The Cheetah Club

How a rare group of spotted patients and a small cadre of persistent doctors could help change the face of cancer research

A A A Comments By Joel P. Engardio Wednesday, Nov 1 2000

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They were -- in perfect contrast to the bouquet Berruto was holding. But no one was horrified; everyone just laughed. "Look, my friends are back," Berruto joked about the spots.

A lot of humor (and a little bit of denial) helps Berruto cope, she says. The continual eruptions and healing of the lesions -- as well as regular biopsies -- have left scars on her body. If someone asks, she'll joke and say either that she was shot or burned by a cigarette, since that's what the scars look like. She dresses fashionably and goes out to bars and dance clubs. Vanity doesn't hurt, either. "I get upset when they look like zits," she says. "I'd rather have people think they are tumors. I know that sounds bad, but I'm young."

Casey McKee

Dr. Warren Macaulay.

Dr. Marshall Kadin.

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Every six months she has a biopsy to monitor the lesions for their possible progression to cancer. That semiannual checkup is a sober reminder of what may come. "It's nerve-racking to wait for the results," she says. "You can't help but wonder what it's going to be this time."

The only fellow LyP patient she has ever met -- a woman from New York -- has since developed lymphoma. They connected online and became friends, then saw each other in Dr. Kadin's Boston office.

"I think, "Down the line, that could be me,'" she says. "I joke to my friends, "Hey, I know how I'm going to die.' That's how I deal with things. I'm a big joker."

But as humor and vanity balance Berruto's fears now, so the gravity of her situation competes with her future outlook. "I see myself getting married, having kids, and enjoying a normal life," she says. "I am too young to let LyP interfere."

Though it obviously does interfere, Berruto tries to turn her situation around, to think of it in positive terms.

"So few people have this, and yet I do. There must be a reason. I mean, what if they do find a cure for cancer because of it?" she wonders aloud, pausing for a moment to reflect on the implications of what she's just said. Her eyes widen as she envisions the headline. ""LyP saves the world' -- wouldn't that be awesome?"