By HEATHER JOHNSONhjohnson@nptelegraph.com

Half of it is gone.And, Sue Condon feelsbetter because of it.

On Sept. 27, the NorthPlatte woman sat in achair at the Trends HairStudio, cutting her longblonde strands so theycould be used to makewigs for cancer pa-tients.

“Chop it off,” she saidto Shannon Roggow,cosmetologist. Roggowlopped off a chunk justbelow Condon’s earsand handed it to Con-don to hold.

It wasn’t the first timeRoggow had styled Con-don’s hair because ofcancer — the two

women go way back.Condon was diag-

nosed with breast can-cer in March 2002 — twoyears after her older sis-ter, Vera Horn, receivedthe same diagnosis.

“She ended up beingmy mentor througheverything,” Condonsaid. “I have four sistersand three of us havehad breast cancer. Mypaternal grandmotherhad it. Vera started outwith it, but ended uppassing away from pan-creatic cancer. She hadseven different kinds ofcancer by the time shedied in 2007.”

Condon found herlump. She and her hus-band, Bill, had been cel-ebrating their anniver-

sary with a trip at thetime. Because their chil-dren were planning tohave a party for themwhen they got home,Sue waited to go to thedoctor until the day af-ter the party so the funwouldn’t be ruined. Shewent to a nurse practi-tioner first, who advisedher to have a biopsy.

“After that, it was awhirlwind,” Sue said.“It happened so fast. Iwas in surgery fourtimes. Dr. TimothyO’Holleran was myphysician, and initially,he thought the spot wassmall enough to do alumpectomy.”

During the process,he found another tumor.Altogether, Sue had five.

“I’m grateful that heran into another one, orthe others would have

Sue Condon of North Platte watches in a mirror as Shannon Roggow, cosmetolo-gist, cuts her hair on Sept. 27. The hair will be donated to the Locks of Love pro-gram, to make wigs for cancer patients.

Heather Johnson / The North Platte Telegraph

‘Every little bit helps’North Platte cancer survivordonates hair to help others

Please see the next page

BACK INTO THE SWING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 3THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

continued to grow with-out me knowing,” Suesaid.

Her lymph nodeswere analyzed next, tosee if the cancer hadspread. It had. Two outof the nine lymph nodestested positive.

“It was a shock, but itwasn’t a non-manage-able shock,” she said.“Cancer was somethingthat as a woman, I al-ways knew could hap-pen. I said to my doctor,‘Take care of me likeyou would your mom,your sister, your wife.’”

Sue underwent a mas-tectomy followed by aseries of radiation andchemotherapy treat-ments. Because the can-cer was up against herchest wall, the concernwas that the diseasecould move to herbones. She did fourrounds of chemo — oneevery three weeks. Afterthat, she went through35 rounds of radiation.

“Sometimes, Verawould call and ask if Ihad a treatment sched-uled. She said she knewwhen I did because shecould taste it,” Sue said.“She could taste theflush solution for the IV,which is horrible. Icould taste it the minuteit went into my arm. Itwas like rubbing alco-hol in my mouth.”

Another time, Horncalled to see how Sue’shair was doing. Suetold her it was fine.Horn took a detourthrough North Platteon her way home from

Arizona, anyway.“Then, my hair start-

ed falling out,” Sue said.“Vera would tell me lat-er she planned it thatway. She wanted to behere for me the day Iwould lose my hair.”

Sue said Horn was aninspiration. The dayHorn died, at age 67, sheserved eight peopleThanksgiving dinner.

“She lived her life tothe very last minute shecould,” Sue said. “I be-lieve it doesn’t matterwhat you’re going

through in life — we allneed a mentor. My sis-ter was my mentor, andI know how motivation-al she was to me.”

Sue relied on the restof her family for sup-port as well. Her friendscould always be countedon to lend a helpinghand.

“They were never of-fended if they cameover, and I asked if theycould dust or run thedishwasher,” Sue said.Because of her experi-ences, she also met a

new group of friends. “There’s a lot of

things in my life Iwouldn’t have if I was-n’t a cancer a survivor,”Sue said. “The PaintingPrincesses is one.”

The group, made upentirely of cancer sur-vivors who enjoy paint-ing, is what reallybrought out Sue’s artis-tic side.

“I was a crafter be-fore, and I sold artthrough my home inte-rior business, but it wassomeone else’s work,”Sue said. “I’ve gained anew appreciation for allarts, whether that bepaintings, music orwriting.”

