Mary E. Costanza (born February 21, 1937) is a retired doctor and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst medical school. She is known for her research in the field of cancer, cancer prevention, and leadership of the American Cancer Society in Massachusetts.

Education and career

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Costanza has a B.A. from Radcliffe College (1958), an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley (1963), and an M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine (1968).[1][2] She did an internship and residency in medicine at Tufts- New England Medical Center where she continued on to be a clinical fellow. Starting in 1970 she volunteered at a health clinic in Somerville, Massachusetts, an activity she retained until 1980.[2] From 1980 until 1990 she was the director of oncology at the University of Massachusetts and its associated hospital.[2] Starting in 1990 she led the High Risk Breast Cancer Clinic.[2][where?] She was a visiting scientist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 1989 to 1990.[citation needed] In 1995 she was named president of the Massachusetts American Cancer Society.[3]

Research

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Costanza's early research was on the carcinoembryonic antigen as a screening tool for cancer.[4][5] Her subsequent research compared outcomes of patients receiving different chemotherapy drug regimes[6][7] and toxic effects from cancer drugs.[8] Costanza has shared the pros and cons of different drug regimes used for breast cancer in The New York Times.[9][10] Her later work centered on raising public awareness of breast cancer[11] and working to improve implementation of screening for breast cancer,[12] including large-scale studies on new drugs for prevention of breast cancer[13] and the connection between weight and prevalence of breast cancer in women.[14] She has researched the benefit of reminding women about the need for regular mammograms,[15][16] and screening for colorectal cancer[17] and prostate cancer.[18]

Selected publications

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Personal life

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In 1994 Costanza was diagnosed with breast cancer and spoke with The Boston Globe about her personal decisions while being a patient.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Mary Costanza | Profiles RNS". 2022-02-20. Archived from the original on 2022-02-20. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  2. ^ a b c d Love, Barbara J. (2006-09-22). Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. University of Illinois Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-0-252-03189-2.
  3. ^ a b Scales, Ann (1995-09-22). "Cancer strikes pair who fight vs. illness". The Boston Globe. pp. [1], [2]. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  4. ^ Costanza, Mary E.; Pinn, Vivian; Schwartz, Robert S.; Nathanson, Larry (1973-09-06). "Carcinoembryonic Antigen-Antibody Complexes in a Patient with Colonic Carcinoma and Nephrotic Syndrome". New England Journal of Medicine. 289 (10): 520–522. doi:10.1056/NEJM197309062891007. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 4579334.
  5. ^ Costanza ME, Das S, Nathanson L, Rule A, Schwartz RS (1974). "Carcinoembryonic antigen.Report of a screening study". Cancer. 33 (2): 583–590. doi:10.1002/1097-0142(197402)33:2<583::AID-CNCR2820330238>3.0.CO;2-9. PMID 4812774.
  6. ^ Costanza, Mary E.; Nathanson, Larry; Schoenfeld, David; Wolter, Janet; Colsky, Jacob; Regelson, William; Cunningham, Thomas; Sedransk, Nell (1977). "Results with methyl-CCNU and DTIC in metastatic melanoma". Cancer. 40 (3): 1010–1015. doi:10.1002/1097-0142(197709)40:3<1010::aid-cncr2820400308>3.0.co;2-c. ISSN 0008-543X. PMID 332319. S2CID 22562811.
  7. ^ Griffin, Thomas W.; Bogden, Arthur E.; Reich, Steven D.; Antonelli, Donna; Hunter, Richard E.; Ward, Allen; Yu, Dinah T.; Greene, Harry L.; Costanza, Mary E. (1983-12-15). "Initial clinical trials of the subrenal capsule assay as a predictor of tumor response to chemotherapy". Cancer. 52 (12): 2185–2192. doi:10.1002/1097-0142(19831215)52:12<2185::aid-cncr2820521202>3.0.co;2-p. ISSN 0008-543X. PMID 6357424.
  8. ^ Freeman, Nancy J.; Costanza, Mary E. (1988-01-01). "5-Fluorouracil-associated cardiotoxicity". Cancer. 61 (1): 36–45. doi:10.1002/1097-0142(19880101)61:1<36::aid-cncr2820610108>3.0.co;2-6. ISSN 0008-543X. PMID 3275485. S2CID 24283011.
  9. ^ Brody, Jane E. (1977-04-03). "The Drug War On Cancer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  10. ^ Boffey, Philip M.; Times, Special To the New York (1985-08-06). "SOME CHEMOTHERAPY FAILS AGAINST CANCER". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  11. ^ Collier, Geraldine A (18 September 1995). "Walkers making strides against breast cancer". Telegram & Gazette; Worcester, Mass. [Worcester, Mass]. pp. C1 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ Zapka, J.G.; Costanza, M.E.; Harris, D.R.; Hosmer, D.; Stoddard, A.; Barth, R.; Gaw, V. (1993). "Impact of a Breast Cancer Screening Community Intervention". Preventive Medicine. 22 (1): 34–53. doi:10.1006/pmed.1993.1003. PMID 8475011.
  13. ^ Collier, Geraldine A. (8 March 1993). "Breast cancer in the 90's ; Studies stir controversy over mammograms". Telegram & Gazette; Worcester, Mass. [Worcester, Mass]. pp. C1 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ Young, Emily (10 October 2005). "Studies link breast cancer and weight gain". Sentinel & Enterprise; Fitchburg, Mass. [Fitchburg, Mass]. p. 1 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ Olesin, Nancy (September 22, 2009). "Once is not enough: UMass and Fallon team up to design mammogram reminder system". Canton Repository. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  16. ^ Costanza, Mary E.; Luckmann, Roger; Frisard, Christine; White, Mary Jo; Cranos, Caroline (2020). "Comparing Telephone Counseling With Reminding to Promote On-Time Repeated Mammography: A Randomized Trial in a Cohort With 4 Years Follow-Up". Health Education & Behavior. 47 (1): 37–46. doi:10.1177/1090198119886347. ISSN 1552-6127. PMID 31760817. S2CID 208276083.
  17. ^ Costanza, Mary E.; Luckmann, Roger; Stoddard, Anne M.; White, Mary Jo; Stark, Jennifer R.; Avrunin, Jill S.; Rosal, Milagros C.; Clemow, Lynn (2007). "Using tailored telephone counseling to accelerate the adoption of colorectal cancer screening". Cancer Detection and Prevention. 31 (3): 191–198. doi:10.1016/j.cdp.2007.04.008. PMID 17646058.
  18. ^ Costanza, Mary E.; Luckmann, Roger S.; Rosal, Milagros; White, Mary Jo; LaPelle, Nancy; Partin, Melissa; Cranos, Caroline; Leung, Katherine G.; Foley, Christine (2011). "Helping men make an informed decision about prostate cancer screening: A pilot study of telephone counseling". Patient Education and Counseling. 82 (2): 193–200. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2010.05.011. PMC 2970646. PMID 20554423.