World

Teresa Heinz, Wife Of John Kerry, Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

by Yuliya Talmazan | December 23, 2009 at 09:30 am

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Teresa Heinz, the 71-year-old wife of Senator and 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry, has announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer in late September and is undergoing treatment for it. In October, Heinz had lumpectomy procedure in both breasts, which involves a surgical removal of discrete lumps from the breast tissue. She has not had radiation therapy yet, and is scheduled to begin next month. There are allegations in some publications that Heinz's breast cancer is malignant.

Teresa Heinz's diagnosis might reignite the debate around screening techniques to scan for breast cancer. Heinz had a routine mammogram that caught her cancer early on. Just recently, new guidelines commissioned by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force came out arguing that women in their 40s should not get routine mammograms for early detection of breast cancer due to radiation risks. And, at the very least, should consult their doctors before getting screened. The study recommended women aged 50 to 74 should get routine mammogram every two years, not every year as was previously advised. Heinz has openly encouraged women to still get mammograms.

"Chemotherapy is serious. It also costs a lot of money. It's very painful. And it's very destructive of people's — most people's — lives for a while, anyway. So why put people through that instead of just having a test that's done, and it's done?"

Breast cancer death rates have been dropping steadily since 1990, according to the American Cancer Society, because of earlier detection and better treatments, but breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today. About 465,000 die from breast cancer every year around the world.