Early detection, advanced care
were bright star for local celebrity


The packed Oakland audience came to raise money for breast cancer. They didn’t know speaker Elaine Corral Kendall was due for a lumpectomy herself the next morning.

And she didn’t tell them. The actress and four-time Emmy Award winning former TV news anchor is a pro. The event featured Friends of Faith in honor of Kendall’s friend, Faith Fancher, a Channel 2 reporter who ultimately died of breast cancer.

“I didn’t want to take away the energy that was there for Faith,”
Kendall said.

Kendall had been close to Faith. She won a first-place American Medical Association International Film Festival award for her documentary, “Faith’s Story.”
In May 2004, Kendall began a journey of her own.

Kendall discovered a tiny lump during a self-exam three months before her next mammogram was due.

“Finding it early was the good news,” she said. “Then I set out to find the best doctors and the most aggressive treatment.”

Her journey started at Mills-Peninsula’s Breast Center.

“I’d been going there for years,” she said, “because I’d heard it is the best.

“Through the biopsy and MRI, Dr. Harriet Borofsky made me feel positive I was in the best hands. I knew I was getting an expert diagnosis.”

Kendall’s cancer was aggressive, but she had caught it early, before it had spread. The recommended treatment was a breast-conserving lumpectomy, requiring only a small incision, chemotherapy and radiation.

At each stage of treatment, she was diligent about getting second, sometimes third opinions, and checked with university hospitals.

“I always ended up at Mills-Peninsula.” Kendall said.

Surgeon Andrea Metkus, M.D., is glad she did. Dr. Metkus treats more than 200 women with breast cancer each year. She is skilled in breast conserving techniques that minimize incision size and reduce scarring.

“The most recent studies confirm there is no survival advantage for mastectomy over lumpectomy combined with radiation,” Dr. Metkus said.
“We believe in aggressive treatment. We don’t wait for cancer to come back,” the surgeon said.

“When I walked into Dr. Metkus’ office, I knew in two seconds this woman would save my life,” Kendall said. “She is brilliant. I was out of the hospital within hours. Thanks to her skill, I didn’t even need an aspirin.”

Kendall moved on to two high-intensity courses of chemotherapy with medical oncologist Juliet Kral, M.D. She completed her total eight-months treatment in January 2005 with radiation oncologist Stephen Weller, M.D., at the Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center.
“These two completed my brilliant team,” she said.

Through it all, Kendall thrived. “Even the doctors were amazed. They said they had never seen anyone tolerate treatment so well,” she said. “But I’ve always taken good care of myself. I was in good health going in, and I just powered through it. I worked out every day. And my angel husband, Jeff, was always by my side.”

Kendall and her husband drove 100 miles roundtrip daily for seven weeks from their Walnut Creek home to the Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center for her 30-second radiation treatments.

It was worth it, she said. “I feel healthier than ever. I thrived because I found the right doctors and the right hospital.

“I wasn’t lucky to get cancer, but I was lucky to find myself in the right hands. For my family, the choice will always be Mills-Peninsula. I won’t ever forget the people who saved my life.”



MRI latest tool for breast cancer diagnosis
Mills-Peninsula is first on the Peninsula to offer MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) breast diagnostic and biopsy capabilities, the most advanced detection tool available today.

According to Harriet Borofsky, M.D., medical director of breast imaging at Mills-Peninsula’s Breast Centers, “studies have shown that MRI may find cancers not detectable by mammography and ultrasound in women with special needs, such as previous breast cancer history or other increased risk factors.

“The advanced MRI equipment we have also makes it possible to perform a biopsy guided by the MRI image, and when necessary, to do very specific pre-operative planning.”

For more information about breast MRI, ask your doctor or call 1(800) 654 9966.


Additional Stories
Hormonal therapy can reduce recurrence risk by half
Anyone who has had breast cancer knows the fear: “Will it return?”

Jennifer Brown, M.D., a Mills-Peninsula medical oncologist, says women with estrogen receptor positive cancer can calm that anxiety by having additional treatment known as adjuvant hormonal therapy.


Sentinel node biopsy spares side effects
Mills-Peninsula breast surgery specialist, Kathryn Carolin Amirikia, M.D., uses an approach called sentinel node biopsy that can spare women who have early-stage, invasive breast cancer from side effects of extensive lymph node removal.