For some women with a higher risk of getting breast cancer, getting weight down can be a way to fight back.
These women are in the minority with mutations in genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which raise the risk of developing the cancer. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, found women with BRCA mutations decreased their higher risk of cancer if they lost at least ten pounds between the ages of 18 and 30.
Steven Narod of the University of Toronto, who was senior author of the paper in the journal Breast Cancer Research, says the findings ought to apply to overweight women who have the mutation:
“For women in that category, I certainly would discuss and raise with them the possibility that they could reduce the cancer risk through weight loss.”
Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
source: http://healthtipsatoz.com/health-tips-weight-genes-and-breast-cancer/
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Moderately Drinking Women May Suffer From Breast Cancer
Everything we eat, do and think about has an impact on our health. As we look for ways to fight a wide range of diseases, the American Association for Cancer Research 2008 Annual Meeting suggested that continuous engaging in bad habits like drinking and eating fatty foods may lead to cancer, melanoma or other diseases.
The group is emphasizing the need to control our thirst for liquor and beer, especially among women, and food that may eventually post health hazards in the future. It was found that women consuming moderate amounts of alcohol may increase their risk of breast cancer. Comparing a heavy drinker woman consuming three or more glasses each day from a nondrinker, the former has a 51-percent increased risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer.
Although links have yet to be established why women who drink alcohol have a greater risk of having breast cancer, but the results of the findings showed that many drinkers have suffered from breast cancer. At the same time, women who take hormone replacement therapy may suffer from the disease.
This was according to Jasmine Q. Lew, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Chicago who is conducting this research as a recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholarship at the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.
In a study conducted on NIH-AARP Diet and Health in 1995, Lew and her colleagues had 184,418 post-menopausal women who joined the research and were open about their daily alcohol consumption. After seven years of follow-up, they found that women who drink moderately have higher risk of developing breast cancer.
But Lew said several studies have yet to be considered to validate their findings. She added that there might be other factors contributing to breast cancer aside from drinking alcohol. However, she advised that drinking women should cut their alcohol consumption to avoid breast cancer.
source: http://darkspiders.com/moderately-drinking-women-may-suffer-from-breast-cancer-3.html
The group is emphasizing the need to control our thirst for liquor and beer, especially among women, and food that may eventually post health hazards in the future. It was found that women consuming moderate amounts of alcohol may increase their risk of breast cancer. Comparing a heavy drinker woman consuming three or more glasses each day from a nondrinker, the former has a 51-percent increased risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer.
Although links have yet to be established why women who drink alcohol have a greater risk of having breast cancer, but the results of the findings showed that many drinkers have suffered from breast cancer. At the same time, women who take hormone replacement therapy may suffer from the disease.
This was according to Jasmine Q. Lew, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Chicago who is conducting this research as a recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholarship at the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.
In a study conducted on NIH-AARP Diet and Health in 1995, Lew and her colleagues had 184,418 post-menopausal women who joined the research and were open about their daily alcohol consumption. After seven years of follow-up, they found that women who drink moderately have higher risk of developing breast cancer.
But Lew said several studies have yet to be considered to validate their findings. She added that there might be other factors contributing to breast cancer aside from drinking alcohol. However, she advised that drinking women should cut their alcohol consumption to avoid breast cancer.
source: http://darkspiders.com/moderately-drinking-women-may-suffer-from-breast-cancer-3.html
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Dense Breasts a Factor in Cancer Treatment, Recurrence
THURSDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- For years, researchers have known that breast density is almost as important as age in predicting who will develop breast cancer.
But now they're discovering how the density of a woman's breast tissue can also predict how she will respond to cancer treatment and whether her cancer will recur.
The denser a woman's breasts, the less fat they have, explained Diana Buist, an epidemiologist at Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle. "If you have a dense breast, it's harder to see breast tumors on a mammogram."
