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 April 2015.
NOT TODAY OR
TOMORROW!!!!!
But maybe someday
in the not-too-distant-future!
One of the things
that sometimes bugs me about science fiction that’s supposed to be set in the
distant future, is when they pull a stunt with the sole intent of making the
“futuristic story” relevant to today. I’m reading a novel right now in which
soldiers swear with the “f-word”. I can’t help think, “Oh, come on! You don’t
REALLY think cuss words are going to stay exactly the same and have the same
shock value five hundred or a thousand years in the future, do you?”
Another one, this
time relevant to breast cancer, is when the President of the Twelve Colonies on
the re-imagined BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is diagnosed with breast cancer. “At her
doctor's appointment, Roslin is told that she has breast cancer and a year to
live.”
Far be it from me
to second-guess a writer and argue for dramatic impact, but this society has
TWELV2E separate worlds it governs; it has the capability to build (from
scratch) TWELVE massive, monstrous, huge star ships capable of traveling at
trans-light speeds – but not a single person ever thought to apply technology
to breast cancer research?
Thanks be to God
we live in this society! While the BC vaccine is by no means “just around the
corner”, there is excellent evidence from a few small studies that it may be
something that young adults may experience as a matter of course. There’s a
glimmer of hope of creating a vaccine against breast cancer!
Something called
“Mammaglobin-A (MAM-A) is overexpressed in 40% to 80% of primary breast
cancers.” Because it is so common in breast cancers, researchers can use it as
a marker – like a blinking light on top of a water tower! – and design T-cells
(also known as white blood cells – the kind that fight disease and infection in
Humans) that will specifically attack and eat the cancer cells. “This makes
MAM-A a great target for a new cancer therapy as it could hopefully be used for
the vast majority of patients with early stage and metastatic disease, where
the protein is also found to be overexpressed. The vaccine works by priming
white blood cells to target and destroy other cells presenting MAM-A, and the
vaccination study was the first of this type against this target.”
The time is not
ripe for celebration – the time IS right to get yourself involved with Relay
For Life, the Susan B. Kommen Race For The Cure, or to write your checks to
your local breast cancer – ANY cancer research – organizations! I and my wife
are walking in the Relay For Life sponsored by the high school I work at and
our sister high school across the district. (I don’t have a sponsor page up
yet, but it WILL be here!
Resources: http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/20/23/5964.abstract,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Roslin,
http://www.crownbio.com/knockout-jab-breast-cancer/
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