GROCERY CHECKER `STAR' OF CANCER TESTS.

Byline: Robert Monroe Daily News Staff Writer

Even world-class cancer researchers have heroes, and Sue Merriam of Arleta is one of them.

The grocery store checker is among 22,000 women who medical centers began recruiting Tuesday to compare two breast-cancer prevention drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene. The study, launched nationwide and by five local medical research centers, is one of the largest trials of its kind.

After announcing the start of the study, Dr. Cary Presant, chairman of the St. Vincent's Medical Center Los Angeles Oncologic Institute, waded through a crowd of his colleagues to pay his respects to 58-year-old Merriam.

``You really are one of the stars,'' he told her. ``People throughout the United States don't realize these heroes are in their midst.''

Merriam only smiled in reply but later said that such tests are the only way women like her ``are going to get some answers.''

``You feel like you're doing something instead of waiting to be a victim,'' she said.

It will be the second time Merriam has taken part in a cancer study. She and other women at high risk for breast cancer were asked to take a leap of faith that they would get tamoxifen - not a placebo - in the hopes of determining the drug's value.

But she took what turned out to be sugar pills for six years and said she didn't care because it was a necessary part of the drug's testing. She said she did it for her daughter, her daughter-in-law and every woman who will come after them.

``I don't think there's anybody who doesn't want to contribute something in life,'' she said.

This time, Merriam will get one of the two drugs, thanks in part to the first test of tamoxifen showing the risk of getting breast cancer cut in half by the drug. The Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene or STAR trial, will compare its risks and benefits with the lesser-known raloxifene over the next five years. The latter drug, approved to treat osteoporosis in 1997, also has been found to reduce the risk of breast cancer in some women.

Researchers said both increase the risk of uterine cancer and blood clots, but trial participants are monitored and the results for cancer trackers could be invaluable.

``The drugs' use for preventing cancer can help us understand the malignant process,'' said Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Division at the Jonsson Cancer Care Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Merriam's doctor had found precancerous tumors in her breast three times before 1992. A surgeon suggested that she take part in the tamoxifen trial.

``I just respect her for stepping out and doing this,'' said Cathy Tracy, Merriam's daughter. ``I think for her, the fear of the cancer is greater than the risks involved.''

Merriam figures that despite receiving only a placebo, she gained knowledge about herself, which she feels has kept her tumor free since 1992. She's also glad she's had access to Ganz, whom she couldn't have afforded otherwise.

``To walk in and see Dr. Ganz at UCLA is $265 the minute you see her,'' said Barbara Kahn, the coordinator of the STAR project at that medical center.

The facts

The study is open to postmenopausal woman at least 35 who are deemed at high risk of breast cancer. The treatment will be given at several locations in the San Fernando and Antelope valleys and in Ventura County. For more information, call (800) 4-CANCER.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

PHOTO Sue Merriam, right, says she has confidence in Dr. Patricia Ganz, left.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News

Box: The facts (see text)