Women with dense breasts are more likely to have abnormal mammograms, Buist added. "Density on a mammogram is white, cancer on a mammogram is white," she said, so that makes it more difficult to detect signs of cancer and can prompt reports of possible abnormalities.
About 10 percent to 15 percent of women have low-density breasts, another 10 percent to 15 percent have very dense breasts, and the rest have breasts with a density somewhere in the middle, said Dr. Karla Kerlikowske, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.
But the average woman may not have a clue whether her breasts are dense, she added.
For one thing, Kerlikowske said, it's not as easy to measure density as it is to measure cholesterol, for instance. "In the last 10 years, a lot of researchers have focused on how to measure it better, and what does it mean to have that density," she said.
Kerlikowske was part of a research team that discovered that high breast density predicts local, but not distant, recurrence of cancer after a lumpectomy and radiation for invasive breast cancer. The finding was published in the January issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.
Another group of researchers found that changes in breast density during treatment with tamoxifen, a drug used to lower breast cancer risk, help predict how well the drug is working. Their research was presented in December at a breast cancer symposium in San Antonio, Texas.
Just how much high-density boosts breast cancer risk, though, is something that experts can only roughly estimate, Kerlikowske said. She said that women with very high-density breasts have about a fourfold increase in risk compared with women who have very low-density breasts.
And though density often decreases with age, especially after menopause, it remains a risk factor -- and one women can't do much about, Kerlikowske said.
Some experts have suggested that women with high-density breasts might consider a more frequent surveillance schedule. But she said there's not sufficient evidence to suggest, at least yet, that that would be a good idea. "We are trying to study that now," she said.
Women with dense breasts who are younger than 50 and premenopausal, though, might benefit from having digital rather than traditional mammograms, Kerlikowske said. "We are looking at different ways to measure breast density other than mammograms," she said, because "you can't keep having [frequent] mammograms," for safety reasons.
Buist said that older women who don't want to increase the density of their breasts could opt not to take combined hormone therapy, noting that "most women get an increase in density with that."
But beyond that, the two agreed, there's little additional advice doctors can offer women with dense breasts at this time.
source: http://www.empowher.com/news/2009/04/16/dense-breasts-factor-cancer-treatment-recurrence
But now they're discovering how the density of a woman's breast tissue can also predict how she will respond to cancer treatment and whether her cancer will recur.
The denser a woman's breasts, the less fat they have, explained Diana Buist, an epidemiologist at Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle. "If you have a dense breast, it's harder to see breast tumors on a mammogram."
Women with dense breasts are more likely to have abnormal mammograms, Buist added. "Density on a mammogram is white, cancer on a mammogram is white," she said, so that makes it more difficult to detect signs of cancer and can prompt reports of possible abnormalities.
About 10 percent to 15 percent of women have low-density breasts, another 10 percent to 15 percent have very dense breasts, and the rest have breasts with a density somewhere in the middle, said Dr. Karla Kerlikowske, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.
But the average woman may not have a clue whether her breasts are dense, she added.
For one thing, Kerlikowske said, it's not as easy to measure density as it is to measure cholesterol, for instance. "In the last 10 years, a lot of researchers have focused on how to measure it better, and what does it mean to have that density," she said.
Kerlikowske was part of a research team that discovered that high breast density predicts local, but not distant, recurrence of cancer after a lumpectomy and radiation for invasive breast cancer. The finding was published in the January issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.
Another group of researchers found that changes in breast density during treatment with tamoxifen, a drug used to lower breast cancer risk, help predict how well the drug is working. Their research was presented in December at a breast cancer symposium in San Antonio, Texas.
Just how much high-density boosts breast cancer risk, though, is something that experts can only roughly estimate, Kerlikowske said. She said that women with very high-density breasts have about a fourfold increase in risk compared with women who have very low-density breasts.
And though density often decreases with age, especially after menopause, it remains a risk factor -- and one women can't do much about, Kerlikowske said.
