Everyone has questions concerning cancer and Michael Sherman, medical director for Contra Costa Oncology, would like to answer yours. Contra Costa Oncology has offices in Walnut Creek, Concord, San Ramon and Rossmoor.  If you have questions for Dr. Sherman, e-mail Donna Lynn Rhodes or Martha Ross, editor of Walnut Creek Patch, at martha@patch.com. 

Q: Is it urban legend or truth that Marin County has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the country? And if it’s true, why?

A: As it turns out, the rate of cancer -- any cancer -- is no higher in Marin County than anywhere else in the country. Mark Twain wrote, “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics.” Where Marin and cancer are concerned, look at it this way: Rate refers to the number of cases per person and Marin County has the highest rate of screening for cancer. More screening, more cancer.  In an area where there is not as much screening, the rates appear lower. Less screening, less cancer. When adjusting for this (the number of people who actually get screened) the true rate of cancer in Marin is the same as anywhere else in the country. So feel free to visit Marin – it’s especially beautiful this time of the year,

Q: Is stomach cancer and pancreatic cancer always fatal?

 A:  No they are not -- all cancers have a cure rate if detected early. And that’s why it’s so important not to ignore anything you "feel" that just isn’t right. Unfortunately there is no perfect test for cancer screening, so we investigate symptoms. There was a time when people used to want to get cancer screening (scans) all the time just in case there was cancer. Now it seems the press has scared people away from scans for fear of unnecessary radiation so they don’t request them as much. The truth is there are many more benign things found on scans than cancer and this leads to a lot of unneeded testing, anxiety and expense. The bottom line is do not ignore your body if you feel something is wrong, talk to your doctor immediately.