Creating watercolorswas just what Sue need-ed to help take her mindoff her health.

“I’m not one to lay inbed if I can’t sleep,” shesaid. “At that point, Icould take naps, but Icouldn’t sleep for long.So, my kids would seeme start a piece beforethey went to bed, andwhen they got up in themorning, they wouldsee it finished. That wasfun.”

Sue has since filledher family’s walls withher creations. Herpieces have won localcompetitions and madeit to state shows. Shehas also done commis-sioned pieces and is in-volved with the Art andGift Gallery in NorthPlatte. But, those aren’tthe best parts.

“I’ve gained a newfamily by joining the

Painting Princesses,”Sue said. “The cancerisn’t what we talk about.We talk about life. It’san uplifting environ-ment, and it shows peo-ple they can do some-thing they didn’t thinkthey could do. And,that’s what living withcancer is all about.”

Sue has been cancer-free for 10 years. The an-niversary came andwent this year withoutCondon realizing it.

“I didn’t even knowuntil someone broughtit to my attention,” shesaid. “When I thoughtabout it, it was a greatfeeling.”

A couple of monthsago, Sue was able to giveback to the facility thathelped her survive. Lyleand Byron Barksdale,pathologists at GreatPlains Regional MedicalCenter, commissionedher to do a painting ofthe front of the hospital.The piece was given to aretiring medical tran-scriptionist.

This week, Sue gaveback again by cuttingher hair for the Locks ofLove program. Her ownhair had fallen out two

months after her diag-nosis.

“I bought some sunhats, but they were toobig because I didn’thave any hair to holdthem in place,” she said.“So, I wore a wig on spe-cial occasions, but oth-erwise, I was a baseballcap girl. I had a cap tomatch every outfit.”

When her hair didgrow back, it was browninstead of her naturalblonde. Roggow taughther how to manage it.

“The chemo makeshair come back differ-ently,” she said. “Minewas so kinky, I couldn’tget my fingers throughit. I loved it when it wastwo inches long though,because it was so fun tohave it coming back.”

That’s part of whySue made the decisionto donate the strands tocharity.

“When you don’t havehair, you realize it’s notthat important,” shesaid. “But, it’s still partof your character. Iwant to give confidenceto someone else. Everylittle bit helps whenyou’re going throughsomething like cancer.”

Sue Condon of North Platte holds up chunks of hairshe had cut off on Sept. 27. The hair will be donated tothe Locks of Love program to make wigs for cancerpatients.

Heather Johnson / The North Platte Telegraph

BACK INTO THE SWING4 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

By HEATHER JOHNSONhjohnson@nptelegraph.com

Some can laugh about itand some can’t.

That’s how Gaye Fudgesums up the various atti-tudes women have towardbreast cancer. She credits hu-mor for helping her to bothcope and bounce back fromher own struggles with thedisease.

“You’ve got to keep the hu-mor going, because when it’sgone, there’s nothing left,”Fudge said. “I’ve lost my hu-mor in other ways, but not tocancer.”

Fudge was diagnosed withbreast cancer in June of 2002,just after her 61st birthday.She was diligent about doingself-checks at home, and be-cause fiber cysts had beenfound in both of her breastsseveral years before, she alsodid yearly mammograms. Itwas during one of thosemammograms that doctorsnoticed a spot.

“Back then, they just said‘Let’s watch it.’ It was thecommon thing to do,” Fudgesaid. “So, for all these yearswe had been watching it, andone year it had grownenough that the doctors be-came concerned.”

A biopsy was conducted,followed by another mammo-gram. Her son, David Fudge,went to the doctor’s officewith her to hear the results.

“David just felt he neededto be there, and I’m glad hewas,” Gaye said. “When thedoctor came in, he had a littlebook with him about how tohandle breast cancer, and Iknew right away what waswrong with me.”

Gaye’s cancer was at StageTwo, which is consideredmedium level. It was alsofast-moving.

“I think the reason I didn’tfall apart when I found outwas because I knew what wasahead of me,” Gaye said. “Mygrandfather had colon can-cer, and I watched my hus-band, Carl, die from cancerover two and a half years.”

Gaye said Carl’s cancerwas found in his lungs inFebruary 1981. She was byhis side as he went throughsurgery to remove the lowerleft lobe of his lung, bouncedback and forth between hos-pitals in Denver and Grant,was diagnosed with braincancer and went throughgrueling radiation treat-ments that sent him into co-mas.

