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I www.star-telegram.com Tuesday, October 20, 2009 3E Factors: Share details about family history and lifestyle with your physician CONTINUED FROM 1E to be harmless if they're large, coarse, solitary spots but suspicious if the tiny flecks cluster together in a linear pattern. Most radiologists can distinguish between the two, and only the suspicious ones warrant a biopsy. Although the period between the initial and 1 follow-up mammograms can be anxiety-filled a common reason some women delay their follow-ups, says' research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston most of the time the callback turns out to be nothing. How diet and exercise lower your risk Active women are less likely to develop and die from breast cancer. Regular exercise has consistently been 4 associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.

"Any type of exercise is likely to help by lowering estrogen levels," Seewaldt explains. What's more, a new study from the University of South Carolina suggests that women with high aerobic fitness levels have a 55 percent lower chance of dying from breast cancer than their less-fit peers. So get moving! Get your folate. A growing body of research suggests get5 ting enough vegetables, of the vitamin and folate fortified (in leafy green beans cereals) may help mitigate the increased risk associated with drinking alcohol. (Having two or more drinks a day ups breast cancer risk by about 25 percent.) Go easy on the alcohol, but "if you have one drink daily, getting plenty of folate from your diet or a multivitamin may help," says Claudine Isaacs, director of the clinical breastcancer program at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Being overweight is riskiest after menopause. When it comes to breast cancer, it's the 6 ly dangerous. postmenopause "In pounds that are particular- women, postmenopausal one of the most significant sources of estrogen comes from body fat," Isaacs says. "So if you're overweight, you have higher amounts of circulating estrogen, which could stimulate breastcancer growth." And it doesn't take much: Losing even 10 pounds may help lower your risk. Steer clear of soy supplements.

Soy contains isoflavones, which can act like 7 ulate estrogen the in growth your of body certain and potentially of breast stimtypes cancer, says Dr. Seema A. Khan, a professor of surgery and co-leader of the breast-cancer program at Northwestern University in Chicago. Supplements usually contain more concentrated doses of isoflavones, so experts recommend avoiding them. But soy foods edamame, soy milk, tofu are fine.

How your breasts look and feel Lumpy breasts don't mean a higher cancer risk. Many women have cysts in their breasts 8 that strual come and go also throughout known their mencycles (which are as fibrocystic changes). Feeling any kind of lump or bump can be scary, but these types of cysts don't typically lead to cancer, Seewaldt points out. Still, it's especially important for women who have fibrocystic breasts to do breast selfexams and get annual exams. Pain isn't usually a sign of breast cancer.

If you have pain in one or both breasts, rest 9 assured: changes, a It's benign probably cyst, due a to ligament hormonal strain or another condition, Isaacs says. More common warning signs of breast cancer include a palpable lump, a change in the size or shape of the breast, puckering of the skin, nipple changes (like scaling or discharge) or increased warmth changes you should bring to your doctor's attention ASAP. Women with very dense breasts are four times more likely to develop breast cancer. "When breast tissue is dense, the cells 10 grow which and means multiply there's at a more faster of a rate, chance for some to become abnormal or cancerous," says Lee. Ask your doctor if you have dense breasts.

Because mammograms aren't as effective at detecting cancer in very dense breasts, if yours fall into this category, you may benefit from getting regular MRI scans or ultrasounds plus mammograms. Your odds Breast cancer risk is not 1 in 8 for all women. That stat applies to lifetime risk, as11 40, suming the you live to woman 85 or has a beyond. 1 in At 69 age average chance of getting breast cancer in the next 10 years; at 50, the risk rises to 1 in 42; at 60, it's 1 in 29; and at 70, it's 1 in 27. Which means, statistically speaking, women are at most risk for breast cancer in their 70s and 80s but that's when breast cancer has the highest cure rate because women in that age group usually get a less aggressive and more treatable form of the disease, Seewaldt says.

A family history doesn't mean you'll definitely get it. Only about 20 to 30 percent of people 12 who family develop history of breast the cancer disease, have and a an even smaller number 5 to 10 percent carry Breast cancer in men a BRCA1 or 2 mutation (the so-called breastcancer genes), Isaacs says. JUPITERIMAGES If it's caught early, breast cancer has a more than 90 percent survival rate in the U.S. "The majority of women who get 13 die breast from cancer it," in this Dr. Powel country Brown, don't a says medical oncologist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a member of the scientific advisory board for Susan G.

