Breast Health Messages for 2001: Re: blood transfusion/breast trauma lead to breast cancer?

Thanks for the referral. I have used Oncolink in the past and find the site to be an exceelent resource. I will certainly see if I can dig up those articles. By the way, the public has access to the complete goverment database of medical literature abstracts. The National Library of Medicine provides the medline service on the internet and the public can easily access and search at the PubMed site. Although the abstracts are written for medical practitioners, you may find information there that will assist you. Good luck. Hannah Brooks, MD,FACS

Subject: Re: blood transfusion/breast trauma lead to breast cancer? Date: 03/14/2001 05:54pm

Thank you so much for returning my note about my concerns about blood transfusions and/or breast trauma leading to breast cancers. I can see what you mean about the blood supply, though, because the blood that was in my breast due to the bruising was terrible. And, like I stated before, it took over a month to heal. Anyway, you wanted to know where I received the reference about the blood transfusions? It was on OncoLink. Main Menu was Cancer FAQs. I think this is the site: http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu/causeprevent/faq/bloodtrans. It sites the two articles that I referred to in my March 12th letter. I can not access the original articles from JAMA OR NEJM as I am not a physician. It never stated the dates of the articles. I am sure that I would find the articles fascinating, if I was allowed on that site. I am sure you will be allowed access as you will have a Physician's ID number. Thanks again for your help!

At Tue, 13 Mar 2001, Hannah wrote: >
>Dear Kathleen-
>There are very rare reported cases of cancer after trauma;they are
>usually related to burn scars evolving into skin cancers later in
>life. More than likely, the episodes of blood transfusions and the
>diagnoses of cancer in you and your mother were coincidences. What
>CAN sometimes happen is that a tumor,which is more vascular (has more
>blood vessels) than the surrounding tissue,is growing quietly UNTIL a
>trauma to the area causes a bleed. So, in your case, it may be
>fortunate that the accident caused a bleed that called attention to
>the small tumor in the area. Please include the references from the
>JAMA and NEJM articles you are citing. It would be interesting to
>read the information. Thank you.
>Hannah Brooks, MD, FACS
>
>Date: 03/12/2001 06:53pm
>
>I was in a major car accident in 1999, at the age of 42. I needed
>surgery, which required my accepting 3 ccs of plasma. I also had
>major
>breast trauma from the seat belt, which took over a month to heal.
>Seven
>months later, I had a routine mammogram, which showed a solid mass.
>Two
>weeks later, I was diagnosed with a very small cancer. Had a
>lumpectomy
>for the -1/4" tumor. Has this happened to anyone else? Do you think
a >breast trauma can lead to a cancer? I know that the stress can
>accelerate the tumor cells that everyone has in their body, but can a
>direct trauma do it, too? Also, there was an article in the JAMA and
>NEJM that two different surgeons contacted a cancer via a cut on
their >hands while performing an operation on a patient who later was
>diagnosed
>with a cancer? So, does this mean that blood transfusions can
possibly >be blamed for some cancers? That's what the JAMA is wondering. I am
>curious to know if either of these two possibilities has happened to
>other recently-diagnosed breast cancer patients. Incidentally, in
>December of 1999, my mother had major surgery, which required blood
>transfusions. Three months later during a routine mammo she, too,
was >diagnosed with breast cancer. Weird, right? So, please write to me
at >anonymous@obgyn.net Thanks

Women's Insurance Checklist from Auto Insurance Quote

Enter search keywords:
	Returns per screen: Require all keywords: