By ANGELO ARMBRISTER

Freeport News Reporter

Medical experts in the field of cancer research are on Grand Bahama to commence a new study tracing genetic mutations in Bahamian women that can lead to the development of breast cancer.

The Cancer Association of Grand Bahama welcomed Dr. Judith Herley, an associate professor of medicine from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to utilize its facilities for the project.

The doctor facilitated an informative seminar at the Cancer Association headquarters yesterday, where she and her partner gave a detailed breakdown of their research project and its goals.

"I'm here today to kick-off the opening of my study called the evaluation of genetic risk in Bahamian women with breast and ovarian cancer," she said.

"This is a big, long name for a study where we are looking to see if there is a genetic cause to the high incidences of breast cancer among young women here in The Bahamas."

In her research for the project, Dr. Herley said that she actually went back and looked at some 266 charts of women with breast cancer in The Bahamas.

From that number, she said 48 percent were under the age of 50 at the time of their diagnosis and 43 percent of the women who die from breast cancer here in The Bahamas were under the age of 50 at the time of their death.

"Forty-four percent of the ladies diagnosed are in either stage three or four and there are only four stages of cancer and the lower the number, the more likely they are to be cured," stressed Herley.

Stage four she explained, is incurable, "and when we have people coming in with hard to cure or incurable stages that is a bad thing."

"Today we are specifically looking for genetic mutations that would lead to the development of breast cancer," she said.

Pointing out that there is no set way to combat the gene if you have it, Herley said there are preventative measures one can take when they find out about the gene.

Some women, she said, have mastectomies, while others have their ovaries removed because it reduces their chances of getting the disease by as much as 50 percent. "If you don't want to do all of that, you can go through a rigorous screening process and if there is a problem, your doctor can catch it at stage one and you can go on to live a full and healthy life," she said. "We are going to go to Nassau in November and then we're going to work our way through the Family of Islands from there."

Dr. Herley explained that she has a number of speaking engagements to get the word around about what they are doing so that women can come out and get tested.

"Cancer is something we want to get rid of and the only way to do that is through knowledge," she said.

Thelia Donnenberge, a certified counsellor who has worked closely with Dr. Herley on this project, explained that hereditary breast cancer can occur at a very early age. Pointing out that most cancers are not hereditary, Donnenberge said that in 10 percent of cases it can be the result of an inherited predisposition.

"That can come from the mother's or father's side, but in many cases women are not aware of their family history or it hasn't manifested in the family yet," she said.

"By identifying these families that have particularly high risk, we can help them by educating them on what it is they need to do as far as protecting themselves against cancer."

Dr. Donnenberge explained that they are hoping to collect samples from at least 200 persons throughout the country.

"We can get DNA from saliva and we thought that it would be a particularly good idea because it saves us from having to stick people with needles for blood, which is a little more messy and invasive," she said.

"So we brought some spit-kits to collect the samples to send off to our collaborators in Canada for testing."

Persons interested in participating can contact or visit the Cancer Association of Grand Bahama for more information.