Headwear Etc Blog

Fruits and Vegetables Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
July, 2001

Importance of the study: Your parents’ claim that “fruits and veggies are good for you” has further support from new research. While past studies have found that diets high in fruits and vegetables may protect against many types of cancer, the evidence was not compelling for breast cancer. This study tried to determine if there was some link between carotenoid-containing fruits and vegetables and breast cancer risk. All of us want to know how to protect ourselves from cancer—particularly with practical dietary measures that we can take ourselves every day.

Words on this page
carotenoids
antioxidant
free radicals
gene
Background: Carotenoids are pigments that are present in most plants (they’re what make carrots orange, for instance, and actually protect some plants from sunburn!). They also have proven antioxidant properties, meaning they protect cells against the damaging effects of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that occur normally in your body. They start out with a positive charge, then neutralize it by “stealing” an electron (a negatively charged particle to balance out the positive charge) from healthy molecules nearby. The healthy cells can be damaged, particularly if the “stolen” electrons come from the bonds that hold their genetic material together. Significant damage to the genes can disrupt business as usual in the cells. If the genetic damage isn’t fixed, cells can grow out of control, leading to the start of a cancer. Foods that calm down the free radicals with their antioxidant powers may help spare normal tissue from this kind of damage.

Study design: In this study, New York University researchers measured the levels of carotenoids in the blood samples of 270 women who developed breast cancer up to 11 years after the samples were taken. They compared these levels with the carotenoid levels in the blood of 270 similar women who remained cancer-free. The investigators measured several carotenoids, including beta- and alpha-carotene (found in orange and leafy green vegetables and orange-colored fruits), lutein (found in leafy green vegetables such as spinach), and beta-cryptoxanthin (found in oranges). They then examined the possible connection between blood levels of carotenoids and the risk of developing breast cancer.

Study results: Lower blood levels of carotenoids were associated with a higher risk of breast cancer. Women with the lowest levels of carotenoids had double the breast cancer risk of women with the highest carotenoids levels.

Take-home message: Your parents were right on this one: Eat your fruits and vegetables! It makes sense that anyone would benefit from eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, but we can’t say for sure if carotenoids will lower the risk of recurrent or new breast cancers in women who have already had breast cancer. Some easy ways to make sure you get at least five fruits and vegetables in a day (nine is better):

Add chopped squash and carrots to jarred or fresh spaghetti sauce (serve on pasta for a great dinner).

Eat tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes—raw in salad, sandwiches, salsa, juice, alone (like fruit), cooked in sauces.

Drink a fruit puree shake every morning (throw in plain nonfat yogurt and call it breakfast).

Munch on cleaned, baby carrots (keep a cooler of them in the car).

Throw handfuls of spinach into stews and soups (imagine what you could accomplish, Popeye!).

Q. Can wearing deodorants and antiperspirants cause breast cancer?
Breast Cancer FAQ

From Lisa Fayed,
Your Guide to Cancer.
Stay up to date!

A.

There has been tons of warnings circulated through email and the internet that the use of deodorants and antiperspirants can cause breast cancer. The suggestion is that a chemical is absorbed through the skin through a shaving nick or cut, and causes breast cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, “researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are not aware of any conclusive evidence linking the use of underarm antiperspirants or deodorants and the subsequent development of breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food, cosmetics, medicines, and medical devices, also does not have any evidence or research data that ingredients in underarm antiperspirants or deodorants cause cancer.”

Cancer Patients Address Work Issues Differently

By Darcy De Leon

When people are diagnosed with cancer, are they able to continue working?

Sharon Parker worked during most of her treatment, mainly because she felt well enough most days. Steve Shea closed down his law practice, too exhausted to continue. Bruce Wallace enacted his long-term disability policy when it appeared he would need additional surgery.

These M. D. Anderson patients resolved their work situations based on their own sets of circumstances. The reaction from co-workers and bosses varied, just as their physical capabilities did.
Employee mixes business with chemotherapy

Parker worked during most of her chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October 2001.

Peppermint and breathing techniques helped diminish the nausea, which was minimal. To offset fatigue, she took breaks and napped during lunch.

“My husband who was retired brought me back and forth to work every day, so I could rest then,” says Parker, a senior administrative assistant at M. D. Anderson’s Place … of wellness. (Read more). “My supervisor was well-educated about the cancer journey and very understanding. I felt support and concern for me and my well-being from every person in our department.”

Parker scheduled treatments at the end of the workday, whenever possible. Several times, she even met with others, including her supervisor, while she was receiving intravenous chemotherapy infusions in an M. D. Anderson chemotherapy chair unit.

“It was my choice,” Parker says. “We laugh about those meetings now, but I felt well enough and focusing on work helped me to move on and not be so consumed with cancer treatment.”

Attorney closes firm to reduce stress

Unlike Parker, Shea was too exhausted to work, especially once he was diagnosed with stage IV renal cell carcinoma, an advanced kidney cancer that had spread to his lungs. The debilitating symptoms began the year before.

“I knew something was wrong because I was tired all the time, and I was losing a lot of weight,” he says. “It affected my ability to work. I had to take a reduced caseload. I would go in to work at 9 a.m., and by noon I had to go home.”

Told he had little more than a year and a half to live, Shea shut down his law practice and changed his lifestyle to eliminate stress. That was four years ago.

“I always found it stressful practicing law,” he says. “And I never really liked it that much.”

Tumors remain in his body but have not grown in several years. Remarried to a holistic health care practitioner, Shea lives 90 miles south of Baton Rouge, La.

Director takes disability and full insurance benefits

Wallace was director of an association of Indiana cities when he was diagnosed in 1999 with a rare form of kidney cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs.
After surgery to remove the cancerous kidney, it appeared he would need additional surgery to remove tumors in his lung.

“The board president employed another doctor to get his own opinion on my prognosis,” Wallace says. “I think he told him I wouldn’t be around very long.”

At the very least, it appeared his treatment would continue for some time.

“The board president asked me to move to disability status to allow someone to take my place temporarily until this all got resolved,” says Wallace, who built the organization from the ground up. “I agreed. I understand where they were. We had a job to do, and they had to have people in there to do it. Clearly there was no way for me to do the job.”

Seeing both sides of issue sometimes a challenge

Even though he wasn’t well enough to continue working, it was a blow. “Nobody did anything out of meanness or lack of consideration. I’m sure it was a wrenching decision – probably harder for them than me. But the process you go through when you become someone perceived to be dying of cancer – boy, does it change everything, and I don’t know if there’s a way around that.”

Wallace took disability status and was able to trade a year’s worth of sick and vacation leave compensation for full health insurance until he turned 65. As he approached 65, Wallace asked if the association would continue to pay his health insurance for a while longer. To his surprise, they said they would pay his premiums for the rest of his life.

“That’s the type of thing that brings you to tears,” Wallace says. “Half the people on the board were new, and I didn’t even know them.”

Now retired, Wallace lives comfortably on Social Security and his retirement income – with full health benefits. He recently worked on a month-long project for his old company and had fun doing it.

Tumors remain in his left lung, but a new medication has decreased their size. Wallace is being closely monitored to see if more surgery is needed. Until then he is enjoying his life, loved ones and retirement.