the relationship between metabolism and breast cancer. Until further studies replicate these findings with statistical significance, this relationship will remain unclear.

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