Linda and Carolyn in Borrego Springs
Heading out for dinner.
I guess I was along.
The Fred Hutch Newsletter hit the stands today, figuratively
– you actually get it through email. It
contains two articles highly relevant to ovarian cancer. The featured article concerns Jeff Bezos – he
invented Amazon.Com, as you very likely know – and profited hugely
thereby. His family has donated $20
million to Fred Hutch to support research on the use of the body’s immune
system to attack certain kinds of cancer.
As we have discussed before, cancer has a diabolical ability to trick
the immune system into thinking that all is well or, failing that, warding off
its atacks. There has been a lot of work
done lately on ways to counteract these tricks.
If I understand correctly, some real progress has been made but – as
always – more work needs to be done.
Bezos is paying for some of it. I
may even forgive Amazon its past transgressions and start ordering again.
Sometime in the past I wrote a blog about how, sometimes,
great wealth can be a social good. This
is surely another example. Thanks, Jeff. In light of the problems with NIH/NCI-supported research hinted at in an earlier blog (The Truth in Small Doses), maybe we are going to need a lot more private support.
The second article (of many – I’m just reporting the ovarian
ones) is a discussion of the desirability of having an oophorectomy at about
age 35 – for women who are BRCA1 positive.
The advantages here are a much reduced likelihood of contracting ovarian
and/or breast cancer. The disadvantages
include problems with menopause (because certain hormones are not being
supplied) and, of course, the inability to have any more babies. It is, as the article discusses, an intensely
personal decision. Know all the facts,
mull them over, and then decide. Note that this is meant for women with the BRCA
mutations, and thus does not apply to the vast majority of women.
Here are the links:
http://www.fhcrc.org/en/news/center-news/2014/02/ovary-removal-by-age-35-to-reduce-cancer-risk-.html
Imagine a Porsche, finely tuned. Now, imagine an idiot with a screw driver getting under the hood and turning a few screws, randomly. The Porsche is almost guaranteed to run more poorly, if at all. Right? Now imagine a human body. It is in general finely tuned, and is vastly more complicated than a Porsche. Is it any wonder then that "turning a screw" (modifying the body) may result in harmful unforeseen consequences? No. it isn't.
ReplyDeleteSo no wonder that a study in Sweden suggests that there is a correlation between oophorectomy (removal of ovaries) and something else - in this case, colon cancer. Cause and effect are not established, but the stats are suggestive. Moral of the story: despite what this old blog, talk to the experts.
https://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/colon-cancer-news-96/ovary-removal-linked-to-colon-cancer-risk-710746.html