Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure

Ocean City, MD will host the Inaugural Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure on Sunday, April 22, 2012!
Susan G Komen Race for the Cure
April 22, 2012
Inlet Parking Lot
Ocean City, MD


Ocean City, Maryland Race Route:
The 5k run/walk:
Start: On the Boardwalk, just north of Wicomico Street (all events start at this point 1 mile and 5k run/walk)
Left on 15th Street
Left on Baltimore Avenue
Left on South 1st Street
Finish: Where South 1st Street meets the Boardwalk

The 1 mile walk:
Start: On the Boardwalk, just north of Wicomico Street (all events start at this point 1 mile and 5k run/walk)
Right at the Firefighter Memorial
Left at the pier, follows the path around to the Inlet
Finish: In the Inlet

Deadlines:
Mail in: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
On-line: 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 21, 2012
Team Challenge: Monday, April 16, 2012
Team Tailgate: Monday, April 16, 2012
Team Participant Award: Monday, April 16, 2012
Team Pledge Award: Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Click here for more information on the
Inaugural Komen Maryland Ocean City Race for the Cure on Sunday, April 22, 2012,
including links for registration.
Help Support Breast Cancer Awareness. Help Support the Cause for a Breast Cancer Cure!

Less Surgery Better for Breast Cancer Patients - New Study Shows

New Study Shows Less Surgery Better for Breast Cancer Patients

Carol Pearson | Washington, DC  February 14, 2011 - VOA

When breast cancer has spread to a patient's lymph system, surgeons traditionally have operated to remove a large number of underarm lymph nodes, to eliminate any trace of the cancer. The procedure is effective, but it can cause permanent complications. Now, a new study shows there is no advantage to taking out so many lymph nodes, and the finding could mean major changes in breast cancer surgery.

When breast cancer spreads to nearby lymph nodes, doctors have two choices:  they can remove the main tumor and the one or two lymph nodes closest to it.  This is called sentinal node biopsy.  Or, they can go with a more aggressive approach and take out a large number of lymph nodes.

The more aggressive approach can wipe out the cancer, but complications often include shoulder pain or permanent and painful swelling of the arm.

Dr. Armando Giuliano at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in the western state of California wanted to see if the cancer could be eliminated with less aggressive surgery.  "Removing fewer lymph nodes results in less pain, less morbidity,” he said. “It's an outpatient procedure."

The more radical surgery requires a one- or two-day stay in a hospital, and results in greater post-operative pain.

So Bobbie Saunders was relieved when her doctor offered to perform the less radical procedure when she was diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago.  "I had already experienced a lot of people that had been through the radical, so I was really excited that I was offered this," she stated.

Dr. Giuliano and researchers at several top cancer centers in the U.S. studied nearly 900 patients whose breast cancer had spread to just one or two lymph nodes. Half had the more radical procedure while the others had the simpler surgery. Both groups had radiation treatments and chemotherapy.

"The five-year survival [rate] was about 92 percent, regardless of which operation [they had]. And wonderfully, women who had the sentinal node biopsy alone did just as well as the women who had the more radical operation," Dr. Giuliano explains.

Researchers say combining chemotherapy and radiation with the simpler surgery accounts for the high success rate of the less radical procedure.

Some experts say the study is likely to change the way surgeons treat early-stage breast cancers that have spread to the lymph nodes. But other cancer specialists -- and their patients -- say they want more proof before changing the standard practice. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

New Study Shows Less Surgery Better for Breast Cancer Patients

Article and Video from VOA