
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 26, 1990                   TAG: 9004260555
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TESTS FOR POOR/ A BOOST FOR CANCER BILL, AND QUAYLE

BY APPEARING on Capitol Hill to call for an "all-out war" on breast cancer, Marilyn Quayle may be credited with the timing and style of a polished politician. But her action seemed motivated by sincerely held beliefs. She picked a worthy topic, and told an emotional story that stripped away her image as the cold, aloof spouse of the vice president.

Quayle told a House subcommittee that her mother, a physician, didn't take the time to get an X-ray when she found a lump in her breast. Her mother's doctor thought the lump was benign. It wasn't, and by the time the cancer was detected it was too late for treatment. Quayle's mother died of breast cancer at age 56.

Quayle's testimony came during a hearing on legislation to have the federal and state governments share the cost of providing mammograms and Pap smears for poor women. She stopped short of endorsing the specific bill, on which the administration has taken no position. But if no endorsement was stated, it may be inferred. It's too bad Quayle felt so constrained by her husband's position that she didn't make her own support for the bill clear.

In any case, the legislation ought to have the administration's backing. Federal involvement is appropriately small: Grants would be provided to states that set up programs to test low-income women for breast and cervical cancer. The startup cost ($50 million in fiscal '91) is well worth the expense; increased screenings are guaranteed to save lives.

Breast cancer strikes one in 10 women in this country, and is expected to kill 43,000 people this year. The number of deaths could be reduced 30 percent if testing increased, according to a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control.

The death rate for breast and cervical cancer is highest among low-income women. The reason is that these women do not have regular screenings. By the time their cancers are diagnosed, it often is too late for treatment to help them.

From a cost standpoint, testing and treatment for tumors detected early have to be cheaper than care for the terminally ill and support for their families after they die. In terms of the cost to humanity, no one should be denied these simple, life-saving tests simply because they are poor.

by CNB