“Based on that, I just feltlike my diagnosis was what itwas and I had to move for-ward,” Gaye said. “I knewsomeone was going to bethere to help me and give meadvice, and I did a lot of pray-ing. I couldn’t have gottenthrough it without my faithin God.”

Another surgery was done

to check Gaye’s lymph nodesand determine whether thecancer had spread. It had not.She was given a choice be-tween radiation andchemotherapy to treat the ar-eas in her breast.

“After seeing how the radi-ation had practically immo-bilized Carl, I decided againstthat,” Gaye said. “My doctorasked if I was sure, and I saidI was. He left the room, thencame back, smiled and said Imade the right decision.”

Gaye did chemo treatmentson Friday nights. On Satur-day and Sunday mornings,she was put on IVs to keepher from vomiting from thedrugs. Every Monday morn-ing, she was back in the class-room teaching at Lincoln Ele-mentary.

“The hardest thing was los-ing my hair,” she said. “I hadbeautiful hair. I covered themirror and wouldn’t look atit for a long time.”

Because she turned downthe radiation, Gaye had tohave a radical mastectomy.Doctors told her that if shehad the affected breast, theleft one, removed she wouldhave to have a reduction onthe other side to avoid beinglopsided. Gaye decided totake them both off and nothave either replaced with aprosthesis.

She said keeping a lightoutlook on life made the or-deal easier for her to bear,and also helped her family,friends, physicians and care-takers.

“Humor will get you

through a lot,” she said.“You’ve got to keep the laugh-ter and sun in things.”

It’s part of the reason whyGaye enjoys the PaintingPrincesses, a watercolorgroup for cancer survivors.

“A real camaraderie isborn when you’re surround-ed by women who have allhad cancer in one form or an-other,” Gaye said. “Memberscan talk about their health is-sues, and no one else in thegroup thinks they are weep-ing and wailing.”

There are times when shethinks maybe if she had actedearlier she wouldn’t have hadto go through what she did.

“Now my stand when doc-tors say, ‘Let’s watch it,’ is tonot watch it,” Gaye said. “Ifit’s watchable, then it willprobably turn into some-thing. If they want to watchit, then fine. They can watchit come out.”

Her advice to those tryingto cope with cancer is to lookfor ways to stay upbeat.

“It’s scary, but you justhave to keep going and thankGod for every little goodthing that happens,” Gayesaid. “Don’t automaticallythink of it as a death war-rant. It’s not the end. It’s thebeginning of a new life, and alot of positives will come outof it. They did for me.”

Gaye said she’s now able toencourage others because ofher own experiences. Herfaith has also been strength-ened.

“If people don’t believe inGod, that’s ok,” she said.“But, my God was with methe whole way.”

NP woman beats cancer with humor, faithGaye Fudge: ‘You’ve got to keep the laughter and sun in things’

Gaye Fudge knits a scarf on Sept. 27 at her home in North Plat-te. Fudge was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. Now cancer-free, she’s able to continue the hobbies she loves.

Heather Johnson / The North Platte Telegraph

FAMILY MEDICINE • ASSOCIATES •

L.F. Lamberty, M.D. • J. Bernard, M.D.W.J. Gosnell, M.D. • J. Kezeor, M.D.

500 West Leota, Suite 100 • North Platte, NE 69101

Phone: 308-534-4440

BACK INTO THE SWING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 5THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

By ANDREW BOTTRELLabottrell@nptelegraph.com

Diane Speck likes birthdays.After surviving breast cancer

two years ago, she likes celebrat-ing another year of life andgrowing old.

“I want to sit on the porch in arocking chair with my hus-band,” she said.

In April 2010, Speck went to seeher doctor about something com-pletely unrelated to cancer.

But during the procedure herdoctor found a lump on herbreast and ordered a biopsy im-mediately. Speck previously hadbeen diagnosed fibrocystic, soshe had already had severallumpectomies in the past.

“They were concerned, so theydid surgery,” she said. “I was sur-

prised because of all the lumps Ihad prior.”

Five days later, after testing,her doctor called her back.

“You’re never ready to hearthat you have cancer,” Specksaid.

The cancerous lump wassmaller than a centimeter andlow grade, stage one cancer, soshe didn’t need chemotherapy,but her doctor did set her up onradiation treatment.

