_ Breast CancerChemo for Breast Ca May Lead to Job Loss By articleA study done at the University of Michigan Health System has found that loss of paid employment after a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer may be common and potentially related to the type of treatment patients received. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings support efforts to reduce the side effects and burden of treatments for breast cancer and to identify patients who may forego certain treatments, particularly when the expected benefit is low.
_ Breast CancerStudy: Chemotherapy Not Always Best for Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell articleAlthough many women with early-stage breast cancer are getting chemotherapy, the ones that decide against it appear to be more empowered about making a good decision, new research indicates. The current guidelines for treating cancer that hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body have led to thousands of women receiving chemotherapy without benefiting from it.
_ Breast CancerDoubling “Progression-Free Survival” of Breast Ca Patients By articleThe amount of time patients with hormone-receptor–positive breast cancer were on treatment without their cancer worsening, which is called "progression-free survival", was effectively doubled in women with advanced breast cancer who took the experimental drug palbociclib. That was the result of the final clinical trials conducted by researchers from the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.
_ Breast CancerHope For Treating A Deadly Breast-Cancer Gene By Jane Farrell articleResearchers have discovered that a gene, previously not linked to breast cancer, plays a central role in the growth of triple negative breast cancer. Targeting that gene, the research indicates, could lead to a new approach for treating that form of the disease. Triple negative breast cancer, which accounts for 20 percent of all breast cancer cases, often has few treatment options.
Breast CancerBreast Reconstruction: Making the Decision By Jane Farrell articleEvery woman who has a mastectomy is then faced with another choice: whether to have breast reconstruction – surgery to rebuild the shape of the breast. There are other choices, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI): to wear a breast form, or padding, or to do nothing.
Breast CancerMammogram Risks for Age 70+ Outweigh Benefits By articleResearchers from Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands report that their study suggests that breast cancer screening programs for older women results in a large proportion of women being over-treated, and at risk from the harmful effects of such treatment, because these women were more likely to die from other causes than from any tumors detected in the early stages of growth. The team presented the findings the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glascow UK.
_ Breast CancerSubtyping Breast Ca to Identify High Risk Women By articleA University of South Florida-led study has refined a personalized approach to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. A release from the university explains that a method called molecular subtyping can help doctors better determine which of their breast cancer patients are at high risk of getting breast cancer again. This sophisticated genetic profiling of an individual's specific tumor offers an additional resource to help identify patients who would most benefit from chemotherapy and those who would not.
_ Breast Cancer14 Questions About Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis By articleprognosis and medical choices.
_ Breast CancerStopping Aggressive Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell articleThe chance of breast cancer spreading beyond the initial tumor may be decreased by lowering the level of a protein, according to new research. A team of investigators from The Ohio State University found that mice implanted with breast cancer cells without the protein, myoferlin, developed self-contained tumors whose cells did not spread beyond the original site. In contrast, mice implanted with cancer cells containing the protein developed larger, irregular masses and showed signs that cancer cells had invaded the surrounding tissue.
Breast CancerPossible: A New Treatment for Aggressive Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell articleExperts have found a process that fuels triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the illness, and that could lead to new treatments. The researchers, from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University, discovered that a protein that fuels an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer. The failure to turn off leads to an increase in cancer stem cells. The protein, SOCS3, is highly expressed in normal cells but until now has been undetectable in triple-negative breast cancer.
_ Breast CancerNew Breast Ca Surgical Guideline By articleThe Society of Surgical Oncology announced on February 10th 2014 the release of a comprehensive consensus guideline for physicians treating breast cancer that will reduce healthcare costs and improve the course of treatment. Developed in conjunction with the American Society of Radiation Oncology, the guideline outlines an evidence-based surgical treatment path that will save patients from unnecessary surgery.
Breast CancerThe Mammogram Controversy Continues By Jane Farrell articleAnnual mammograms for women aged 40-59 don’t reduce the death rate from breast cancer, according to a new study. The study, published on bmj.com, also said that 22 percent of breast cancers detected via mammogram were over-diagnosed—meaning that the cancers that were found were ones that would not cause symptoms or death. The findings are fueling an ongoing debate about the benefits of mammograms.
_ Breast CancerBest Tx for Advanced Breast Cancer By article The first large-scale study of whole-genome testing is aimed at identifying the best treatment for women with advanced breast cancer.
_ Breast CancerBiennial Mammograms Just as Good as Annual Ones? By Jane Farrell articleThe adoption of guidelines calling for mammograms every two years for women age 50 to 75 would yield effective breast screenings and save the United States $4.3 billion a year in health care costs, a new study said.
Breast CancerRunning Trumps Walking for Breast Cancer Survival By articlePrevious studies have shown that breast cancer survivors who meet the current exercise recommendations of 2.5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity per week are at 25% lower risk for dying from breast cancer. Now research from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and reported in the International Journal of Cancer suggests that exceeding the recommendations may provide greater protection, and that running may be better than walking.
_ Breast CancerNew Way to Image Dense Breasts By articleDartmouth engineers and radiologists are developing new approaches for an emerging technique called MRI with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to image dense breasts for abnormalities. The study will appear in the February 2014 issue of the journal Academic Radiology.
_ Breast CancerStopping Breast Cancer Metastasis By articleResearchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in salt Lake City have discovered a cellular mechanism that drives the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body, as well as a therapy which blocks that metastisis. The research results were published online in the journal Cell Reports on January 2nd 2014.
Breast CancerHealth Close-Up: Stage IV Breast Cancer By Adprime Admin articleBy Judy Kirkwood Editor's note: October is Breast Cancer Month. This article is ThirdAge's contribution to awareness about a form of breast cancer that is seldom discussed and is underfunded even though a third of patients have it. Read on for the courageous story of one of those patients and learn how easy it can be for you to help the cause.