Breast cancer patients may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, and may benefit from a treatment approach that weighs the benefits of specific therapies against potential damage to the heart, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in its journal Circulation. The statement is an… Continue reading American Heart Association: Some Breast Cancer Treatments May Increase Heart Disease Risk
Category: Breast Cancer
4 Tips for Staying Positive on The Road to Breast-Cancer Survival
About one in eight U.S. women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime, according to http://www.breastcancer.org/. The website notes that in 2017 an estimated 252,710 more American women will be diagnosed. October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month magnifies those alarming statistics. The disease stays center-stage when a celebrity like actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus announces she has breast… Continue reading 4 Tips for Staying Positive on The Road to Breast-Cancer Survival
The Link Between Bacterial Imbalances and Breast Cancer
In a study published online in Oncotarget in October 2017, Cleveland Clinic researchers have uncovered differences in the bacterial composition of breast tissue of healthy women vs. women with breast cancer. The research team has discovered for the first time that healthy breast tissue contains more of the bacterial species Methylobacterium, a finding which could… Continue reading The Link Between Bacterial Imbalances and Breast Cancer
Telling Your Kids and Grandkids about Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Carol saw her doctor about a lump in her breast in early December. By the time the mammogram and biopsy were done, she didn’t want to ruin her adult daughter’s birthday or Christmas. Yes, she had breast cancer, but it wasn’t life threatening. So she sat on the news for more than a month., In… Continue reading Telling Your Kids and Grandkids about Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Is Breast Cancer Over-Diagnosed?
Routine mammograms can lead to over-diagnosis and over-treatment of breast cancer, but most American women aren’t aware of these risks of breast cancer screening, reports a study in the October issue of Medical Care, published by Wolters Kluwer. What’s more, most women don’t find statements about breast cancer overdiagnosis and overtreatment to be “believable or… Continue reading Is Breast Cancer Over-Diagnosed?
Surgeons’ Attitudes Influence Patients’ Decisions to Have Both Breasts Removed When Only One Breast Has Cancer
A woman’s choice of surgeon plays a significant role in whether she’s likely to receive an increasingly popular aggressive breast cancer surgery. The procedure, called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy or CPM, involves removing both breasts even when cancer is found only in one. According to a study done at the University of Michigan and published in… Continue reading Surgeons’ Attitudes Influence Patients’ Decisions to Have Both Breasts Removed When Only One Breast Has Cancer
Breast Reconstruction: Why Patient Perceptions Differ
Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is a very subjective experience. Different women who undergo the same type of breast reconstruction may have very different perceptions of newly reconstructed breasts depending on the starting point. In general, the best result in breast reconstruction today is achieved with natural tissue, in which the patient’s own body, usually the… Continue reading Breast Reconstruction: Why Patient Perceptions Differ
Study: Breast-Cancer Patients on Opioids Less Likely to Follow Treatment Regimen
Breast cancer patients who take opioids to manage their pain are less likely to adhere to a potentially lifesaving treatment regimen, according to new research. The treatment, adjuvant endocrine therapy, commonly known as hormone therapy, is used to prevent the cancer from returning after surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Opioid use, however, was “significantly associated”… Continue reading Study: Breast-Cancer Patients on Opioids Less Likely to Follow Treatment Regimen
Secondary Breast Reconstruction: Getting It Right
For many women, breast reconstruction is a process rather than a single procedure. Some women have experienced complications, particularly with implants, that require additional surgery. And many women are simply unhappy with the results of their breast reconstruction. The goal of breast reconstruction after mastectomy is to create a natural breast with the shape, softness… Continue reading Secondary Breast Reconstruction: Getting It Right
Mistaking Breast Cancer Symptoms for Side Effects of Tamoxifen May Be Keeping Some Women from Taking the Preventive Drug
Women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer may be failing to take the preventive anti-cancer drug tamoxifen because they are confusing naturally-occurring symptoms with side effects from the medicine. That is the finding of a study of nearly 4,000 women led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and published in June… Continue reading Mistaking Breast Cancer Symptoms for Side Effects of Tamoxifen May Be Keeping Some Women from Taking the Preventive Drug
Mammograms: Are We Overdiagnosing Small Tumors?
An analysis of breast cancer data revealed that many small breast cancers have an excellent prognosis because they are inherently slow growing, according to Yale Cancer Center experts. Often, these cancers will not grow large enough to become significant within a patient’s lifetime, and subsequently early detection could lead to overdiagnosis, the researchers. In contrast,… Continue reading Mammograms: Are We Overdiagnosing Small Tumors?
Early Stage Breast-Cancer Patients May Be Getting Too Many Tests
Asymptomatic women who have been treated for early-stage breast cancer often undergo advanced imaging and other tests that provide little if any medical benefit, could have harmful effects and may increase their financial burden, according to a study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The research was presented at the annual meeting of the American… Continue reading Early Stage Breast-Cancer Patients May Be Getting Too Many Tests
A New Technique Aims to Ensure That Surgeons Completely Remove Cancer
Researchers have developed a technique to allow breast-cancer surgeons to determine during an operation whether all cancerous tissue has been removed. Of the quarter-million women diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the United States, about 180,000 undergo surgery to remove the cancerous tissue while preserving as much healthy breast tissue as possible. However, there’s… Continue reading A New Technique Aims to Ensure That Surgeons Completely Remove Cancer
Half of Mastectomy Patients Pursue Reconstruction without Understanding Risks
More than half of breast cancer patients (57 percent) undergoing mastectomy lack the necessary medical knowledge to make a high-quality decision about reconstructive surgery that aligns with their personal goals, suggesting a trend toward overtreatment, according to a 2017 study conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James… Continue reading Half of Mastectomy Patients Pursue Reconstruction without Understanding Risks
Mind-Body Therapies During Breast Cancer Treatment
Researchers have come up with an evidence-based list of appropriate integrative therapies for patients with breast cancer. The list includes meditation and music therapy. The therapies are an addition to conventional medical care, not a replacement. The newly updated guidelines came from research by experts at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the… Continue reading Mind-Body Therapies During Breast Cancer Treatment
Physicians’ Misunderstanding of Genetic Test Results May Hamper Mastectomy Decisions
A 2017 survey of over 2,000 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer found that half of those who undergo bilateral mastectomy after genetic testing don’t actually have mutations known to confer increased risk of additional cancers. That is the finding of a study done by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and four… Continue reading Physicians’ Misunderstanding of Genetic Test Results May Hamper Mastectomy Decisions
Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations Amid Changing Guidelines
Disagreement persists between professional societies and organizations over the best time to start and to discontinue mammography for breast cancer screening, as well as the optimal amount of time between screenings. A research letter published by JAMA Internal Medicine IN April 2017 examines breast cancer screening recommendations physicians give their patients amid recent guideline changes.… Continue reading Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations Amid Changing Guidelines
More Patients with Early-Stage Breast Cancer May Not Need Chemo
Women with early-stage breast cancer who had an intermediate risk recurrence score (RS) from a 21-gene expression assay had similar outcomes, regardless of whether they received chemotherapy, according to a February 2017 study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer. A release from the center notes that the encouraging research, published in the journal… Continue reading More Patients with Early-Stage Breast Cancer May Not Need Chemo