It was a quick process, shesaid, going in for her checkup inApril, an immediate biopsy andsurgery and radiation treat-ments were finished by Septem-ber. Two years later, she stilltakes a medication that she willhave to take for five years afterthe diagnosis, but she is cancerfree.

Speck’s support group, shesaid, was her husband, Rick, andher son, Cody, who helped herthrough tough times.

“If I was having a bad day, [myhusband] would say, ‘We’ll get

through this together,’” she said.“I just kept going forward.”

And that is her advise for otherbreast cancer patients, as well –keep going, day by day, and tostay positive.

“People are diagnosed withcancer every day, and because ofthat, it doesn’t have to be a deathsentence,” Speck said.

Speck also joined the PaintingPrincesses, a support group forcancer survivors in North Platte.She said it’s another avenue forpeople coping with cancer to net-work, and to help each otherthrough the process.

“They are a great support sys-tem,” she said. “And, I love topaint, so we have a good time.”

Speck said that the grouphelped her get through a diagno-sis of lymphedema after lymphnodes were removed from herarm, because others in the grouphad experienced the same com-plication.

“We visit about all sorts ofthings in that group,” she said.

Cancer not a ‘death sentence’Speck survives suddenbreast cancer diagnosiswith family’s support

Diane Speck was diagnosed with cancer in April2010. Two years later, she is cancer free, and lookingforward to growing old with her husband.

Andrew Bottrell / The North Platte Telegraph

BACK INTO THE SWING6 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

By ANDREW BOTTRELLabottrell@nptelegraph.com

Chemotherapy canchange a woman’s body.

Hair falls out, skindries up and sometimeswomen lose their eye-lashes and eyebrows.

The Look Good, FeelBetter program at GreatPlains Regional MedicalCenter helps womencope with these changesas they battle breastcancer.

Marlayna Blanchard,a hair stylist at Studio54 and owner of Wig-ging Out in North Plat-te, teaches the class on

second Mondays ofevery other month.She’ll hold a new classon Oct. 8.

For a couple hours,she teaches cancer pa-tients how to applymakeup to their chang-ing face, and puts wigson them to help themfeel better after losingtheir hair in chemother-apy. She said themakeover improveswomen’s self-confi-dence.

“Everything is OKthen, because they lookso darn good,” Blan-chard said. “Right awaythey start smiling, andthey give me hugs.”

Women can also expe-rience other changes totheir body, as well.

“Their nails get quitethin, and they have to becareful to not cut the cu-ticle because the skin is

more fragile,” she said.“There tends to also bea loss of color in theskin.”

The class, Blanchardsaid, gets women’sminds off of the cancerfor a few hours.

“I’ve got such nicecards that they’ve sentme,” she said. “For awoman the fear is shav-ing their hair. But,when I try a wig onthem and look at them,most of the wigs lookbetter than our hair. Iwear one a lot of thetime too. [The patients]are so happy then.”

Blanchard, who gotinvolved five years agowhen the hospital ap-proached her aboutstarting a program,called teaching the classa rewarding experience.

She recounted a storyabout a woman who at-

tended the class, butwas unable to afford oneof the wigs.

“One time there was agirl there and I broughta demo wig to showthem. This girl didn’thave any money. Thatwig was just meant forher,” she said. “I put iton her and said, ‘Here,it’s yours.’ It broughttears to her eyes, and tomine.”

Blanchard sells thewigs of various brandsthrough her business,Wigging Out, but shesaid she tries to helpevery woman battlingcancer, regardless of fi-nances, get a wig.

To sign up for theclass, or for more infor-mation, call Blanchardat 520-3803. Blanchardcan also help women inbetween the classes.

“I will have themcome to my house, ifthey can’t make theclass or if they need itsooner,” she said. “I’mjust kind of there forthem.”

Blanchard said shealso provides privateconsultations at eitherher home or the pa-tient’s home for womenwho don’t want to at-tend the class.

Women ‘Look Good, Feel Good’ despite chemoProgram helpspatients cope withphysical changesdue to treatment

The Look Good, Feel Better program, administered by Marlayna Blanchard helpsbreast cancer patients through their chemotherapy by helping them do their make-up and put on a wig.

Andrew Bottrell / The North Platte Telegraph

JOANN PERLINGER, CBR, CRS, GRI, SRS

REALTOR®

JoAnn’s “Sell” Phone: (308) 530-4085

810 South DeweyNorth Platte, NEOFFICE:(308)532-1810 Ext. 154EMAIL: joannp@nponline.netINTERNET: www.joannperlinger.com

DON’T WAIT!Know the facts. Beat the odds.

BACK INTO THE SWING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 7THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

By DIANE WETZELdwetzel@nptelegraph.com

Welcome to the rest ofyour life.

When Dr. Kay Ryan ofOmaha was diagnosedwith breast cancer 10years ago, her bestfriend went through itwith her.

“When my treatmentwas over, I was feelingpretty beat up,” Ryansaid. “I am a nurse anda former cardiac rehabnurse and I kept asking,‘Where’s the rehab forthis?’”

There isn’t any, herfriend Dr. Stephanie Ko-raleski said. Koraleski,a psychologist for a can-cer treatment program,told Ryan that every-body asks about cancerrehab.

The two friends decid-ed to find a rehab pro-gram for breast cancer

survivors, and whenthey couldn’t, they cre-ated one.

“I realized the valueof helping someone getback on their feet inmind, body and spirit,”Ryan said. “We com-bined all the researchavailable at the time.”

A Time to Heal helpsbreast cancer survivorsnot merely survive, butthrive. Ryan and Ko-raleski believe that likepeople who have car-diac rehabilitation aftera heart attack, cancersurvivors need help inrecovering from cancerand cancer treatment.

“It’s much more thana support group,” Ryansaid. “We studied all theevidence based inter-ventions that could helpbreast cancer survivorsrecover their health,hope and lives and put itall together in one pro-

gram. It’s a smorgas-bord, and all we ask isthat people who take theprogram be open to tast-ing everything.”

North Platte Nurseand breast cancer sur-vivor Shirleen Smith

learned about the pro-gram several years agoand applied for a grantto receive facilitatortraining. The moneyprovided training forSmith and two facilita-tors. The first class

graduated in 2009.“I went through the

surgeries andchemotherapy and radi-ation,” Smith said. “Atthat time there wasn’tanything like this pro-gram available.”

While taking thetraining, Smith learnedshe had more to learn.

“I didn’t think I neededany additional help,” shesaid. “But I learned a lot.”

By DIANE WETZELdwetzel@nptelegraph.com

A quarter of a million newcases of breast cancer will bediagnosed this year in theUnited States. During Na-tional Breast Cancer Aware-ness Month in October, theAmerican Cancer Society isreminding women about theimportance in breast health.

Close to three millionbreast cancer survivors willcelebrate another birthdaythis year, thanks to theprogress being made in pre-vention awareness and treat-ment. After increasing formore than two decades, therate of female breast cancercases began to decreasing in2000, dropping by 7 percent

from 2002 to 2003. Breast can-cer is the second leadingcause of cancer death inwomen, exceeded only bylung cancer. Death rates frombreast cancer have been de-clining since 1990, with larg-er decreases in womenyounger than 50. Accordingto the American Cancer Soci-ety, the decreases are be-lieved to be the result of ear-lier detection throughscreening and increasedawareness.

One out of every twowomen newly diagnosedwith breast cancer reachesout to the American CancerSociety for help and support,according to an email fromBrian Ortner, regional direc-tor of communications for

the High Plains Division ofthe American Cancer Society.

The society recommendsthat women age 40 and olderget a mammogram and clini-cal breast exam every yearand report any breastchanges to their doctor.

For more than 40 years,women and men facing a di-agnosis of breast cancer havebeen helped by Society’sReach to Recovery Program.At the same time they arefeeling overwhelmed by thediagnosis, breast cancer pa-tients are trying to under-stand complex medical treat-ments.

Reach for Recovery volun-teers are trained to help, toprovide some comfort and toassist in making informeddecisions. Volunteers arebreast cancer survivors whoprovide patients and familymembers the opportunity to

talk about their fears andworries. According to theAmerican Cancer Society’swebsite www.cancer.org, vol-unteers are trained in the lat-est information and are fullyadjusted to their breast can-cer treatment. They can offersupport, understanding andhope because they have sur-vived breast cancer and go onto have normal, productivelives.

Newly-diagnosed patientsand their loved ones can call800-227-2345 or go to the web-site for free informationabout Reach to Recovery.Available 24 hours a day,callers will receive informa-tion, answers and emotionalsupport.

