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We wanted to know what advice he gives women, or men for that matter, on detecting breast cancer.
"I've been promoting early detection for years," he said. "I started the center in 1973. I brought the first dedicated mammogram machine to Baton Rouge. In those days they started saying a woman should have a mammogram at 50. I said a woman ought to have ber base-line at age 30. If they're high risk, you might want to do it every year."
Elliot said high risk factors include hereditary factors, or pre-cancerous cells detected in a biopsy.
"They may be obese. Unfortunately that's a problem. They may have never had a baby-or a late baby. If you had a baby after 30, you're more at risk than someone who had a baby before 25."
Elliot also said an early menstraul life or a long menstrual life mean more of an effect estrogen has on the breasts, and that raises the risk.
But, of all the risk factors, Elliot stresses that genetics means the most and if you have a family history, you must get an early screening.
We also asked Elliot about new research. He told us he is getting ready to publish a paper of some promising new cell research that may lead to a possible cure. That deals with mitochondria, which are part of your cells.
"I've demonstrated that your can isolate mitochondia in normal cells, and you can target those to cancer cells and reverse the cancer."
Elliot said the research will soon be published in a breast cancer research journal. He presented the paper at Delta State last week.