Some experts have suggested that women with high-density breasts might consider a more frequent surveillance schedule. But she said there's not sufficient evidence to suggest, at least yet, that that would be a good idea. "We are trying to study that now," she said.
Women with dense breasts who are younger than 50 and premenopausal, though, might benefit from having digital rather than traditional mammograms, Kerlikowske said. "We are looking at different ways to measure breast density other than mammograms," she said, because "you can't keep having [frequent] mammograms," for safety reasons.
Buist said that older women who don't want to increase the density of their breasts could opt not to take combined hormone therapy, noting that "most women get an increase in density with that."
But beyond that, the two agreed, there's little additional advice doctors can offer women with dense breasts at this time.
source: http://www.empowher.com/news/2009/04/16/dense-breasts-factor-cancer-treatment-recurrence
Monday, April 20, 2009
Breast Cancer - What Everyone Should Know
Posted by cinyak
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed of all the cancers affecting women in America today. It strikes women of all ages and races but is particularly prevalent in women over forty.
Researchers are constantly seeking new methods for the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of this virulent cancer. The success of this research has played a big part in the early detection and successful treatment of more cases of breast cancer in recent years.
New treatments are constantly being sought to effectively seek out any potentially cancerous cells in a woman’s body. This reduces the number of cases of breast cancer significantly.
Thanks to this continued research, many more women are surviving breast cancer than ever before. The recovery rate has steadily been increasing. Early detection and treatment is the key to this success.
Information regarding breast cancer has become more widely available. It is no longer the silent killer that it once was. Women are being educated as to their risks of developing the cancer and methods of checking their breasts for signs of the disease.
A woman has an increased probability of developing breast cancer if she falls into certain categories. The first is that she has passed the age of 40, especially if she had children after that age. Obesity and excessive alcohol consumption can also contribute to the chances of a woman developing the disease being greater than average.
Initially, breast cancer is only detectable by a mammogram. The disease has no detectable symptoms but a mammogram would be able to highlight potentially cancerous cells. It is for this reason that women over 40 should have annual mammograms.
Self-examination of the breasts is a method that every woman should use to check for the presence of tumors in their early stage of growth. Your doctor or other medical practitioner can advise you on the best method of self-examination if you are unsure of the proper technique.
You should examine your breasts at least once a month, but the more frequently you do so, the earlier you will detect any lumps. If you think that you may have found a lump it is essential that you seek urgent medical advice.
Although research into breast cancer prevention is an ongoing process, there have been a number of breakthroughs recently. The National Cancer Institute has tested a number of drugs that could potentially prevent the disease altogether.
The two drugs that the NCI tested have shown that they have the potential to prevent the cancer are BCPT and Star. The first drug was given to 13,000 women who were at risk of developing the disease and 19,000 were given the second. These large studies showed that the predicted instances of cancer were significantly reduced. However, neither drug has had FDA approval to date.
Of course, it isn’t just American women who are at risk of this deadly form of female cancer. Women all around the globe are at risk. Researchers are constantly striving to discover methods of detecting and treating the disease. Women are still dying from this type pf cancer and it is essential that the work continues until the disease is eradicated. Until then, it is vital that all women perform regular self-examinations. Early detection is the best hope that a woman has of overcoming and surviving breast cancer.
Summary:
Although research into breast cancer prevention is an ongoing process, there have been a number of breakthroughs recently. The National Cancer Institute has tested a number of drugs that could potentially prevent the disease altogether.
source: http://www.cancer-disease.cinyak.com/breast-cancer/breast-cancer-what-everyone-should-know.html
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed of all the cancers affecting women in America today. It strikes women of all ages and races but is particularly prevalent in women over forty.
Researchers are constantly seeking new methods for the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of this virulent cancer. The success of this research has played a big part in the early detection and successful treatment of more cases of breast cancer in recent years.
New treatments are constantly being sought to effectively seek out any potentially cancerous cells in a woman’s body. This reduces the number of cases of breast cancer significantly.
