Menopause drug linked to breast cancer relapse: study
A synthetic steroid used to treat menopause symptoms and prevent osteoporosis significantly increases the risk of a relapse in breast cancer patients, according to a study released Tuesday. The steroid, called tibolone, should not be prescribed to a woman who has had or is suspected of having breast cancer, concluded the study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet Oncology. Women with... Read more
Japan scientists identify enzyme that may suppress cancer
Scientists in Japan have identified an enzyme which appears to suppress breast cancer and they hope the finding will spur new therapies to control the second most common cancer in the world. At issue is the enzyme CHIP, which experts say can stunt cancer growth by degrading a number of cancer-causing proteins. The enzyme occurs naturally in human breast tissue. In an article published in Nature Cell... Read more
Pregnancy May Not Affect Breast Cancer Survival
Developing breast cancer during or within a year of pregnancy may not — as previously thought — affect the severity of the disease or the chance of surviving it, according to new research. Of 652 women, 35 or younger, with breast cancer participating in a University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center study, about 16 percent had the rare pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC). Rates... Read more
Two-Thirds of Hispanic Women Discover Breast Cancer Themselves
Most breast cancers in Hispanic women are detected by self-exam, despite high rates of screening mammography in this population, a new study shows. What’s troubling, however, is that about half of all women who noticed an abnormality during a self-exam waited at least a month before seeking medical help, according to new research being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research... Read more
Breast cancer mutation raises prostate risks in men
The so-called breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 can raise the risk that a man who develops prostate cancer will get an aggressive form of the disease, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. Certain mutations in the genes indicated a man was at risk of more aggressive cancer and should be treated right away, the team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University said. Their study... Read more
Why Cancer in One Breast May Affect the Other
Researchers say they have found a way to better calculate the risk a woman with cancer in one breast has of developing tumors in the other breast. The chances of developing cancer in a second breast, known as contralateral breast cancer, increases once a tumor has been found in one breast. And certain factors, such as a family history of breast cancer, further increase this risk, prompting some women... Read more
More Americans Urged to Get Cancer Screenings
Screening for breast, cervical and colon cancer saves lives, but too few Americans are getting the recommended screens or getting them regularly enough, a new report shows. The rate of screening for breast and cervical cancers has stayed about the same since 2000, while the rate of colorectal cancer screening has increased but not as fast as experts had hoped, according to the report released Thursday... Read more
Study: Exercise Won’t Cure Obesity
Physical activity has many proven benefits. It strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health and mood, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. Exercise is also good for your brain. It may not be a cure-all for obesity, however. Though better nutrition coupled with exercise has long been the... Read more
British woman to deliver baby screened for breast cancer
A woman is to give birth this week to the first baby in Britain which has been selected to be free of a gene which greatly increases the risk of breast cancer, experts said. The 27-year-old woman, who wants to remain anonymous, decided to take the step because several of her husband’s close female relatives suffered from breast cancer. But one campaign group warned that such selection takes science... Read more
Lung cancer deadliest tumor for Australia women
Lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the biggest killer of Australian women with cancer, as females who started smoking in the 1970s and 1980s as they gained equal rights with men are diagnosed with the deadly disease. More than 50 Australian women lost their battle with lung cancer every week in 2005 and the number will rise to almost 65 female deaths a week in 2010, said a report released on... Read more