{Obituaries

Obituaries from page 77

Cancer And Holocaust 'Survivors'

Suzanne Kurtz
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

A

crucial question that doctors
routinely ask patients left Rifky
Atkin speechless.
Diagnosed with an aggressive breast can-
cer, Atkin was exploring treatment options
when her surgeon asked, "Is there a family
history of breast cancer in your family?"
The mother of four from Edison, N.J.,
stammered, "I don't know, and I'll never
know!'
Her parents survived Auschwitz as teen-
agers, she explained, but not their parents.
Her four grandparents were killed in the
death camp, taking with them all knowl-
edge of the family medical history.
"Not being able to know the medical
history beyond one generation above me
underscored the importance of knowing
that history" Atkin told more than 100
participants during a teleconference and
webinar last month hosted by Sharsheret

(www.sharsheret.org ), a national nonprofit
group providing services and support for
young Jewish women and their families
facing breast cancer.
To better understand the effects of
the Holocaust on breast cancer today,
Sharsheret organized the free, hour-long
program to address the concerns of breast
cancer survivors and Holocaust survivors.
Even the term "survivor" has deep
meaning for both groups, said Elam
Silber, Sharsheret director of operations.
"In the cancer community, the word
'survivor' is one commonly associated
with men and woman diagnosed with
cancer who valiantly fight the battle for
survivor Silber said. "In the Jewish com-
munity, however, the word 'survivor' has
traditionally been reserved for those who
survived the horrors of World War II and
the Holocaust. For the Jewish cancer sur-
vivor, the term 'survivor' can be troubling:'
Gaps in family medical history can
sometimes be filled by genetic testing and

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August 19 • 2010

Obituaries

is

one way to gather valuable informa-
tion lost in the Holocaust, said Niecee
Schonberger, a cancer genetics counselor
with Sharsheret.
"Genetic testing is important to rule
out or rule in a [gene] mutation:' she said,
but it is also important to understand that
"mutations don't cause cancer; they cause
a predisposition for cancer:'
Inherited breast cancer is largely due
to mutations in two genes that control
cell growth, BRCA-1 and BRCA-2, said
Schonberger. With more than 1,000 pos-
sible mutations known today, certain
mutations are more common among Jews
of Ashkenazi descent.
For Atkin, the testing not only proved
helpful for determining her course of
treatment, but also for the other women in
her family.
"I could now pass on to my identical
twin sister and my daughters some of the
history that had been erased when my
grandparents perished in the Holocaust:'

said Atkin, 51, and cancer-free for 13 years.
However, "genetic testing has its limita-
tions:' said Schonberger. A negative test
result combined with a lack of family
medical history can leave a woman with
no real sense of her breast cancer risk, she
warned.
And to the surprise of most women, she
added, only 5 to 10 percent of breast can-
cer is inherited.
"Ninety to 95 percent [is] sporadic,
the result of the interaction of mostly
unknown environmental factors and
the specific individual make-up of the
woman," Schonberger said.
Ellen Eisen, a breast cancer survivor
and oncology social worker in Memphis,
Tenn., gathered nearly a dozen people in
her synagogue sanctuary to take in the
Sharsheret program. As a Sharsheret vol-
unteer, Eisen said she likes to connect with
other Jewish women dealing with breast
cancer, but the universality of the disease
resonates with her as well. ❑