John Edwards' wife has breast cancer

[SunDancer]

No matter what your feelings about the election and the candidates, its sad to hear this, escp. the timing of it all.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6408029/

WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, was diagnosed with breast cancer the day her husband and Sen. John Kerry conceded the presidential race.

Spokesman David Ginsberg said Elizabeth Edwards, 55, discovered a lump in her right breast while on a campaign trip last week. Her family doctor told her Friday that it appeared to be cancerous and advised her to see a specialist when she could.

She put off the appointment until Wednesday so as not to miss campaign time.

The Edwards family went straight to Massachusetts General Hospital from Boston’s Faneuil Hall after Kerry and Edwards conceded on Wednesday.


Mrs. Edwards had a needle biopsy performed at the hospital, where Dr. Barbara Smith confirmed the cancer, Ginsberg said.

He said the cancer was diagnosed as invasive ductal cancer. That is the most common type of breast cancer, and can spread from the milk ducts to other parts of the breast or beyond.

More tests were being done to determine how far the cancer has advanced and how to treat it, he said.

Ginsberg said spirits are high at the Edwards household.

“Everybody feels good about it, that this is beatable,” he said.

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Edwards, who leaves his North Carolina Senate seat in January, said in a statement, “Elizabeth is as strong a person as I’ve ever known. Together, our family will beat this.”

The American Cancer Society estimated that nearly 216,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

Treatments have been getting better. The current five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 87 percent, up from 78 percent in the mid-1980s. About 40,000 women die of breast cancer annually.

fact file Breast cancer

Click on a subject below to learn more about the disease
• About the disease
• Risk factors
• Genetic link
• Testing
• Factors affecting prognosis


Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast.


Older age.

Menstruating at an early age.

Older age at first birth or never having given birth.

A personal history of breast cancer or benign (noncancer) breast disease.

A mother or sister with breast cancer.

Treatment with radiation therapy to the breast/chest.

Breast tissue that is dense on a mammogram.

Hormone use (such as estrogen and progesterone).

Drinking alcoholic beverages.

Being white rather than Latina, Asian or African American.



The genes in cells carry the hereditary information that is received from a person’s parents.

Hereditary breast cancer makes up approximately 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancer.

Some altered genes related to breast cancer are more common in certain ethnic groups.

Women who have an altered gene related to breast cancer and who have had breast cancer in one breast have an increased risk of developing breast cancer in the other breast. These women also have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, and may have an increased risk of developing other cancers.

Men who have an altered gene related to breast cancer also have an increased risk of developing this disease.

Tests have been developed that can detect altered genes. These genetic tests are sometimes done for members of families with a high risk of cancer.



Mammogram: An X-ray of the breast.

Biopsy: The removal of cells or tissues so they can be viewed under a microscope to check for signs of cancer. If a lump in the breast is found, the doctor may need to cut out a small piece of the lump. A pathologist views the tissue under a microscope to look for cancer cells.

There are four types of biopsies:

Excisional biopsy: Removal of an entire lump or suspicious tissue.

Incisional biopsy: Removal of part of a lump or suspicious tissue.

Core biopsy: Removal of part of a lump or suspicious tissue using a wide needle.

Needle biopsy or fine-needle aspiration biopsy: Removal of part of a lump, suspicious tissue or fluid, using a thin needle.

Estrogen and progesterone receptor test: A test to measure the amount of estrogen and progesterone (hormones) receptors in cancer tissue. If cancer is found in the breast, tissue from the tumor is examined in the laboratory to find out whether estrogen and progesterone could affect the way cancer grows. The test results show whether hormone therapy may stop the cancer from growing.



The stage of the cancer: whether it is in the breast only or has spread to lymph nodes or other places in the body.

The type of breast cancer.

Estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor levels in the tumor tissue.

A woman’s age, general health and menopausal status (whether a woman is still having menstrual periods).

Whether the cancer has just been diagnosed or has come back.




Sources: AP, National Cancer Institute. • Print this



Overall, the society says about one in seven women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

Invasive ductal cancer accounts for 65 percent to 80 percent of all breast cancers, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information.

Treatment usually begins with surgery, according to the National Cancer Institute. This could involve removal of the cancer itself and usually nearby lymph nodes. Lumpectomy, just removing the cancerous mass, is becoming more common, though sometimes removal of the whole breast is done.

Surgery can be followed by chemotherapy, radiation or hormone therapy.

Radiation can focus on a cancer site from a machine outside the body or use a radioactive substance placed near the cancer in “seeds” or via needle.

Chemotherapy uses drugs that can stop or slow the growth of cancer that may have spread. INTERACTIVE


• The latest facts and figures



Hormone therapy removes or blocks hormones that can encourage growth of cancer cells.

In early stages of cancer a combination of the drug tamoxifen and hormone therapy is commonly used, the Cancer Institute reports.

The Edwardses married in 1977. They have two daughters, Cate and Emma Claire and a son, Jack. Son Wade died in a 1996 traffic accident.

Mrs. Edwards, born in Jacksonville, Fla., grew up hopscotching between the United States and Japan. She met her future husband at University of North Carolina law school.

She juggled a successful legal career and family for 19 years. Then — stunned by Wade’s death — she quit work to have more children at an age when many contemporaries were easing toward grandmotherhood.

On the campaign, she dubbed herself the “anti-Barbie,” a quick-witted, down-to-earth political wife who connected particularly well with mothers and fathers.

[duckman]

I'll pray for a speedy recovery.

[SunDancer]

Weird thing to me is she is attending Mass General, just had surgery just over 2 weeks ago, and got back Monday night for visiting my surgeon. Great hospital.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I feel for her and her family. My mother is a Breast Cancer survivor, having a mastewctomy back in 98. I will pray for her recovery.

[GrantDawg]

Want a jaded observation on this? If they had a diagnosed this a week before the election, it might have given them a swing in the woman vote.