Epiphany for Breast Cancer, 2013

Note: Initially written on January 24, 2013

By Dr. Kathleen T. Ruddy

Every January millions of people around the world celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, the story of the successful culmination of three kings’ journey to find their savior.  These three ‘wise men’ decided to follow the course of a new star they had spotted in the night sky.  Where was it going, and what did it mean?  Thinking this might be a momentous event, they saddled up to follow it with gifts in hand in case they found the savior promised to them in scripture.  The three kings stopped at Herod’s palace to ask him if he knew anything about the star or its meaning.  He didn’t know a thing but to be worried that yet another usurper might be somewhere in the weeds.  The Magi, being wise men, sensed Herod’s treachery and left his kingdom by stealth.  They continued their journey, and when the star settled in its course across the heavens at a point over the humble birthplace of a newly born infant boy, the kings had their ‘epiphany’ – instantly they knew they had found God incarnate.

Epiphany is a word that comes from the Greek, and therefore was in use well before the wise men set out to find their salvation.  Speaking of salvation, let’s think about the origin and meaning of the word epiphany in the context of breast cancer.

Epiphany means “appearance or manifestation”, a “sudden, intuitive perception or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something.” If we look more closely at the root of the word epiphany, we get a more refined appreciation of its meaning.  “Epi” means “upon”, and “phany” essentially means appearance.  The word epiphany suggests that at the moment of seeing something relatively simple and un-dramatic, say, an infant in a manager, an entirely new universe of understanding is suddenly seen to be resting upon it.  In the case of the three wise men, they came upon an infant in a manger but instantly recognized their salvation in God made man.  That this savior was first revealed to gentiles (non-Jews) and not Jews was also quite important to the larger story, for the revelation was given to those outside mainstream religion before it was revealed to the orthodoxy – an interesting, if historically typical, twist.  Isn’t it often the case that the most important discoveries occur outside the inner circle of conventional wisdom, and then take time, and often revolution, to permeate the center?

I apologize for starting out a breast cancer blog with such a strong reference to a Christian feast, but it serves my purpose well, for I have had two epiphanies with regard to my professional mission to find the causes of breast cancer and to do everything I can to prevent the disease.  Which is to say, I have set my eyes upon two things that, at first, seemed rather simple and un-dramatic but that instantly opened new universes of understanding for me, and I hope someday, for the rest of the world.

My first epiphany occurred when I set eyes on the two slides presented by Dr. James Holland of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine at the 2007 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  Holland’s slides contained data concerning his work with the human mammary tumor virus, a virus also found in mice that appears to be involved in 40-75% of human breast cancer.

My second epiphany occurred when I set eyes on a paper published in the May 2010 issue of Nature Medicine about the development of the world’s first preventive breast cancer vaccine.  It was created at the Cleveland Clinic and was found to be 100% effective in preventing breast cancer in three different animals models.  This is a vaccine that, with sufficient funding (and permission from the FDA), will be ready for testing to see if it is safe for use in women.  If it’s safe, it can then be tested to see if it’s effective.  If it is as safe and effective in women as it is in mice, it will prevent breast cancer in the majority of cases.

Every time I discuss the virus or the vaccine with women who have never heard of either, I witness the same epiphany as happened to me.  Everyone “gets it”.  I suppose you can call it a kind of conversion experience; and it has a profound impact on how one views the problem of breast cancer that confronts us today.

Like the Magi, I will not be deterred on my quest.  I intend to follow these two stars, the virus and the vaccine, to see if salvation is to be found for the breast cancer scourge tormenting the world.  I will not stop until I have found an answer to the question, Does a virus cause breast cancer in women?  Nor will I be thwarted in my goal to obtain funding for the world’s first preventive breast cancer vaccine developed by Professor Vincent Tuohy at the Cleveland Clinic.

As Abraham Lincoln stated in the Proclamation Emancipation of 1863, “I invoke the considerate judgement of mankind, and the gracious favor of ALMIGHTY GOD.”

Happy New Year to all.