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CNN Sunday Morning

How Should Breast Cancer be Treated?

Aired May 12, 2002 - 07:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. This year alone, more than 200,000 women will be diagnosed with the disease. And with the diagnosis comes a major decision. How should the cancer be treated?

CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland reports on a new treatment option.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Stoddard has breast cancer. So does Dolores Dean Lauren. And each has had a lumpectomy, surgery to remove just the cancerous lung. From there, they made very different choices. Stoddard chose conventional radiation therapy. This is day 16.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the troops. Good morning.

ROWLAND: Everyday for six weeks, she'll drive the 20 miles each way to have a large machine beam radiation to the outside of her breasts.

STODDARD: And I'm so confident in what's being done for me that it's small. It's a small price to pay.

ROWLAND: Lauren also got radiation therapy, but it took just five days.

DOLORES DEAN LAUREN, BREAST CANCER PATIENT: I'm a very active person. And truthfully, I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.

ROWLAND: Lauren's faster type of radiation is called Brachy Therapy. Here's how it works. Rather than bombarding the body with radiation from the outside, a catheter is inserted into the area where the tumor was removed, that a tiny radiactive seed delivers the dose of radiation.

ROBERT KUSKE, DR., UNIV. OF WI.: The radiation therapy given with Brachy Therapy is radiation from the inside out.

ROWLAND: Brachy Therapy has been used for years to treat prostate cancer. And it has been successful. Dr. Kuske, who studied Brachy Therapy in 260 women, says now that the FDA has approved a version that uses just one catheter, it used to use several. It could make a difference for the estimated one-third of women who failed to finish their radiation therapy because of logistics, or women who opt for a mastectomy, removal of the entire breast, because radiation is inconvenient.

But wait.

UTTIS BRAWLEY, DR., EMORY UNIV.: I reallly think that women need to understand that this has not been fully evaluated.

ROWLAND: No one knows yet if Brachy Therapy is as good as the gold standard form of radiation.

BRAWLEY: My own personal opinions right now are that it is something that's incredibly -- sounds great, hasn't to me -- has been totally proven to be effective.

ROWLAND: There's solid evidence that Stoddard's six weeks of radiation give her a 95 percent chance of living 10 more years. For Lauren who got five days of radiation, the answer is not in yet.

Rhonda Rowland, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Susan G. Komen Foundation raises money to help fund breast cancer research. The foundation's annual race for the cure stepped off here in Atlanta and dozens of U.S. cities, as well as three foreign countries. Some races were yesterday, some today. Since '82, at least $240 million, that's $240 million has been raised for breast cancer research out of that.

Joining me now are Elaine Koenig, who heads up the Atlanta chapter of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Foundation. And with her are her daughters, Dr. Allison Koenig and Karen Koenig. Good to have you all with us this morning.

First of all, tell us how the race went yesterday.

ELAINE KOENIG, SUSAN G. KOMEN FOUNDATION: The race was absolutely incredible. Every year, I say it's the best one ever. And I'll say it again. We had about 8500 actual registered participants, but whole families came. So we have really -- there was probably greater than 10,000 people there yesterday.

O'BRIEN: How much money were you able to raise?

E. KOENIG: Well, we don't really know yet how much. Last year, we raised $650,000. And hopefully, we're going to break that mark this year and be able to raise more.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit how you go from being a breast cancer survivor to being somebody so engaged and organzing something like this. That's -- I know that's a long story that doesn't really fit well into the time alloted.

E. KOENIG: Right.

O'BRIEN: But take us back to when you got the diagnosis, and what your thoughts were then, as opposed to what you think of now, as you participate in these races?

E. KOENIG: I was diagnosed seven years ago. And of course, like many women, I had no family history of it. And I got my mammogram yearly. For (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but not that. And if I hadn't gotten my mammogram, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now because early detection does save lives.

I was working in public health at the School of Public Health at Emory University. And my public health persona emerged in that I knew to get a mammogram. I had access to a mammogram. I had health insurance. And that there are women who don't have access to care or the education to know to do it, and that women are dying unnecessarily. And I became really, really angry.

