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For one Jewish family, education about family cancer history pays dividends
When Sue Gorlin was a child and away at camp during the summer of 1960, her mother received some awful news: She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and doctors gave her six months to live.
But she underwent surgery and, defying the odds, made a full recovery.
Not long afterward, Sue’s aunt was diagnosed with the same illness, and in this case the outcome was bad: She died within two years.
Still a teenager, Sue didn’t quite understand what was going on because she was kept largely in the dark.
“Back then, it was called ‘the big C.’ Nobody talked about it,” Sue recalled in an interview. “My mother and her sister both had ovarian cancer, but they were never going to tell me. That’s how secretive it was.”
Only by chance in the mid-1990s did Sue learn the truth, when a cousin revealed the story and urged her to get tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations. Those mutations render carriers far more susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer than otherwise, and approximately one of every 40 Jewish women of Ashkenazi descent is a carrier — compared to about 1 in 400 women in the general U.S. population.
Sue, who at the time was living in Silver Spring, Maryland, got tested and learned she was not a carrier of a BRCA mutation. But she nonetheless decided to get an annual pelvic sonogram and ultrasound just to be on the safe side.
That decision would end up saving her life. About 10 years later a sonogram revealed a malignant growth on one of her ovaries that had not yet spread. She had surgery to remove it, then underwent five months of chemotherapy.
Today Sue, now 79, lives in Israel with her husband, Jacques. Their Gorlin Family Foundation is a major benefactor of Sharsheret, the American Jewish nonprofit that offers education, counseling and support to women facing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
October has been recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month since 1985, and several weeks ago President Biden proclaimed September as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
This October, Sharsheret is holding five webinars focused on the cancers, from “Facing Scanxiety” (Oct. 16) to “Artificial Intelligence and Breast Cancer: What Does the Future Hold?” (Oct 30), and coordinating hundreds of in-person events at schools, Jewish community centers, and synagogues across the country.
Marking breast cancer and ovarian cancer with two specially designated months is a lifesaving reminder: It gives people an opportunity to learn about their risk for cancer and about how to find the resources they need to protect their health,” said Sharsheret CEO Elana Silber. “During these two months, people are paying attention and understanding the urgent concerns in our community. As a result, we are seeing more investment in critical support programs and medical research.”
Because they are in a heightened risk category, Jews have extra reasons to undergo genetic testing and research their family history.
“If it hadn’t been for Sue knowing her family history, who knows if she’d be around today?” said Sue’s husband, Jacques. “When she discovered her ovarian cancer in 2009, there were no clinical trials, and we didn’t know about the services of Sharsheret.”
Knowledge of her family history also made all the difference for Sue’s daughter, Michal Gorlin Becker.
“Because of my family history, I was considered high-risk and already had genetic counseling years before,” said Michal, 49, a mother of four living in Jerusalem. “I knew that my mother had ovarian cancer, and that my great-aunt had died of it. So in 2016 I had my ovaries taken out.”
She continued to monitor her health. In April 2020, after Michal’s doctor at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center had her do a biopsy, she received some bad news: She had breast cancer. The news arrived on the morning of her 46th birthday, just as she was preparing for her daughter’s bat mitzvah.
“I was expecting it, but not necessarily on that day,” Michal said.
Annual pelvic sonograms and ultrasounds helped save Sue Gorlin’s life, enabling her to catch a malignant growth in her ovaries early on. Sue, 79, now lives in Israel with her husband, Jacques Gorlin. (Courtesy of Gorlin family)
Fortunately, her cancer was at an early stage and had not yet metastasized. Michal started chemotherapy the day after the bat mitzvah. She did eight rounds of chemo every two weeks; the course of treatment took four months.
“I was very lucky in that the type of cancer I had — HER-negative — wasn’t biological, and it wasn’t related to any hormones, so I didn’t have to continue with pills,” Michal said. “I had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. It was major surgery, but I’ve done the best I can to prevent any sort of recurrence.”
Michal attributes her success fighting the cancer in part to her physical fitness at the time of her diagnosis. She had run back-to-back marathons in January and February 2020 and felt she was in the best shape of her life.
“I was strong and positive,” Michal said. “This is why I was able to get through it.”
Still a runner, Michal ran the TCS New York City Marathon last year with Team Sharsheret.
Her mother, Sue, eventually retested herself after technological advancements made BRCA testing more discerning. Updated versions cover genetic deletions as well as mutations, and Sue discovered she had a deletion that had not been picked up in earlier tests. Now Sue sees her oncologist once a year but has MRIs and mammograms every six months, as well as the CA125 blood test recommended for ovarian cancer survivors.
It’s important to keep in mind that breast and ovarian cancers are not limited to those with genetic mutations and often have other causes, said Sharsheret’s genetics program manager, Peggy Cottrell.
“When we see multiple cases of ovarian cancer in the same family, the likelihood of it being an inherited cancer is higher,” Cottrell said. “If someone tests negatively for hereditary cancer but has a very strong personal and family history of cancer, an updated test or even a research study may be helpful. Speaking with a genetic counselor can help clarify the best course of action.”
Chicago attorney Daniel Gorlin, 44, who is the youngest of Jacques and Sue Gorlin’s four children, credits his mother’s survival and his sister’s health in part to education about the importance of knowing one’s family history of illness — a message Sharsheret emphasizes in its educational outreach.
“This knowledge is what saved their lives,” said Daniel, who is a member of Sharsheret’s Illinois Community Advisory Committee.
Daniel has gotten himself tested for the BRCA genetic mutation. (Men are also susceptible to breast cancer, and carriers of the mutation are at higher risk of not only male breast cancer but also melanoma, prostate and pancreatic cancer.)
“It’s a different day and age now. People are far more interested in their genetics than before,” Daniel said. “This is a moment in time when it’s too dangerous for these topics to be taboo.”
The key, Sharsheret leaders say, is to take action. Sharsheret offers free and confidential conversations with mental health professionals and genetic counselors as well as connections to peer supporters. They can be reached via email at clinicalstaff@sharsheret.org, by phone at 866 474-2774 or online at Sharsheret.org.
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The post For one Jewish family, education about family cancer history pays dividends appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.