Through face to face visitsor by phone, Reach to Recov-ery volunteers provide sup-port for people recently diag-nosed with breast cancer or

those facing a possible breastcancer diagnosis, those whowant to know more aboutlumpectomy’s and/or mas-tectomy’s and patients whoare having or completedtreatment such aschemotherapy and radiation.

Volunteers will be there forpeople considering breast re-construction, who have beendiagnosed with lympedemaor those facing breast cancerreoccurrence or metastasis,(the spread of cancer to an-other part of the body.

To find out about local sup-port programs, where Soci-ety volunteers will drivebreast cancer patients totreatment, and survivors willsupport newly diagnosed pa-tients through their breastcancer journey, contact theKearney American CancerSociety office at (308) 237-1631.

There’s more help for cancer patients than everThanks to early detection, increasedawareness, cancer survival rates rising

Please see HHEEAALL, Page 8

A Time To Heal helps survivors thrive after cancer

After several years,Smith transferred theprogram over to GreatPlains Regional MedicalCenter’s Callahan Can-cer Center.

Nan Hynes is one ofthe facilitators at theCallahan Cancer Centerthat run the 12-weekclasses.

“If I had to sum upthe program, I wouldsay it’s about learningto live life with intent,and how to have the bestlife from this day on,”Hynes said.

Breast cancer sur-vivors who participatein the class have the op-portunity to ask ques-tions and share experi-ences.

“We talk about build-ing resilience and theskills of survivors,”Hynes said. “Basicallyall of us go through dif-ficult times, and in theclass we talk about howwe are thinking about itand about building onand adding to you ownprotection factors.”

Some refer to goingthrough cancer treat-ment as a battle, Hyneslikes to think of it asjourney.

“There are times dur-ing that journey whenyou have to battle, but itis a journey we have togo through, whether wewanted to or not,” shesaid. “People are therebecause they are sur-vivors.”

A Time to Heal meetsonce a week for 12weeks. Each session be-gins with gentle stretch-ing exercises.

“It’s not real strenu-ous,” Hynes said. “It’sdesigned to get every-one moving again.”

Each weekly sessionfeatures a specific topicof discussion such asnutrition, relationships,relaxation, spiritualityand femininity.

“We do ask that peo-ple make a commitmentto the class,” Hynessaid. “If you are goingto learn the skills andhow to live life with in-tent, you deserve to giveyourself that commit-ment.”

For informationabout A Time to Heal,contact the CallahanCancer Center at (308)696-7386,

“It is a wonderful pro-gram,” Smith said. “Ithas tools that anyonecan use and supportiveideas that can help any-body.”

Research on cancersurvivors has shownthat people who have in-formation, who makehealthy choices, andfeel able to make a dif-ference in their ownlives can do very well af-ter treatment, accord-ing to the My Time toHeal website.

“The program is acombination of a lot ofthings,” Ryan said. “It’sthe best research ofwhat helps and it givessurvivors permission tochoose. It helps themget their power back.Survivors heal each oth-er. When they start talk-ing with other peoplewho have been throughbreast cancer, theylearn they are not alone,that they are not odd.They receive a lot ofhope and encourage-ment.”

The program is free. “We have teams all

along the Interstate 80corridor in Nebraskaand in none otherstates,” Ryan said.“Right now we havemore than a dozen ac-tive teams.”

The Susan G. Komenfor Nebraska founda-tion has been one of thebiggest cheerleadersand supporters of theprogram, she said.

CANCERfrom Page 7

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists re-ported Sunday that they have com-pleted a major analysis of the genet-ics of breast cancer, finding four ma-jor classes of the disease. They hopetheir work will lead to more effectivetreatments, perhaps with some drugsalready in use.

The new finding offers hints thatone type of breast cancer might bevulnerable to drugs that alreadywork against ovarian cancer.

The study, published online Sundayby the journal Nature, is the latest ex-ample of research into the biologicaldetails of tumors, rather than focus-ing primarily on where cancer arisesin the body.

The hope is that such research canreveal cancer’s genetic weaknessesfor better drug targeting.

“With this study, we’re one giantstep closer to understanding the ge-netic origins of the four major sub-types of breast cancer,” Dr. MatthewEllis of the Washington UniversitySchool of Medicine said in a state-ment. He is a co-leader of the re-search.

“Now we can investigate whichdrugs work best for patients based onthe genetic profiles of their tumors,”he said.

The researchers analyzed DNA ofbreast cancer tumors from 825 pa-tients, looking for abnormalities.

New breast cancer cluesare found in gene analysis