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4 HEALTHY LIFE CANCER August 28-29, 2013
428341.082913 HL
Put your
skin in good
hands.
introducing
our new physician
Dr. Samuel Hopkins
428502.082913 HL
1414 NW Northrup, Ste 600
Portland, OR 97209
PortlandDermClinic.com | 503-223-3104
We offer expert dermatology care—
all handled with a compassionate touch.
We customize treatments to address your skin’s
condition and meet your goals. Laser treatments
include VBeam Pulsed Dye, Fractionated CO2 and
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL). We also offer Botox &
Dysport injections, dermal fillers, sclerotherapy,
chemical peels, pore extractions, skin care product
lines, and much more.
kemia, and it works by turning off abnormal
signals that stop white blood cells from grow-
ing too many cells. This treatment also works
on a couple of other forms of cancer. The
main strategy for tertiary prevention, Dr.
Austin said, is “if we find a problem, then we
can fix it and turn off the chemical that
makes the cancer advance.”
Cancer is getting a lot of attention now as
doctors are working on its prevention and
treatment, but the disease has been a part of
human history since prehistoric times. Ac-
counts of cancer have been found from the
Incas, Ancient Egyptians, and Ancient
Greeks. In fact, Hippocrates, the Ancient
Greek philosopher, gave cancer its name
when he examined a woman who had breast
cancer and found that the dangerous lump in
her breast was hard like a crab’s shell.
Of course, the study of cancer has come a
far way since then and doctors can keep
track of all the cases of cancer. In Oregon,
there were 18,610 cases of cancer diagnosed
in 2010 alone, and 7,745 of those people died
from cancer. Oregon also has the highest rate
of melanoma than any other state, most like-
ly due to the fact that people don’t realize
that the sun’s deadly rays can seep through
the cloud coverage.
Nationwide, however, breast cancer is the
most common form of cancer for women. The
risk for getting breast cancer increases with
age, especially after menopause, however,
most of the risk factors occur before meno-
pause. The best way to prevent it is to not
take the post-menopausal estrogen pills com-
bined with a synthetic progesterone, or any-
thing that abnormally increases the amount
of estrogen in the body. It also is important
for women aged 50 and older to get routine
mammograms every two years. This second-
ary prevention method allows for doctors to
find and treat premalignant tissue before it
becomes cancerous.
Alcohol and radiation are common causes
of breast cancer, and excess exposure to
these factors should be avoided. Dr. Austin
said that if a person drinks five grams of alco-
hol a day, their risk of breast cancer increases
by 15 percent, and this rate increases with
each additional drink. Women who are under-
going breast development up until their first
pregnancy are extra-sensitive to radiation, to-
bacco smoke and pesticides and should take
further precautions in avoiding them.
Other things people can do to avoid cancer
are to keep a normal weight, get at least five
hours of exercise a week, and stick to the
Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet
includes ways to consume adequate vitamins
and minerals through green vegetables and
good fats and oils through fish instead of red
meat and olive oil instead of butter. It is also
important for women to avoid artificial pro-
gesterone in estrogen pills, which makes it
safer for the uterus but worse for the breast.
There also is a genetic risk factor named BR-
CA, which gives the person who has it a 70
percent chance of getting breast cancer. This
risk can be reduced through estrogen-block-
ers as well as preventative mastectomies.
Angelina Jolie is one woman who has this
gene, and she underwent a double mastecto-
my.
While breast cancer is the most common
form in women, the most common form in
men is prostate cancer. Men can be screened
with a rectal exam to discover the cancer in
the prostate. Dr. Austin told a story about his
friend who was diagnosed with prostate can-
cer. This friend turned over his business to
his kids, received treatment, traveled around
Europe for six months, and bought a Porsche
to begin auto racing. This story is an exam-
ple of what Dr. Austin believes should be the
reason to get screened for this cancer. “The
decision to screen for prostate cancer should
not be based on the chances of your surviv-
al,” he said. “It should be based on what you
would do if you knew you had cancer. It gives
you a chance to do things you wouldn’t do
otherwise.”
Lung cancer is the second most common
form of cancer for both men and women and
it is the leading cause of cancer deaths. The
most recent statistics, from 2010, note that 22
percent of all deaths in Oregon are due to
lung cancer and about about 82 percent of Or-
egonians who had lung cancer died of the dis-
ease. This form of cancer is so deadly be-
cause the lungs oxygenate all the blood that
spreads throughout the body and until just
recently, scientists haven’t developed a
screening test that allows for early enough
detection to use the secondary prevention
method.
However, there is now a spiral x-ray exam
that can be performed on the chest to detect
lung cancer early enough to make a signifi-
cant difference. The best way to prevent this
form is to not smoke and to avoid second-
hand smoke.
For more information about cancer, Dr. Austin rec-
ommends viewing the Oregon State Cancer Registry
(OSCaR) Statistics.
■ From page 2 The Do’s and Don’ts
of Prevention:
■ Don’t smoke
■ Don’t get sunburned
■ Don’t take post-menopausal
estrogen pills with synthetic progesterone
■ Don’t become overweight
■ Do get five hours or more of exercise
per week
■ Do get HPV immunized (at age
13-17)
■ Do get colonoscopy for men and
mammograms for women after age 50
■ Do get Pap tests starting at age 18
■ Do take an aspirin a day if age 40
and older
■ Do consume adequate vitamins
through the Mediterranean diet