Conway doctor finds link between presidents, cancer

The making of America with all its virtues and foibles is the rationale and underpinnings for the historical scholarship of Dr. Sue Tsuda of Conway.

Dr. Tsuda, one of the nation's preeminent cancer doctors, finds excitement and also solace during those moments when she enmeshes herself in the story of U.S. historic figures and the events that created the country.

Reading about the human side of history has become the buffer that enables her to endure the travail of dealing with the pain of cancer day in and day out. It is a conscious impulse to create a shield of sorts against the demands that engulf her.

"I love history," she says giving voice to the pleasure she derives from the stories of the building of the nation, its wars and presidential characters.

"I read and read history books; I think often of those people who had vital roles in shaping the nation. It's something I enjoy. I marvel at what these historical figures have accomplished, and I relate their troubles with those of my cancer patients."

She is arguably well read and informed, full of restless, probing energy, Her spacious home is well-stocked with history books, its bookcases crammed with almost every conceivable tome on some historical event especially the Civil War.

Recently her scholarship delved into a recounting of the mutuality of cancer as it impacted U.S. presidents, authoring an absorbing story of the medical disabilities of these leaders, many who suffered from cancer.

The article was published in the newsletter of the Conway Cancer Foundation, the "Tumor Rumor." It turned on the pervasiveness of the disease, finding that eight presidents were diagnosed with some form of cancer.

Her recent research disclosed that President Lincoln was the subject of much debate regarding minute details of his health, particularly because of his tall stature and somewhat unusual appearance which might have indicated a possible underlying Marfan's Syndrome.

"Others argue that his physical characteristics were more in line with a disease called multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2b, a genetic cancer syndrome," she said.

In these, the thyroid and adrenal glands are affected.

"Lincoln began to lose weight after his election to the presidency in 1860, and his increasing thinness, loss of soft tissue on his face and temporal wasting were very noticeable comparing casts of his face from 1860 and 1865," she said.

Some researchers surmise that Lincoln would not have lived another six months even if he had not been gunned down in Ford's Theater, she points out.

Writing of President Ulysses S. Grant, Dr Tsuda submits that this 18th president was afflicted with throat cancer after his term in office, 1869-1877. He had been seen smoking as many as 20 cigars in a 24-hour period during some of the Civil War battles, she said.

"The American public became conscious and fearful of cancer as a disease with Grant's illness," she declared. "After being diagnosed with throat cancer, he wrote his memoirs to help his family financially, and these were published with the help of his friend, Mark Twain."

President Grover Cleveland was diagnosed with cancer of his upper jaw. He was a heavy smoker and drinker. President Herbert Hoover was diagnosed with an "intestinal tumor" after he left office, while President Franklin Roosevelt, according to some reports, had a enlarging pigmented lesion over his left eye.

The president was told, her report goes on, that he had a "metastatic tumor" and was advised not to run for a fourth term. Since his medical record is missing, the possibility of melanoma could not be verified," she suggests.

"However, there was a report that indicated that from 1944 until April 12, 1945 when FDR died, he suffered from symptoms that could be attributed to metastatic melanoma."

Melanoma also was attributed as the cause of problems for President Dwight Eisenhower, who was told that a black module removed from his trunk was malignant. This World War II hero was a heavy smoker a four pack a day smoker.

The situation of President Ronald Regan took another turn. He underwent a colonoscopy in 1985, and a colon cancer derived from a polyp was found on his right side. "It was found to be a 'Duke B' cancer, that is a cancer invading the muscular wall of the colon but still confined to the bowel wall," Dr. Tsuda said.

She asserted that a surgeon remarked that the 74-year-old president had the "insides of a forty year old." He also had skin cancers, two basal cell carcinomas removed, one from his neck in 1995," the oncologist said.

Dr. Tsuda states that President Bill Clinton was not spared from the woes of cancer. He had a precancerous growth removed from his nose in 1995 by liquid nitrogen. He also had a skin cancer removed form his neck in January 2001.

Dr. Tsuda is regarded as an ideal person to divulge information about cancer in an historical context. Although petite, soft-spoken and charming, she nevertheless commands attention when history is the topic, pouring details over her listeners in a heady flow.

She is often found in used bookstores and more conventional bookish venues searching through the shelves of history books, her practiced eye looking for specific titles to her liking. Social gatherings often find her communicating nuggets of historical data.

Interestingly enough, Dr. Tsuda suggests that she has always felt somewhat "cheated" since she never had the opportunity to study history in the many schools she attended, always being turned toward the scrutiny of science, finding precious little time to study history.

"I've become aware that there is a huge store of knowledge that I missed. I've always been interested in how people face adversity and I suppose that's one reason I became an oncologist. History is full of events that indicated how people dealt with adversity," she said, adding that she finds reading history is a coping mechanism, helping one to put things into perspective.

As to the state of cancer, she says: "We have made incredible advances in caner detection, prevention and treatment since 1971 when the war on cancer was escalated by the National Cancer Act of that year. Since the 1990s, the incidence of cancer in the U.S. started dropping and has continued to drop each year along with morbidity and mortality.

"So while we have not as yet found the universal cure for cancer, we continue to fight this war on a daily basis as individuals with the help of our faith, families, friends and physicians."