Thanks to this continued research, many more women are surviving breast cancer than ever before. The recovery rate has steadily been increasing. Early detection and treatment is the key to this success.
Information regarding breast cancer has become more widely available. It is no longer the silent killer that it once was. Women are being educated as to their risks of developing the cancer and methods of checking their breasts for signs of the disease.
A woman has an increased probability of developing breast cancer if she falls into certain categories. The first is that she has passed the age of 40, especially if she had children after that age. Obesity and excessive alcohol consumption can also contribute to the chances of a woman developing the disease being greater than average.
Initially, breast cancer is only detectable by a mammogram. The disease has no detectable symptoms but a mammogram would be able to highlight potentially cancerous cells. It is for this reason that women over 40 should have annual mammograms.
Self-examination of the breasts is a method that every woman should use to check for the presence of tumors in their early stage of growth. Your doctor or other medical practitioner can advise you on the best method of self-examination if you are unsure of the proper technique.
You should examine your breasts at least once a month, but the more frequently you do so, the earlier you will detect any lumps. If you think that you may have found a lump it is essential that you seek urgent medical advice.
Although research into breast cancer prevention is an ongoing process, there have been a number of breakthroughs recently. The National Cancer Institute has tested a number of drugs that could potentially prevent the disease altogether.
The two drugs that the NCI tested have shown that they have the potential to prevent the cancer are BCPT and Star. The first drug was given to 13,000 women who were at risk of developing the disease and 19,000 were given the second. These large studies showed that the predicted instances of cancer were significantly reduced. However, neither drug has had FDA approval to date.
Of course, it isn’t just American women who are at risk of this deadly form of female cancer. Women all around the globe are at risk. Researchers are constantly striving to discover methods of detecting and treating the disease. Women are still dying from this type pf cancer and it is essential that the work continues until the disease is eradicated. Until then, it is vital that all women perform regular self-examinations. Early detection is the best hope that a woman has of overcoming and surviving breast cancer.
Summary:
Although research into breast cancer prevention is an ongoing process, there have been a number of breakthroughs recently. The National Cancer Institute has tested a number of drugs that could potentially prevent the disease altogether.
source: http://www.cancer-disease.cinyak.com/breast-cancer/breast-cancer-what-everyone-should-know.html
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Breast cancer danger rising in developing countries
By Alvin Powell
Harvard News Office
Women in developing nations, once thought to have a small chance of contracting breast cancer, are increasingly getting the disease as lifestyles incorporate risk factors common in industrialized nations, panelists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) said Tuesday (April 14).
While their risk is rising, the prognosis for women in developing countries is poor because those nations often lack a strong health care infrastructure. Compounding the problem is the fact that cultural issues often cause delays in seeking care, so physicians see more cases in later stages when treatment options are limited.
The discussion, moderated by HSPH Dean Julio Frenk, was the inaugural event in a new series of “participatory panels” bringing together Harvard faculty to discuss public health issues.
“My hope is [that] we can begin to address some of the most pressing public health problems of our times,” Frenk said.
Frenk called breast cancer in developing nations “an unforeseen health priority” and said that the experience of his wife, Felicia Knaul, who has recently undergone treatment for breast cancer, gave him a new understanding of the challenges Mexican women face. Knaul, a senior economist at the Mexican Health Foundation, was a member of the panel.
“The days when we thought that communicable diseases were a problem of poor people and noncommunicable diseases were a problem of the [wealthy] are over. Now the poor are also subject to noncommunicable diseases,” Frenk said. “The health systems in developing countries are under enormous strain because they have to balance these complex priorities.”
Though cultural issues may be less concrete than medical ones, Frenk said they are considerable, with stigma, discrimination, machismo, and a tendency to reduce women to body parts all factors in the sometimes deadly delay in breast cancer screening and treatment.