And so, I looked around at the various breast cancer organizations, and did a little homework, and chose the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. One, because they're extremely good stewards of their money. And that three-quarters of the money that we raised stays right here in our local area.

And so, 75 percent funds grants to the medically underserved for unmet needs for education, screening, treatment and support. And 25 percent goes into a national grant program, cutting edge research. And so, I started as a volunteer, became president of the affiliate, and last June, became the executive director here.

O'BRIEN: Allison, what's it been in like from your perspective, watching your mother go through this ordeal? And then to turn that ordeal into something which is providing some hope and concrete research for others?

A. KOENIG: Actually, was a first year medical student when my mother was diagnosed. So you know, I was somewhere where I could, you know, have -- find a lot of knowledge, find some information. And definitely, you know, it's something that you know I deal with children primarily. And people have illnesses all the time, but it's different when it's in your own family.

And I think that, you know, my mother has turned something that obviously was, you know, a big change in her life into something positive, which some people don't have the opportunity to do.

O'BRIEN: And that's easier said than done, isn't it?

A. KOENIG: Mm-hmm.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Karen, what are your thoughts on it? Has this ordeal changed the way you live? Does it make you just go about your daily life in a different way a different perspective maybe?

K. KOENIG: Well, I think when she was first diagnosed, you know, I thought this couldn't really be happening. You know, you see movies all the time where people are diagnosed with breast cancer and think, "Oh, it's just, you know, that couldn't really happen to me." And so, I think that was kind of a shock to see that it can happen to, you know, your mother or my mother or, you know, your sister or my sister. And so, I think that kind of brought it really to home that it does happen to ordinary people all the time.

And so, I think that, you know, it was kind of an eye-opener in that, and just seeing all the good that the organization can do, and to be able to participate in the Race for the Cure. I think yesterday was my sixth race for the cure. I've done it in Washington, D.C. a couple of times and here in Atlanta. And it's just so nice to see so many people together, you know, raising money for such a good cause, and also just celebrating all the survivors that are out there, and you know, just really coming together to celebrate that.

O'BRIEN: Elaine, despite all that is being done, and you are an active participant in there, is enough research being done? Is enough money spent? And where do you see as the problem areas, areas that need more attention?

E. KOENIG: Well, you know, there's never going to be enough money to do this. Until we find a cure, we just have to keep raising money. The --

O'BRIEN: Do you think there will be a cure?

E. KOENIG: Yes. I believe in my lifetime, they will be a cure. We're getting closer treatments or have become so much better now, but we don't have a cure. And so, we just have to keep fighting this until the day comes when no mother, no sister, no grandmother, no neighbor are going to die from breast cancer. The statistics are still very, very upsetting that so many women die each year.

O'BRIEN: So what are the words to women this morning? And perhaps to children who are thinking about their mothers today? What should they be telling them? You mentioned mammograms. What else?

E. KOENIG: Well, I mean, women have to take charge of their health. And until we find that cure, we have -- women over the age of 40 should be getting a mammogram yearly. If they have a history of breast cancer that -- please see their physician and perhaps like may get a baseline even earlier. Clinical breast exams and very importanlty, monthly breast self exam. Women have to know their own bodies.

Breast cancer, most kinds, are found by the woman herself. And that means early diagnosis. That means a cure.

O'BRIEN: Allison, are Mother's Day more poignant than ever, having been through this ordeal?

A. KOENIG: I think so. I mean I think that, you know, when your own mother goes through something that, you know, is cancer, so it does. You know, you treasure the time that you do have together and are very happy for it.

O'BRIEN: Karen, same for you?

K. KOENIG: Definitely. I think yesterday at the Race for the Cure, at the end of the race, you know, I was done. And looked over and I saw my mom on the stage, you know, with a bunch of other survivors, you know, singing to, you know, I think it was "I Will Survive." And it was just a really good feeling that, you know, I am very lucky that my mother was able to survive and that there's so much out there to make sure that so many other mothers are able to overcome this.

O'BRIEN: I will survive. Good place to end it. All right, thank you, Koenigs, all of you. Elaine, Allison, and Karen, thanks for coming in. We appreciate your time and we appreciate your efforts on behalf of the Race of the Cure.

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