Komen for the Cure. At stage 0 (which means the cancer's confined to the milk ducts) and stage (a tumor is 2 centimeters or less and hasn't spread beyond the breast), the five-year survival rate is now 100 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Five years may not sound like much, but "if you get to the five-year benchmark without a recurrence, your prognosis for leading a long, healthy life is good," Seewaldt says. At stage (the tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters or the cancer has spread to one to three lymph nodes), the five- year survival rate is 86 percent. Thanks to better screening, most breast cancers in the U.S.

are caught in the early stages. Many factors affect your risk. Family history isn't the only thing 14: into that play, matters: including Other when factors you come first got your period, if or when you have children and how active you are. Discuss all the details of your lifestyle and medical history with your doctor so that she can make sure you are getting the right screenings at the right time. A father or brother with prostate or colon cancer can raise your risk.

These are signs of possible BRCA1 1 15 or 2 mutations, Lee says. These gene mutations can run on your dad's side, so be sure to ask if any of his female relatives had breast or ovarian cancer. Male breast cancer makes up less than 1 percent of all cases of cancer. Although breast cancer in men may develop at any age, it's usually ted in men between the ages of 60 and 70. a Radiation exposure, high levels of estrogen and a family history of cancer can increase a man's risk of developing breast cancer.

Men with breast cancer usually have lumps that can be felt. There are four types of standard treatment for men with breast surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and radiation therapy. But are new types of treatment being tested in clinical trials. Jennifer Pritchard McClatchy-Tribune Information Sources: National Cancer Institute De Pablo: relationship gets viewers buzzing CONTINUED FROM 1E Friends didn't reign as No. 1 until its eighth season.

Cheers took nine years to get there. Seinfeld and Bonanza did it in year six. Dynasty and Wagon Train got there in year five. These are shows widely regarded as TV classics. Maybe it's time that NCIS, the only series this season that's averaging more than 20 million viewers a week, receives the same level of respect.

The secret to NCIS's success? "I think it just took time for people to figure us out," says Pauley Perrette, who plays Abby Sciuto, a forensics specialist who, with her caffeine-fueled high energy and kooky cheerleader wardrobe, is one of a kind. "There are a lot of crime procedurals on TV with alphabet titles, and I think at first people thought we were just another one of those. But we're not. "What makes us different is the comedy, the humor. Every episode, there are so many offbeat moments where you go, 'That can only happen on Granted, every episode is a whodunit.

And the forensics and procedural elements rival anything that the CSI and Law Order franchises offer. But what stays with NCIS fans are the character-driven moments: Like the way Special Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon) sneaks up behind someone who's talking about him. Like Abby coming in to work If you're at high risk Get an MRI and a mammogram. Doing both will increase the odds of 16 at finding high risk small (if tumors have in a women strong who family are you history of breast and ovarian cancer and carry the BRCA1 or 2 mutation). However, an MRI should only be ordered under the care of a breast specialist, says Dr.

Anne Wallace, a team leader of the Moores Cancer Center breast program at the University of California, San Diego. If you have the BRCA1 or 2 mutations, removing your ovaries lowers your risk by nearly 50 percent. "Your ovaries produce hormones, so 17 mix," taking them Dr. out Dahlia changes Sataloff, the a hormonal clinical says professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Integrated Breast Center at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Taking certain medications can help.

Tamoxifen and raloxifene are drugs that 18 can breast block cancer. estrogen's They lower ability the to chances promote of developing the disease by about 50 percent in women who carry the BRCA1 or 2 mutation, Brown says. "These medications can be used for five years, and the risk reduction continues for 10 years after stopping them," Brown says. "Yet most women who are candidates for the drugs aren't taking them." Of course, there are side effects: Both drugs can worsen hot flashes, and tamoxifen increases the risk of uterine cancer. But for some women, those risks are considered worth the benefit.