Knaul, who had her last infusion to treat her breast cancer a week earlier, said there was no better way to celebrate than a panel discussion on the topic. She painted a picture of breast cancer in Mexico that not only showed that the disease is on the rise, but also that it’s striking younger women and causing a greater percentage of deaths than in the United States.
While roughly 60 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States are detected at Stage 1, just between 5 percent and 10 percent of cases in Mexico are. More than half of Mexican breast cancer cases are detected in Stage 3 or 4, when the disease is much more difficult to treat. Since 2006, Knaul said, breast cancer has been the number one cause of tumor-related death among women aged 30 to 54 and the number two cause of death from all causes.
Globally, though 45 percent of cases occur in the developing world, 55 percent of deaths from breast cancer occur there.
“The evidence is showing us that this is a disease striking all women of all ages of all socioeconomic backgrounds in developing and developed countries,” Knaul said.
The result, Knaul said, is that these nations’ health infrastructures are being forced to play catch-up with the disease, facing the challenge of detecting and treating an ailment they had previously thought they didn’t need to be concerned about.
Mexico has already proven it can act to improve cancer outcomes for women, as Knaul presented evidence of cervical cancer rates on the decline. Still, she said, cultural and financial barriers must be overcome. Government health care, for example, covers a woman’s treatment — but not screening — for breast cancer.
Lawrence Shulman, chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said that screening and early detection remain the only effective ways to increase survivability for breast cancer patients.
Even in the United States, he said, the survival rate of women whose cancer is not detected until late stages is very poor. The improvements in breast cancer survival are related to advances that detect and treat the disease at its earliest stages. Mammography is a far more useful tool than breast self-exams, Shulman said, citing a United Kingdom study that showed mammography as the only technology that improved outcomes.
New digital technology may allow mammography to spread to parts of the world where medical expertise is scarce, because the digital images could be sent to experts elsewhere to be read, he said. Even in that case, however, a robust health care infrastructure is still needed to perform the medical follow-up, including biopsy and treatment.
Walter Willett, Fredrick Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the HSPH Nutrition Department, reviewed research into breast cancer risk factors that show that the problem will likely continue to increase in the coming years.
Women around the world are having fewer children, a trend that increases breast cancer risk. In addition, the risk of breast cancer increases with weight gain as a woman ages; with reduced activity; with the use of hormone therapy; and with increased alcohol consumption — all factors on the increase as Western lifestyles spread around the world.
Jennifer Leaning, professor of the practice of global health at HSPH, said that though it is known that screening and early detection can dramatically improve outcomes, they may be difficult to implement in some places around the world. In traditional, male-dominated societies, the most important roles for women are those of bearing children, providing men sexual pleasure, and working to support the family. In some societies, women need the permission of men — and even have to be accompanied by them — to travel to hospitals and clinics.
Leaning said there are some occasions — childbirth and the illness of a child —where it is commonly accepted that women need to attend a medical facility. Interventions and screenings designed to take advantage of those occasions may provide some success, she said.
Another area of opportunity lies with the expansion of health care services in the fight against HIV, which requires that people regularly visit health clinics to get antiretroviral drugs, Leaning said.
source:http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2009/04.16/11-breastcancer.html
Harvard News Office
Women in developing nations, once thought to have a small chance of contracting breast cancer, are increasingly getting the disease as lifestyles incorporate risk factors common in industrialized nations, panelists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) said Tuesday (April 14).
While their risk is rising, the prognosis for women in developing countries is poor because those nations often lack a strong health care infrastructure. Compounding the problem is the fact that cultural issues often cause delays in seeking care, so physicians see more cases in later stages when treatment options are limited.
The discussion, moderated by HSPH Dean Julio Frenk, was the inaugural event in a new series of “participatory panels” bringing together Harvard faculty to discuss public health issues.
“My hope is [that] we can begin to address some of the most pressing public health problems of our times,” Frenk said.
