Olympic Gold Medallist figure skater and breast cancer survivor Peggy Fleming spoke at a Surviving and Thriving luncheon sharing her breast cancer experience. Fleming told the audience of breast cancer survivors attending the luncheon that the breast cancer diagnosis was a shock considering her identity as an athlete was based on health.

After the shock wore off, she gathered her inner resources and faced breast cancer with the same skills that had taken her to the heights of athletic excellence and accomplishment.

Fleming took on breast cancer as a competition she was intent on winning. “Cancer doesn’t care who you are or how well you take care of yourself,” she said. “It just happens.”

As an eight-year breast cancer survivor, Fleming currently works as an ice skating commentator on ABC and ESPN. She tells her story as a way to inspire and enlighten other women facing a breast cancer diagnosis and breast cancer survivors living beyond breast cancer.

Last Monday, singer songwriter and breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to help Ellen, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, launch the show’s recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Six months ago, Crow was diagnosed with breast cancer, and is happy to say that during her last check-up she got an all clear and is in breast cancer remission. Crow talked about the impact breast cancer had — that when you hit bottom it is a place where you meet yourself. At that time, Crow realized she needed to take care of herself by putting herself first, as opposed to the many years when her focus was on taking care of others. Crow described herself as very self-critical before breast cancer, and was a woman who could not say no to others — their happiness was a priority that came before her own. Ellen joked that bottom for Crow might mean breaking up with your fiance (Lance Armstrong) and getting a breast cancer diagnosis a month later. Crow laughed and nodded in agreement.

Crow talked about some of the dangers you can avoid to promote cancer prevention such as not leaving bottled water out in the sun. The chemical reaction of the heated plastic to the water is known to be carcinogenic. Other dangers include dietary changes a woman can make, and we have shared her tips in a past post here.

Crow, who is currently touring with John Mayer, stated, “It’s what you do with experience that really defines who you become.” Crow wears a gold bracelet with the words Breathe and That which does not kill me makes me stronger as well as her diagnosis date inscribed on it as a spiritual reminder.

Chemobrain, a term used to describe the mental fog and confusion some women experience after chemotherapy treatment, is very real and researchers who studied the frontal lobe brain activity of women suffering from the occurrence have an explanation for why chemobrain happens. Based on a study done by University of California researchers, chemotherapy drugs disrupt the brain’s metabolism and blood flow.

“The same area of the frontal lobe that showed lower resting metabolism displayed a substantial leap in activity when the patients were performing the memory exercise,” said Daniel Silverman, the UCLA associate professor who led the study. “In effect, these women’s brains were working harder than the control subjects to recall the same information.”

The current study is published in the online edition of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Breast cancer is personal for Nicole Kidman. At 17, her mother Janelle was diagnosed with breast cancer. As a celebrity spokesperson for Cancer Research UK Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Kidman helped launched this October’s All Join Together campaign by unveiling a giant pink ribbon on the Stardome at Madame Tussauds.

Kidman shares, “As someone whose family has personally been affected by the disease, I can’t stress enough how important it is that women get to know and understand what is normal for their body. I hope that this Cancer Research UK campaign will raise awareness of breast cancer amongst women of all ages and encourage them to report any unusual changes and go for screening if they’re over 50. Together we will beat cancer.”

On October 5th, A Touch of Pink party will be held in the Blush room of Madame Tussauds. Madame Tussauds is famous for its wax figures of celebrities, notable persons and world figures. Many celebrities are expected to attend the A Touch of Pink party. For more information on purchasing tickets to the event, email tickets@atouchofpink.org.

To learn more about Cancer Research UK’s mission in cancer prevention and research; and in improving the lives of cancer patients, visit Cancer Research UK.

A test that measures the amounts of two members of the same protein family – one of which appears to act as an oncogene, and the other as a tumor suppressor – helps identify patients with breast cancer who will likely benefit from chemotherapy and those who won’t, according to researchers.

OncoPlan, a test is already commercially available, and it has been shown to predict the aggressiveness of tumors and disease recurrence after surgery in breast, colon and stomach cancers. Now researchers believe that it may help predict as to which breast cancer patients would benefit most from chemotherapy.

A study was presented at the first meeting on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development; researchers looked at the two forms of protein measured by OncoPlan in 2,380 women with breast cancer. Out of these 717 had undergone chemotherapy.

They found that the women who had low levels of one of the proteins and did not receive chemotherapy had very poor outcomes. The same women who did receive chemotherapy, however, had a twofold reduced risk of relapsing and dying from their disease. The women who had high levels of the protein were much more likely to survive their disease, and appeared to derive no additional benefit from chemotherapy. However, more research is needed to clarify the ability of OncoPlan in predicting outcomes of chemotherapy.

A. Raymond Frackelton Jr., an associate professor at Brown University and vice president of Research at Catalyst Oncology (the company marketing OncoPlan), said

“But even at this point, the results are very exciting because, with further validation in clinical trials, OncoPlan, which is already being used to predict disease aggressiveness, will help to ensure that individual patients receive the most beneficial therapies”

According to a new research, a protein tests spots risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer in women. Not all women have mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes for breast and ovarian cancer but still have a strong family history.

