A lab in Oklahoma is studying genes for combinations that predict breast cancer risk. A look into the 100 genes gathered from each woman -- via mouthwash -- allows researchers to categorize women with standard, moderate, or high risks of developing the disease.The study begins with a lengthy questionnaire about medical history and leads to the collection of a DNA sample. Women simply rinse their mouths with a standard mouthwash and wait for results.
Geneticist Dr. Kara Casas says she hopes that regardless of results, women will choose a healthy lifestyle with a diet low in fat and alcohol consumption and with lots of exercise too. But those in the moderate and high-risk groupings will be advised to make other lifestyle changes to help decrease their chances of getting breast cancer. They may be asked to regulate estrogen levels, for example, and to report regularly for mammograms at an earlier age.
Casas says all women have some risk of developing breast cancer. But knowing what these risks are can help them better protect themselves -- which makes tests like this so important.
A total of 12,000 samples will collected for an FDA trial. For more information about this study in mouthwash, call 903-510-1173.
Right now -- at this very moment -- my two boys have turned our living room into a mess of blankets and pillows and stuffed animals. They put on their jammies and closed all the blinds and are pretending it's bedtime. But it's actually lunch time, so they have spread out paper plates and plastic silverware and bags of chips and boxes of crackers all over the floor -- on top of all their bedding. I delivered them their lunch platters and lemonade and there they sit, in the room next to me -- chattering away, stuffing their little mouths, full of life. And I am in awe -- of the simple joy that comes from a living room camp-out and picnic, of the beauty these children bring into my life. I am mostly in awe of the fact that no matter what cancer takes from me -- my hair, moments of health, my innocence -- it cannot ever take this very moment from me. And that makes today a happy day.