Frenk called breast cancer in developing nations “an unforeseen health priority” and said that the experience of his wife, Felicia Knaul, who has recently undergone treatment for breast cancer, gave him a new understanding of the challenges Mexican women face. Knaul, a senior economist at the Mexican Health Foundation, was a member of the panel.
“The days when we thought that communicable diseases were a problem of poor people and noncommunicable diseases were a problem of the [wealthy] are over. Now the poor are also subject to noncommunicable diseases,” Frenk said. “The health systems in developing countries are under enormous strain because they have to balance these complex priorities.”
Though cultural issues may be less concrete than medical ones, Frenk said they are considerable, with stigma, discrimination, machismo, and a tendency to reduce women to body parts all factors in the sometimes deadly delay in breast cancer screening and treatment.
Knaul, who had her last infusion to treat her breast cancer a week earlier, said there was no better way to celebrate than a panel discussion on the topic. She painted a picture of breast cancer in Mexico that not only showed that the disease is on the rise, but also that it’s striking younger women and causing a greater percentage of deaths than in the United States.
While roughly 60 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States are detected at Stage 1, just between 5 percent and 10 percent of cases in Mexico are. More than half of Mexican breast cancer cases are detected in Stage 3 or 4, when the disease is much more difficult to treat. Since 2006, Knaul said, breast cancer has been the number one cause of tumor-related death among women aged 30 to 54 and the number two cause of death from all causes.
Globally, though 45 percent of cases occur in the developing world, 55 percent of deaths from breast cancer occur there.
“The evidence is showing us that this is a disease striking all women of all ages of all socioeconomic backgrounds in developing and developed countries,” Knaul said.
The result, Knaul said, is that these nations’ health infrastructures are being forced to play catch-up with the disease, facing the challenge of detecting and treating an ailment they had previously thought they didn’t need to be concerned about.
Mexico has already proven it can act to improve cancer outcomes for women, as Knaul presented evidence of cervical cancer rates on the decline. Still, she said, cultural and financial barriers must be overcome. Government health care, for example, covers a woman’s treatment — but not screening — for breast cancer.
Lawrence Shulman, chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said that screening and early detection remain the only effective ways to increase survivability for breast cancer patients.
Even in the United States, he said, the survival rate of women whose cancer is not detected until late stages is very poor. The improvements in breast cancer survival are related to advances that detect and treat the disease at its earliest stages. Mammography is a far more useful tool than breast self-exams, Shulman said, citing a United Kingdom study that showed mammography as the only technology that improved outcomes.
New digital technology may allow mammography to spread to parts of the world where medical expertise is scarce, because the digital images could be sent to experts elsewhere to be read, he said. Even in that case, however, a robust health care infrastructure is still needed to perform the medical follow-up, including biopsy and treatment.
Walter Willett, Fredrick Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the HSPH Nutrition Department, reviewed research into breast cancer risk factors that show that the problem will likely continue to increase in the coming years.
Women around the world are having fewer children, a trend that increases breast cancer risk. In addition, the risk of breast cancer increases with weight gain as a woman ages; with reduced activity; with the use of hormone therapy; and with increased alcohol consumption — all factors on the increase as Western lifestyles spread around the world.
Jennifer Leaning, professor of the practice of global health at HSPH, said that though it is known that screening and early detection can dramatically improve outcomes, they may be difficult to implement in some places around the world. In traditional, male-dominated societies, the most important roles for women are those of bearing children, providing men sexual pleasure, and working to support the family. In some societies, women need the permission of men — and even have to be accompanied by them — to travel to hospitals and clinics.
Leaning said there are some occasions — childbirth and the illness of a child —where it is commonly accepted that women need to attend a medical facility. Interventions and screenings designed to take advantage of those occasions may provide some success, she said.
Another area of opportunity lies with the expansion of health care services in the fight against HIV, which requires that people regularly visit health clinics to get antiretroviral drugs, Leaning said.
source:http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2009/04.16/11-breastcancer.html
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