Someone I love has breast cancer. Newly diagnosed, still shocked and saddened by the news, she’s struggled with the decision about cancer treatment. Discussions with doctors and her husband, long hours mulling over her options — this person I love is just beginning the cancer journey. Should she give up all hope? Should she fear the future?
If I can do nothing more for the many who are in her shoes, let me do this. Let me spread the word that British researchers reported in the Lancet that an analysis of seventeen studies, involving almost 11,000 women who had breast cancers surgically removed and received follow-up radiation treatment, showed a significant reduction in the recurrence rate to 19.3% in the first ten years after surgery — the original rate was 35%! That means that another 15 women in every 100 survived because of radiation after breast cancer surgery. Imagine 15 more women at the gym, walking on treadmills or enjoying dance classes. Imagine 15 more women at the local coffee house, sipping their lattes and sharing their stories. Imagine 15 more mothers and grandmothers at family reunions, laughing and passing the mashed potatoes. Imagine 15 more women at work, fighting fires, teaching students, caring patients, driving buses and cabs, writing the next Booker Prize novel, or just handing you your change at the grocery store. Those 15 women who survived breast cancer surgery and had radiation as a follow-up lived longer. Where there is life, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is the promise of a cure.
Denise Grady, of the New York Times, reported on the Lancet research:
“Radiation Therapy After Breast Cancer Surgery Cuts Recurrence, Study Says”
You may not think it’s a big deal those 15 women survived their first ten years after breast cancer surgery and radiation, but I do. Why? These women are the future of breast cancer treatment — they are the survivors. Researchers will study them, study the treatments they received, in order to help those of us who are newly diagnosed.
Someone I love has breast cancer, and I want her to know that she has a good fighting chance to survive it with the right treatment. Every day, we learn more and more about how we can use the information we get from cancer survivors to tweak cancer treatments so they work better and people live bigger, better lives. Every cancer patient deserves to have good options. This research analysis is going to change lives. Will it change the life of someone you love?
For more help with cancer caregiving, visit THE PRACTICAL CAREGIVER GUIDES