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Brain Cancer - Rev. Jonathon Kennedy   Breast Cancer - Angela Adler Breast Cancer - Elaine J. Douglas   Type I Diabetes - Erika Burr Diaphragmatic Hernia - Nancy   Heart Surgery - Jeff Salzwedel Multiple Sclerosis - Ramona M. & Barbara W.   Parkinson’s Disease - Gordon Coggshall

WHAT IS BREAST CANCER? All organs of the body are made up of cells that normally divide in order to produce more cells when the body needs them. If cells divide when new ones are not needed, they form a mass of excess tissue called a tumor. ANGELA ADLER Like all other runners in Oregon’s Race for the Cure last year, Angela Adler wore on her jersey the name of someone whose life she wanted to celebrate. For Angela, that was Paige Marie Adler, her five month-old granddaughter. "Of course she’s perfectly healthy," Angela explains, "but once you’ve had breast cancer, as I’ve had, your perspective on almost everything changes. Now when I think of Paige, I think of how even she is not safe and how she will be affected simply because she is female -- all the self-exams, check-ups, mammograms, and decisions about diet and exercise and hormone treatments that will be a part of her life." Nothing could prepare Angela for how her life changed when she was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago. "Before I went in for the results of the biopsy, I tried to practice how I would react and what I would do if I heard bad news. My play-acting didn’t help a bit. I was stunned by what the doctor told me, and my life hasn’t been the same since." One thing that has changed is that Angela is now alert to every article and story about medical advances. She is always hoping to wake up and hear that scientists have found, if not the cause and cure of cancer, at least ways of treating breast cancer that involve less pain and fewer side effects than current surgical procedures and chemotherapy. Perhaps the only thing that hasn’t changed in Angela’s perspective is her opinion on the value of biomedical research involving animals. As a long-time administrative assistant to a scientist working in the field of women’s health, she has always understood the importance of animal research and has had plenty of opportunity to observe the humane care that research animals receive. "I realize that some people oppose animal research," she says, "but I can’t imagine their perspective not changing if they are touched by this disease." Tumors are considered malignant or cancerous if they invade and damage nearby tissues and organs or if they break apart and spread to another part of the body in a process called metastasis. The greatest risk factor for breast cancer is being a woman, and the second is age -- if you are a female and live to 85, your chance of developing this cancer is 1 in 9. Epidemiological and animal studies, yet to be proven in human trials, indicate that low-fat, high-fiber diets may help prevent breast cancer because high-fat consumption stimulates the production of estrogen, which in turn stimulates some cancers. More than 30 anti-cancer drugs are used routinely in cancer chemotherapy. By law these drugs all had to be tested on animals before being approved for human use. Appropriate radiation therapy doses have been carefully calculated with the help of tests on mice and rats. Are animal models still needed for breast cancer research? Animal studies currently are casting new light on the causes of breast cancer. Scientists have identified a "breast cancer gene, "BRCA1, that may play a role in hereditary breast cancer. BRCA1 contains a code or blueprint for manufacturing a certain protein, which, in turn, appears to slow the formation of tumors. Using specially designed viruses -- themselves the product of years of basic research -- researchers have been able to ferry this gene to tumor sites in mice. The interplay of genes and hormones, however, is complex and not yet well understood. Treatments that change hormone factors can slow the growth of tumors and, perhaps, even prevent them. Traditionally, these treatments have involved surgery -- either to remove the tumor or breast or to remove glands such as the ovaries, adrenals, or the pituitary in order to reduce hormone levels. More recently, researchers -- again, working with mice -- have developed drugs that inhibit the actions of estrogen’s or decrease the functions of the ovaries or adrenal glands. These drugs offer treatment options that can be as effective as chemotherapy without the side effects. The discovery of the role of hormones in causing breast cancer has led to useful treatments for metastatic breast cancer and for preventing the recurrence of breast cancer. Questions about the genetic, hormonal and environmental causes of breast cancer as well as questions about the growth and behavior of normal and tumor cells remain to be answered. In many cases, answers to these questions will come from animal studies.   BREAST CANCER: * after lung cancer, most common form of cancer in women. * will be diagnosed in 200,000 people and will cause death of 45,000 this year.

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