From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for
answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The
following entry appeared in December of 2011.
All right – the
mastectomy is done (not OVER, there are still deep emotions attached to that
surgery that will never “disappear”). The chemotherapy is done (same thing there:
deep emotions and memories that will be carved into my mind forever). While
it’s never completely gone, the gut-wrenching worry has passed.
What now?
For the next
FIVE years, in addition to some cosmetic surgery, checkups and maintenance,
there are more DRUGS. Specific to breast cancer is the one I’ll talk about
today: anastrazole.
Chemically, this
is called
2,2'-[5-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)-1,3-phenylene]bis(2-methylpropanenitrile).
But what’s it
DO?
In a nutshell it
slows down the production of estrogen in a human body (BTW – men make estrogen,
too, just not as much as women do. Women make testosterone, just not as much as
men do).
So?
Estrogen, which
at puberty initiates the maturation of a woman, causes among other things, the
increased growth of the cells in the breast. This estrogen comes from the
ovaries and is a totally normal response to a person growing up. Estrogen
levels in the blood increase during every menstrual cycle – which means it
stimulates the growth of breast cells.
Estrogen doesn’t
just stop affecting the woman after puberty. “…life-long exposure
to estrogen…plays an important role in determining breast cancer risk…the
number of menstrual cycles a woman has, and hence the length of exposure to
estrogen during her lifetime, affects her risk for breast cancer.”
So every time a
woman has her period, estrogen travels through the blood. The molecule of
estrogen affects cells in the body – but only certain kinds of cells like the
ones found in the breast and uterus. These cells have “keyholes” in their walls
that are called estrogen receptors. The estrogen and the estrogen receptor hook
together to make a single molecule that enters the nucleus of the
cell. Once it locks on the cell’s DNA, it directs it to do many things. Among
the things it tells the cell to do is GROW.
You know by now
that cancer happens when cells grow totally out of control. So every time the
breast cells get a message from the estrogen, they grow. Breast cancer is the
out-of-control growth of breast cells stimulated by estrogen.
Anastrazole
BLOCKS estrogen from giving its message to breast (and other) cells. On the
website listed below, the author states: “…the medication is directed at
preventing recurrence [of cancer] other than just in breast
tissue….The American Society of Clinical Oncologists stated recently: ‘To
lengthen disease-free survival and lower risk for [cancer] recurrence in nearby
tissues or distant tissues…’”
So in a single
sentence – anastrazole blocks estrogen from giving its message to cells that
like to take up estrogen and start growing wildly.
References: http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/general/fs9.estrogen.cfm
, http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/Why-Arimidex-Anastrozole-after-bilateral-mastectomy/show/1314813
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