Doctor to give UNC commencement address in December

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Magazine honors UNC-CH professor

Dr. Etta Pisano, a professor in the departments of radiology and biomedical engineering and vice dean of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, is one of seven recipients of a new award presented by Ladies' Home Journal.

The Health Breakthrough award recognizes medical professionals who are making life-saving and life-enhancing discoveries in research, diagnostics and treatment, with results that have significantly helped women and families.

Pisano is director of the Biomedical Research Imaging Center at UNC-CH and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was cited for her pioneering research showing that digital mammograms are as reliable as film mammograms and are better at finding breast cancer in young women and those with dense breast tissue.

Breast-feeding may avert cancer

Women who have a family history of breast cancer could reduce their risk of developing early onset of the disease by 59 percent if they breast-feed their babies, scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill and other centers reported Monday.

The current research offers the strongest evidence yet that breast-feeding is a powerful cancer-prevention tool among high-risk women, specifically younger women who have not gone through menopause.

The benefit, which is more effective than taking a preventive regimen of the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen, appears to occur even when women breast-feed for a short period.

Two at UNC-CH join Institute of Medicine

Two faculty members at UNC-Chapel Hill have been elected to the Institute of Medicine, one of the nation's highest honors in health and medicine.

Etta Pisano, vice dean for academic affairs in the UNC School of Medicine, and Barbara K. Rimer, dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, are among new members announced Monday by the institute.

The institute, part of the National Academy of Sciences, has about 1,700 members, now including 17 from UNC, the university said in a news release. Current members elect new members based on their accomplishments and contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.

10 things you need to know about breast cancer

1. Clinical breast exams are as important as mammograms. Mammograms starting at age 40 are crucial, but they're an imperfect screening tool, especially in women who have dense breasts. That's why an annual clinical breast exam from a doctor is a must.

2. Don't panic if you get called for a mammogram "redo" or have calcifications. Many women over 40 have calcium deposits (calcifications) in their breasts, and most are benign. "It's part of the aging process of the tissue," said Katherine B. Lee of the Cleveland Clinic Breast Center. These can show up as white spots on a mammogram. They tend to be harmless if they're large, coarse, solitary spots but suspicious if tiny flecks cluster in a linear pattern.

Most radiologists can distinguish between the two, and only the suspicious ones warrant a biopsy. Most of the time, the callback turns out to be nothing.

Duke starts cancer center

In a famous 1993 speech, cancer-stricken former N.C. State basketball coach Jimmy Valvano launched his research foundation with a plea for money that he said might not save his own life, but might save his children's lives.

Turns out, he was prophetic.

Valvano died that year, and 13 years later daughter Jamie Valvano Howard was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 33, the mother of two young boys, and scared to death.