Cancer in The News; Cancer Fight: Unclear Tests for New Drug By GINA KOLATA

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/health/research/20cancer.html?scp=9&sq=cancer&st=cse

• Dr. Linda Griffith has breast cancer and was recommended to take tests to see if a certain estrogen suppressing drug would help her.
• These tests are often all over the place. Often they say different things in different labs, or on different times the test is taken.
• Scientists were troubled by these odd results and began a test reform. They managed to fix the tests somewhat in 900 hospitals.
• The tests for the HER3 protein are still often faulty, and the medicine itself still is risky and expensive, so Dr. Griffith chose not to take it.

Reflection:

I learned from this video that cancer can be patchy looking on the outside due to proteins. It can be dark and light like a checkerboard. The thing with the faulty tests is scary, and I think that doctors should do away with the testing, as the drug itself causes stomach pain, weakened joints, and fatal heart problems. i would say that radiation is the best choice for everyone with cancer so far. Once they develop a reliable protein suppressor, it could be used in place of radiation therapy. Linda Griffith chose chemotherapy over the drug and she is a well informed doctor. I am glad that males cannot get breast cancer, because it sounds painful and scary. I wonder if Estrogen suppressing drugs will make women more manly and testosterone suppressing drugs will make men more feminine"""I am very comfortable with my decision,” said Dr. Griffith.

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/health/research/20cancer.html?scp=9&sq=cancer&st=cse

Citation:

Kolata, Gina. "Cancer Fight - Unclear Tests for New Drug - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .