Elizabeth Edwards could quite possibly live a long and healthy life, despite the possible future first lady?s announcement she has incurable breast cancer.
John and Elizabeth Edwards stood side by side in the North Carolina sunshine Friday to announce that her cancer was back and had spread to her bones, but his run for the presidency would continue.
“You can cower in the corner and hide, or you can be tough and go out there and stand up for what you believe in,” Edwards said. His wife said her illness was a hurdle they would surmount together.
Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center said her announcement has a silver lining ?high-profile public figures can help ordinary people deal with traumatizing illnesses when they accept them with grace.
“When somebody who is well-known and in the public eye suffers and talks about it, the acceptance for it is usually higher,” said Dr. Majid Mohiuddin, radiation oncologist with the University of Maryland’s Greenbaum Cancer Center.
In the past, breast cancer that has spread or metastasized was considered a death sentence. However, many people live long lives, up to 20 years, and the median life expectancy is at least two years, Mohiuddin said. “They can do quite well. It depends on many different factors.”
How long it took for the cancer to resurface, where it spreads to, how aggressively it is growing and its receptivity to various cancer-treating drugs all play a role, he said.
Typically, breast cancer can spread to the brain, liver or bones, and of these possibilities, the bone is by far the most stable, Mohiuddin said.
Hormone blockers are usually the first course of treatment, as estrogen and progestin can help breast cancer grow. Other drugs may be needed to attack the cancer or strengthen the bones, he said.
Edwards, 57, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in the final weeks of the 2004 campaign. She underwent several months of radiation and chemotherapy.
The National Institutes of Health says about 180,000 new breast cancer cases will be diagnosed this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
