Physicians tend to be pragmatic, scientific, highly rational beings. But even the most levelheaded of them have encountered at least one of those inexplicable cases where despite all evidence to the contrary, a fatally ill patient beats the odds. The kind of curious, mysterious, absolutely unfathomable recovery that prompts physicians to turn to one another and ask, what’s up with that, doc?
What one terms a miracle, another calls an aberration. Where one credits the power of prayer, another chalks it up to dumb luck. And even the staunchest scientist has had to concur that there is something to be said for the power of positive thinking. Despite its “New Age” reputation, the healing power of positive thinking goes back to ancient times. Eastern yogis to Greek philosophers have explored the mind-body connection. Whether it’s meditation or creative visualization or simply putting on a happy face, many experts (of yesterday and today) agree that positive thinking plays at least a partial role in keeping us healthy and helping us rebound from illness.
With that in mind, now is the moment to encourage your female patients to “think pink.” October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and while it’s an excellent time to remind women to go for their annual mammograms, it’s also a perfect opportunity to encourage a balanced lifestyle with less stress and a positive attitude. Inner harmony and a rosy outlook can help us fight disease—and more than one in eight women will need all the arsenal she can get when she’s faced with battling breast cancer.
Beyond one’s personal outlook, there is good reason to “think pink” about the larger breast cancer crusade. Researchers are making significant breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment every day, bringing new hope to countless women. For example, adopting new practices for safer treatments is critical. JAMA (September 5, 2012) recently published research by Silvia Formenti, MD, a radiation oncologist at NYU School of Medicine, regarding the advantages of positioning breast cancer patients on their stomachs (prone) rather than on their backs (supine) during post-lumpectomy radiotherapy. Her findings of trials conducted at NYU showed that using a prone position for treatment can enable a significant reduction in the volume of lung and heart tissue exposed to radiation for women with breasts of all sizes.
“Prone positioning was optimal in sparing the lungs in virtually all right breast cancer cases, and for 85 percent of left breast cancer cases,” said Formenti, in a press release distributed by NYU Langone Medical Center.
Molecular imaging brought us recent research news as well. According to a study published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, disease-free survival for invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) patients may be easier to predict with the help of F-18-fludeoxyglucose PET/CT scans. New data show that high maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of F-18-FDG in the lymph nodes prior to treatment could be an independent indicator of disease recurrence.
This finding is a critical step toward better treatment strategies. “One of the important roles of molecular imaging in cancer research is to noninvasively predict precise prognosis. Our results showed significant improvement in the accuracy of risk prediction for disease-free survival rates when nodal SUVmax was added to well-known established risk factors,” said Sang-Woo Lee, MD, PhD, one of the authors. “Our study suggests that F-18-FDG PET/CT could yield useful information for risk stratification and treatment strategies in IDC patients with axillary lymph node involvement.”
With a growing body of research, advanced imaging technologies, and the ongoing commitment of countless physicians and medical professionals, the war on breast cancer continues. If white is the shade of surrender, pink is the color of power and progress.
Marianne Matthews
Editor
