I

Health & Fitness

In Janis' Memory

Family, friends walk for ovarian cancer.

Judith Doner Berne

Special to the Jewish News

y

ou will be just fine when I am
gone:' her family remembers
Janis Warren saying before her
death last year from ovarian cancer.
"We are not fine says her son, Dr.
Michael Warren, an obstetrician /gyne-
cologist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital
in New York.
"We are not fine to think that her death
might have been preventable had there
been a reliable screening exam. We are
not fine to think that her death might
be without gain. We are not fine to think
that other women have and will have the
same struggles she did — the debilitating
course of the cancer followed by a prema-
ture death?'
The American Cancer Society estimates
21,650 new cases of ovarian cancer will
be diagnosed and an estimated 15,520
women will die of the disease in the
United States in 2008.
The Janis Warren Walk for Ovarian
Cancer will take place from 9 a.m. to noon
Sunday, Sept. 21, at Drake Park, on Drake
Road between Maple and 14 Mile, in West
Bloomfield. It will feature a leisurely mile-
long walk, speakers and refreshments.
Its goal is to promote awareness of ovar-
ian cancer, provide funding for research to
develop a blood test for early detection of
the disease and to improve treatment and
extend life expectancy after diagnosis.
Funds raised will aid ovarian cancer
research being conducted by Michael
Tainsky, PhD., director of the Program in
Molecular Biology and Genetics at Wayne
State University and the Barbara Ann
Karmanos Cancer Institute, both in Detroit.

Research Building
"We talked about supporting some kind
of research:' says Larry Warren, Janis'
husband, an architect and builder from
Farmington Hills. "We read some articles
about Dr. Tainsky"
The scientist is currently developing a
blood test that will use markers specific
to ovarian cancer to accurately diagnose it
at an early stage when it is most treatable.
Now only about 20 percent of ovarian can-
cers are found at an early stage because
symptoms can be extremely vague.
"The principle behind it is so simple;'

B2

September 11 • 2008

N

OVARIAN CANCER
SYMPTOMS

Only about 20 percent of ovarian
cancers are found at an early stage.
Of patients diagnosed with early
ovarian cancer, 90 percent will live
longer than five years.
Symptoms do exist but can be
extremely vague and may increase
over time. They include:
•Pelvic or abdominal pain or dis-
comfort
•Vague, but persistent gastroin-
testinal upsets such as gas, nausea
and indigestion
•Frequency and/or urgency or uri-
nation in absence of an infection
•Unexplained weight gain or
weight loss
•Pelvic and/or abdominal swelling,
bloating and/or feeling of fullness
•Persistent, unusual fatigue
•Unexplained changes in bowel
habits

- Facts courtesy American Cancer Society

Larry Warren, shown with Janis' picture, is flanked by son Mike and daughter

Stephanie. Another son, Jeffrey, is not pictured.

said Tainsky, a Southfield resident. "It's
a simple antibody test, but it's a panel
instead of one. We start with thousands of
biomarkers and whittle it down to a few:'
Yet, "It's a tremendous challenge. It gets
tougher every day"
So at the same time, he is working on "a
novel therapeutic project" for those for whom
first and second line therapies have failed.
"My lab at Karmanos," he says, "is part
of a network of 20 biomarker discovery
labs working on similar research for ovar-
ian and other cancers."
"It will take a couple of years to have
a test ready to be tested in other labs:'
Tainsky says. "We're really very confident
that the approach is good — very labora-

Karmanos Cancer Institute research sci-

entist Michael Tainsky works on a test for

early detection of ovarian cancer.

tory friendly:'
He stressed the importance of grass-
roots efforts such as the Janis Warren
Walk. When he began his research, seed
money from the Gail Purtan Ovarian
Cancer Fund "turned out to be the only
way we could continue he says.
He has also received funds from the
local Sinai Guild.

A Family Affair
"I'm really impressed with this family;'
Tainsky says."They've taken the bull by the
horns. They realize that there isn't enough
funding for novel, high-risk research. If peo-
ple like the Warrens do not invest and take a
chance, breakthroughs just won't happen:'
Stephanie Harold, Janis and Larry's only
daughter, has been thinking of creating
a walk ever since her mother, who had
breast cancer 11 years earlier, was diag-
nosed with ovarian cancer.
"I was worried no one was going to
remember her:' says Stephanie, who lives
in West Bloomfield with her husband,
attorney Daniel E. Harold of Morganroth
& Morganroth in Southfield, and their son
Ryan, age 2.
But her mother wanted everything to go

on as normal, Stephanie says. Although Janis
reluctantly gave up her CPA practice, she
continued her lifelong routine of daily exer-
cise at the Jewish Community Center inWest
Bloomfield and playing bridge twice a week
until a few weeks before her death, defying
the effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
"Many women don't realize that
Ashkenazi Jews have a slightly higher risk
for ovarian cancer than the general popula-
tion:' Stephanie says. "I have high hopes
that this test will save many women's lives."
It was never about her, Larry says.
"I don't think Janis would have wanted
the walk — at least not with her name on
it. But she would have wanted something
to protect her daughter."
"My mom was always into doing these
kinds of things — fundraising for lots of
causes," says son Jeffrey Warren, a comput-
er programmer who lives in Farmington
Hills. "Hopefully, it will raise money for
a good detection test and make more
women aware of the symptoms."
Friends have stepped up to help, includ-
ing Richard F. Roth, an attorney with
Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller
in Southfield, who is on the board of
Karmanos. "We might not have followed
through if it hadn't been for Richard:'
Stephanie says.

Registration, including on the day of the event, for a single walker is $30 – or
$75 for those who also choose to wear a Hope Ribbon. For more information,
go to www.janiswalk.org or contact sharold@janiswalk.org or phone/fax (248)
851-9378.