Tanja Pejovic, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, said “We knew that there must have been something else that we could track genetically”

In this study which appeared in the Sept. 15 issue of Cancer Research, ovarian tissues of 22 women were examined by the researchers from the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute. They found that those who had a family history of ovarian cancer but no BRCA mutations had a low level of a protein known as FANCD2, which normally protects DNA and helps repair broken chromosomes. In women with low levels of FANCD2, cells from the ovary were unable to be repaired, putting them at risk of developing cancer-causing mutations.

Tanja Pejovic believes these findings may lead a cancer screening method that uses minimally invasive surgery to remove a few epithelial cells from the ovary for testing. During tests, doctors would look for signs of chromosomal breakage.

“Basically we have discovered that by testing ovarian cells for chromosome breakage, we may be able to identify many more women at risk for ovarian and breast cancer than by using BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing. Once this method is fully developed, we will be able to tell a young woman who has a family history of ovarian or breast cancer, but who wants to have children, whether she is at risk or not, without removing her ovary.” says Pejovic.

According to the National Cancer Registry, breast cancer cases would easily double in next 15 years at Ireland. At the official launch of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr Harry Comber, Director of National Cancer Registry Ireland, gave a presentation on the theme, Time Trends 2002-20202.

Approximately 650 women die every year in Ireland because of breast cancer. As per the latest stats from National Cancer Registry Ireland, there were 2,285 new cases of breast cancer in 2004 and this figure is expected to rise to 4700 cases by 2020 thus predicting a 105 percent rise.

Speaking at the launch Dr Patricia Fitzpatrick, epidemiologist with Breast Check, the National Breast Screening Programme and Senior Lecturer, UCD School of Public Health and Population Science, said, “Every day we open a newspaper or turn on the radio and hear about something that seemingly increases our risk of getting breast cancer so Action Breast Cancer correctly took the decision to adopt ‘know your risk’ as the key theme for Breast Cancer Awareness month 2006 to try and separate fact from fiction.

“A risk factor for breast cancer is anything that increases your chance of getting the disease. However, having a risk factor does not necessarily mean you will get breast cancer. Most women who have one or more breast cancer risk factors never develop the disease. Furthermore, many women with breast cancer don’t seem to have any of the risk factors we know about, apart from being female and getting older.”

Darren Clarke, the professional golfer, lost his wife to breast cancer last month. Since July 21 he hasn’t played competitively in a single tournament. He took his time off golf to care for his cancer victim wife. After her wife passed away, Clarke has been trying to regroup himself and mourn the loss of her 39 year old wife and the mother of their two sons.

Finally he is ready to be back in world of golf. He said that he is ready to be a part of the upcoming golf tournament, Ryder Cup. Clarke also said that his game is good and although the decision of returning back to golf was tough, he is returning because he knows he can fully contribute to it. Clarke said that he knows his wife would have wanted him to play so he made himself available for selection. Clarke could not have qualified automatically due to the time he took off to care for Heather but he was eligible to be selected — and he was. Clarke is grateful and prepared for the challenge. “I am stronger altogether,” he says. “I’ve had to face up a lot of tough things. I hope I’ve come through it a better person.”

The sixties’ singer and former actress Marianne Faithfull, 59, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, her publicist said this Thursday.

However, the doctors who diagnosed the disease in France, said that the disease was in its ‘earliest stages,’ a statement released in London said. ‘The disease has been quickly discovered by doctors in France,’ said her publicist. ‘The prognosis for a return to full health is excellent. I have absolute faith and confidence in my fantastic medical team and of course I will be well again, if not better than ever,’ said Faithfull in a statement.

She was to start her world tour from next month which now has been cancelled. ‘Next year’s tour, I want to assure fans, will be one big celebration,’ the statement added.

Faithfull, daughter of a British military officer and a Viennese baroness, came to prominence in the 1960s, not least because of her relationship with Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger. Faithfull has been a recording artist for four decades, since being discovered by Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote her first single, ‘As Tears Go By,’ in 1964. Her relationship with Jagger lasted throughout the late 1960s, and followed Faithfull’s short-lived marriage to artist John Dunbar in 1965.

The singer later fought a vicious struggle with heroin addiction, which eventually led to a nervous breakdown. Her modestly successful foray into films included roles in ‘Strange Weather’ and the rock musical ‘Black Rider’ by Robert Wilson.

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists made a surprising discovery, where in they identified 200 mutated genes which were linked to the development and growth of breast cancer and colon cancer. These genes will prove to be very helpful for the vital research into the further treatment of breast and colon cancer.

Other cancers can be studied using the methods these researchers, called the Hopkins gene hunters, used in discovering the 200 genetic mutations for breast and colon cancers.

Kenneth Kinzler, Ph.D., professor of oncology and co-director of the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins says “This gives us some understanding of why breast and colon cancers, and most likely other cancers as well, are very different diseases and develop through different processes. When we say this will drive cancer research for the next couple of decades, this is one of the reasons.” He also stated that “Now researchers will study how these mutations occur in breast and colon cancers, perhaps searching for environmental agents or cellular processes that drive these changes.”