Breast Cancer News

Making Sense of New Mammography Recommendations (November 18, 2009)

The U.S. Preventive Services Tasks Force (USPSTF) has reversed its position on screening mammography for women in their 40s: the group no longer recommends routine screening mammography for average-risk women in this age group.[1] The American Cancer... Continue Reading

Persistent Pain Common After Breast Cancer Surgery (November 16, 2009)

Two to three years after breast cancer surgery, persistent pain continues to affect close to half of all women. The results of this study, which was conducted in Denmark, were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Surgery for breast... Continue Reading

Excess Body Weight Linked with More Than 100,000 New Cancer Diagnoses Each Year in U.S. (November 9, 2009)

According to estimates from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), excess body weight may be responsible for more than 100,000 new cancer diagnoses each year in the United States. Excess body weight is increasingly recognized as a risk factor... Continue Reading

Even Small HER2-positive Breast Cancers Have a Higher Risk of Recurrence (November 5, 2009)

Among women with small, node-negative breast cancers, those with tumors that are HER2-positive have a higher risk of cancer recurrence. This suggests that consideration of HER2-targeted therapy such as Herceptin® (trastuzumab) may be important, even... Continue Reading

Breast Tenderness During Hormone Replacement Linked with Increased Breast Cancer Risk (October 19, 2009)

Women who experience new-onset breast tenderness after starting postmenopausal hormone therapy with combined estrogen plus progestin may have a higher risk of breast cancer than women who do not experience breast tenderness. These results were published... Continue Reading

Young Women with DCIS Have Higher Risk of Recurrence (October 12, 2009)

After treatment of breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy, women age 44 or younger have a higher rate of recurrence than older women. These results were presented at the ASCO 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium. Ductal... Continue Reading

Additional Evidence Regarding the Benefit of Regular Mammograms (October 9, 2009)

According to the results of a study presented at the ASCO 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium, nearly three-quarters of breast cancer deaths occur among the minority off women who do not get regular screening mammograms. Although breast cancer remains the second-leading... Continue Reading

Smoking May Increase Risk of Breast Cancer (October 7, 2009)

Women who have smoked 100 or more cigarettes in their life have a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer, according to the results of a study published in The Breast Journal.[1] The American Cancer Society estimates that one in eight... Continue Reading

Number of Obesity-related Cancers Is Growing (October 3, 2009)

In 2008, excess body weight was responsible for over 124,000 new cancer diagnoses in Europe. These results were presented at a major European cancer conference. Obesity is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor not only for cancer development,... Continue Reading

Surgery Improves Survival in Metastatic Breast Cancer (October 2, 2009)

Women who have distant metastatic disease upon diagnosis of breast cancer still benefit from removal of the primary tumor. In fact, these patients survive significantly longer than those who do not undergo surgery, according to the results of a study... Continue Reading