Treatment Breast cancer is not a single disease. What's helped doctors and scientists 19 develop realizing more there are effective different treatments types of is breast cancer with different causes. Among the primary ones: estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers, whose growth is fueled by the hormone estrogen; HER-2-positive breast cancers, which contain a protein called and triple-negative breast cancers, which don't have receptors for estrogen, progesterone or HER-2. Chemotherapy isn't always a given. These days, doctors do genetic profiling 20 on vanced a tests breast-cancer like the tumor Oncotype (using DX ad- or MammaPrint) to gauge a woman's risk of a recurrence.

If chances are low, doctors may not advise chemotherapy. "We're being more selective about using chemotherapy to help women avoid unnecessary toxicity and having to go through unnecessary suffering," Wallace says. For breast detec- breast cancer: there Services gun. I had to look comfortable with one, but I was completely petrified. "But that's also part of why love the character, because it allows me to be something I totally am not.

I'm pretty much a girly girl when it comes to my personal life on Saturday and Sunday. But from Monday to Friday, as Ziva, I lead a very exciting For advance tickets showtimes visit cinemark.com or call 1-800-FANDANGO Exp Code Movies 8 North Richland Hills Movies 16 Grand Prairie Tinseltown 9 Arlington Tinseltown Grapevine Mansfield 12 For Showtimes at Ridgmar 13, Fort Worth Call 817-566-0025 For Showtimes at N. East Mall 18, Hurst Call 817-591-8540 Or Visit www.ravemotionpictures.com Fall Savings Save on Series of Accent Fat Melting Pixel Photo Rejuvenation EURODEAN Micro Isolaz and Much Much More! SKINCARE Hurry, Limited Time Offer! INSTITUTE www.euroskincare.com Spa Therapy Fort Worth Financing Now Available! Colleyville 817.731.0707 1.800. SKIN CARE 817.251.8484 'NCIS' ratings through the mance. We just, know there's years chemistry there, and we enjoy Season 1: No.

26, 11.84 million playing with it." viewers Ziva and Tony are extreme Season 2: No. 22, 13.63 million opposites who attract. She's a viewers former Israeli intelligence offiSeason 3: No. 16, 15.3 million cer and trained assassin with a viewers stoic, humorless Season 4: No. 18, 14.5 million demeanor.

He's a former hoviewers micide detective and a wiseSeason 5: No. 10, 15.65 million cracking chauvinist. viewers But their banter always Season 6: No. 5, 17.89 million clicks. viewers "We've been doing this for Season 7: No.

1, 21.5 million many years, and I think the lationship keeps getting more the first three weeks interesting because it gets of the 2009-10 season more complex," de Pablo says. "It's not just, 'Ooh, these peoone day dressed as Marilyn ple have unfulfilled sexual tenMonroe. Like McGee (Sean It's so much more." Murray) getting soaked and Tony did, after all, shoot sudsy from chasing a man and kill Ziva's lover at the end through a carwash. Like med- of Season 6. ical examiner Ducky (David De Pablo, 29, who was born McCallum) having long -wind- in Chile and moved to the U.S.

ed, albeit one-sided, conver- at age 10, says she's the NCIS sations with corpses. Like Ziva cast member who's most unand Tony DiNozzo (Michael like the character she plays. Weatherly) rolling around in "Like anyone, there is a litbed together while posing as tle pain and a little loss in my married assassins. background that I can draw Indeed, when fans talk from," she says. "But you can't about the show with de Pablo, compare my life and Ziva's life.

they never concern them- Ziva has had to do awful things selves with the crime compo- and watch awful things in her nents. life. Whereas, if you see me on They want to dish about set, I'm goofing around, lovers stantly laughing. I'm like a Ziva and Tony. kid." "People always want to De Pablo says she doesn't know: 'Are they ever going to have a trace of Ziva's toughget together? Are we ever going ness either.

to see this de Pablo "The first time I ever held a says. "Of course, Michael and I gun, I was shaking," she says. have no idea where this rela- "This was for training right betionship is heading or if in- fore I did my first episode, and deed it's going to end in a ro- I could physically not hold a Think You Can't Dance? You Can! It's not just for celebrities! Dancing is one of the best and most exciting hobbies forms of exercise around. Have fun, build confidence, meet new people. Learn at your own pace with private lessons with our instructors or practice in group sessions with others.

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