The Broadway star Marin Mazzie brings the same exuberance to living with late-stage ovarian cancer that she displays in her performances. Or perhaps the roles she has undertaken in musicals like “Ragtime,” “Kiss Me Kate” and “The King and I” have contributed to her proactive efforts to improve the fate of other women who will have to cope with the disease.
Ms. Mazzie, who is known for her gorgeous mezzo soprano voice, is currently in treatment for a recurrence of her illness. She has committed herself to raising consciousness about ovarian cancer and making its signature color, teal, as recognizable as breast cancer’s pink. Because ovarian cancer has no reliable detection tool, she works with the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Cancer Support Community to promote scientific advancement as well as awareness. When caught at an early stage, ovarian cancer can be cured; however, most women are currently diagnosed with late-stage disease.
Given the lack of an early detection tool, Ms. Mazzie believes that a BRCA blood test should be offered to young women with a family history of breast, ovarian, prostate, colon or pancreatic cancer. “The profile of who needs to be tested has to expand,” she told me in a recent phone interview. Geneticists agree that women who carry a mutation face a substantially elevated risk of getting breast and ovarian cancer. Women testing positive could use monitoring to detect cancer earlier or employ prophylactic surgery to prevent it.
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