Breast Cancer
HRT ups breast cancer risk across racial groups
|
|
The use of estrogen-progestin hormonal therapy increases the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women regardless of racial differences, according to results of a study of more than 55,000 American women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds reported in the International Journal of Cancer September 16th.
“The most important finding in this paper,” said Dr. Malcolm Pike of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, “is that the increased risk of breast cancer from menopausal estrogen/progestin replacement therapy is found in all ethnic groups we studied—African Americans, Hawaiians, Japanese Americans and Latinas (mainly Mexican-Americans) as well as in whites.”
Many women fail to get regular mammograms
|
|
More than one-third of New Hampshire women eligible for mammography have either never had the Breast cancer screening test or have not been tested in more than two years, a new study shows.
The findings suggest to investigators that other studies may have overestimated the number of women who get screened for Breast cancer regularly.
Specialists improve breast cancer care
|
|
Elderly women with Breast cancer whose surgeons refer them to cancer specialists are twice as likely to be prescribed tamoxifen, a treatment recommended for preventing recurrence of the disease, a new study shows.
“Older women should be given the opportunity to have these conversations with medical oncologists,” said Dr. Rebecca A. Silliman of the Boston University School of Public Health, the study’s lead author.
Femara beneficial after tamoxifen in breast cancer
|
|
Updated results from a large study reaffirm that women who take the drug Femara following 5 years of tamoxifen treatment for Breast cancer are less likely to have a recurrence of the disease.
Treatment with Femara, known generically as letrozole, “should be discussed with all postmenopausal women completing standard adjuvant tamoxifen therapy,” investigators write in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Children who eat fries raise breast cancer risk
|
|
Very young children who eat French fries frequently have a much higher risk of Breast cancer as adults, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
A study of American nurses found that one additional serving of fries per week at ages three to five increased Breast cancer risk by 27 percent.
Smaller breast tumors help explain better survival
|
|
The average breast tumor is smaller today than it was 25 years ago, probably because of earlier detection, and this accounts for a “substantial fraction” of the improvement in survival over the last 30 years, researchers report
“This study is important,” said Dr. Elena B. Elkin, “because it shows that if we don’t account for trends in the characteristics of newly diagnosed Breast cancers, such as the shift in tumor size, we may overestimate the impact of advances in treatment.”
Silicone breast implants get FDA OK
|
|
Silicone gel-filled breast implants won conditional approval to return to the broad U.S. market after a 13-year ban when health officials on Thursday backed a version made by Mentor Corp.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the device maker must satisfy a number of conditions before it receives final approval to sell the implants. FDA officials said they were legally prohibited from making the conditions public.
Mentor said the conditions were “generally consistent” with recommendations from an FDA advisory panel earlier this year.
Bandits make off with truckload of breast implants
|
|
Armed bandits in Brazil robbed a vehicle carrying more than 400 breast implants, officials said on Tuesday.
“It happened last week, but we only learned about it recently as our clients started complaining. It is the hottest period of the year in terms of implant sales,” said Margaret Figueiredo, director of silicone implant manufacturer Silimed.
Groups urge US to reject silicone breast implants
|
|
U.S. regulators should deny applications to sell silicone gel-filled breast implants because the manufacturers have not met the legal benchmark for proving safety, 20 consumer groups and individuals said in a petition released on Tuesday.
Inamed Corp. and Mentor Corp. are trying to win Food and Drug Administration approval to resume widespread sales of silicone breast implants for the first time since 1992.
Hair X-ray test might spot early breast cancer
|
|
Results of an animal study suggest that measuring the way X-Rays are diffracted when they pass through a hair could be used to diagnose breast cancer at an early stage, and monitor treatment results.
This bolsters findings from an earlier study and ongoing work by the same group of researchers.
In their initial study reported in 1999, Dr. Veronica James of the Australian National University, Canberra, and colleagues first suggested the possibility of diagnosing breast cancer by hair diffraction.
