The Floridian - Order Sons of Italy in America

CANCERJeanette D’Alesssandro, ChairLet me begin by thanking President Mottola forallowing me the opportunity to serve asChairperson for this committee which has probablyaffected most of us or our families. It is hoped thatour contributions may have helped our researchersget closer to a remedy for this deadly disease,cancer.My humble thanks to all Lodge Presidents whopresented donations on behalf of their Lodgemembers at every council meeting the past twoyears.As a "breast cancer survivor," I centered my firstreport on it. Women who take aspirin after theircancer goes into remission are about 50% likely tohave a recurrence or die from the diseaseaccording to an ongoing Nurse Health Study at theBrigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. OCVAX,an experimental vaccine designed to "teach" theimmune system to kill cancer cells, may offer somehope for the future.Another topic was "Colorectal Cancer." Regularscreening is the most powerful weapon forpreventing colorectal cancer. Most people have nosymptoms of the disease so screening is veryimportant especially if there is a family history ofthe disease. When polyps are detected early, theycan be removed and lower your risk. It takes 10 to15 years for them to develop into cancer. The keyto screening is finding the cancer early when it ishighly curable.Another type is "Oral Cancer" which falls into thehead and neck category. This cancer is largely alifestyle disease since the majority of cases arerelated to tobacco and alcohol use. If you are aman, you have twice the risk of developing oralcancer, and ifyou smoke anddrink, the risk is15 times greater.Found at earlystages, oralcancer has an 80to 90% survivalrate.For all types ofcancer, it is mostimportant to seeka second opinion.Your doctorwon't mind and most welcome one. A diagnosis ofcancer can be scary and a treatment planconfusing, thus another opinion is very helpful in atreatment plan.What is cancer? The body has millions of livingcells, grow, divide and die in an orderly way. In theearly years, normal cells allow a person to grow. Inadults, cells divide only to replace worn outdamaged cells. Cancer begins when cells start togrow out of control and form tumors. Not alltumors are cancer, they are called benign.It is hoped that my reports have been helpful inunderstanding this dreadful disease. Most of theinformation in my reports are studies at theBrigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston; OngoingNurses Health Studies; American Cancer Society,phone 1-800-ACS-2345 and newspaper andmagazine articles. Our goal is to eliminate the wordCancer from our vocabulary.My thanks for all members who have madedonations the past two years.THE FLORIDIAN/September 20118 | P a g e