Updates to The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer
Here you’ll find useful information that complements the book.
Diagnosis
Genetic Testing Guidelines “Not Helpful” in Breast Cancer, Study Shows
Currently, the NCCN guidelines limit which breast cancer patients should be tested on the basis of risk factors, such as family history. The study findings, however, suggest it may be time to update the NCCN guidelines to recommend genetic testing for all patients...
What You Need to Know About DNA Testing
THROUGH DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER genetic testing, it is now possible to get information about your genetic predisposition to certain illnesses without consulting a doctor. One test, made by 23andMe, was authorized in March 2018 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to...
New Breast Cancer Screening Imaging Method Finds Tumors in Seconds
Researchers said they developed a quicker, better and cheaper way than mammograms to detect breast cancer: A laser scanner that can find tumors in as little as 15 seconds. The near-infrared lasers shine pulses of light into the breast tissue, which, researchers report in a study published Friday in the journal Nature Communications, is more effective than traditional mammograms.
Surgery
10-Year Results Show That Many Women Don’t Need Axillary Lymph Node Surgery
Source: 10-Year Results Show That Many Women Don’t Need Axillary Lymph Node Surgery
Chemotherapy
Can Fasting Improve Chemotherapy’s Effects?
“If you think about it, cancer cells have evolved in the presence of lots of nutrients, lots of sugar, lots of proteins and amino acids. That’s exactly what they like. That’s what they’re used to [having, and] when you take that away and add chemotherapy or radiotherapy or potentially newer therapies, now the therapies can be much more effective,” Longo explains
Study May Spare Thousands of Breast Cancer Patients From Unnecessary Chemotherapy
The study found that treatment with chemotherapy and hormone therapy after surgery is not more beneficial than treatment with hormone therapy alone for many breast cancer patients. This includes women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative, axillary lymph node–negative breast cancer (meaning the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes).
Gene expression profiling for breast cancer: What is it?
Gene expression profiling tests (Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, others) analyze a number of different genes within your cancer cells to predict your risk of cancer recurrence.
The results of gene expression profiling tests help doctors determine who may benefit from additional (adjuvant) treatment after surgery. For women with early-stage breast cancer that is sensitive to hormones, gene expression profiling tests are used to determine whether they are likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
Radiation
Radiation therapy for breast cancer
Radiation therapy for breast cancer — Overview covers why it's done, what to expect and side effects of breast cancer radiation, including proton therapy. Source: Radiation therapy for breast cancer - Mayo...
Two Radiation Therapy Approaches Prevent Breast Cancer Recurrences
By delivering larger individual doses of radiation across fewer treatment sessions, accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) has emerged as an alternative approach to whole breast irradiation (WBI). Studies have shown that by treating the area of the breast in...
Husband-and-Wife Doctors Receive $1.8 Million to Test New Breast Cancer Approach
UVA Drs. Timothy and Shayna Showalter are pioneering and testing a “more targeted, more powerful, more personalized and potentially more effective” approach to treating patients with early-stage breast cancer. Source: Husband-and-Wife Doctors Receive $1.8 Million to...
Lifestyle Issues
The Original Cancer Immunotherapy: Modifying Our Behavior
Our original, innate immunotherapy is our behavior; specifically, the lifestyle choices that support our immune system.A personalized approach to activate our innate immune function, while no absolute guarantee against cancer, can be unleashed in the name of cancer...
Worse Than Lead?
Today, thanks in part to the efforts of a single Virginia family, as many as 97 percent of Americans have toxic flame retardants in their blood. Deeply poisonous, and linked to cancer, genetic damage, and behavioral and learning difficulties, the prevalence of flame...
15 Things Strongly Linked to Cancer
Many cases of cancer are out of our control, determined by genetic defects and predispositions passed down from one generation to the next or spurred by genetic changes that we undergo in our lifetime. However, we also know that breathing in certain substances, eating specific items, and even using some kinds of plastics increases the risk of developing deadly cancer. Below are 15 known and suspected carcinogens.
Other New Research
Liquid Biopsy May Help Predict Breast Cancer Relapse
The presence of circulating tumor cells found with a liquid biopsy may identify women treated for breast cancer who may be at higher risk of their disease returning years later. The findings may have implications for treatment
Beyond BRCA: New Predisposition Genes Linked to Breast, Ovarian Cancers
In addition to confirming several well-known cancer predisposition genes, investigators found that novel genes MSH6 and ATM were significantly linked to moderate risk in breast cancer and ovarian cancer, respectively, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology....
Humans Are the Unwitting Test Subjects in a Worldwide Experiment on Microplastics
Much of the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic waste in our oceans is made up of microplastics. These are defined as plastic beads, fibers or fragments with a diameter of less than five thousand micrometers (μm), equal to one-half centimeter. Nanoplastics are thousands of times tinier, with a diameter of less than 0.1 μm, and are also likely to be widely present. By comparison, a human hair ranges from about 15 to 180 μm across. Some of these microplastics are deliberately engineered like microbeads in a facial scrub. Others result from the break down of larger plastic items.