Diagnosis and Treatment

Scientists Cite Advances on Two Kinds of Cancer

Scientists Cite Advances on Two Kinds of Cancer

CHICAGO — Using two opposite strategies, one focused and one broad, scientists say they have made progress in taming two of the most intractable types of cancer.

Breast Cancer Study Offers New Hope

Giving certain breast cancer patients estrogen-lowering drugs before surgery enhances their chances of being able to choose a breast-conserving lumpectomy instead of a full mastectomy, new research suggests.

The observation was based on a national study launched at 118 hospitals across the United States. It focused on postmenopausal women who had been diagnosed with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer that was either at stage II or stage III -- that is, tumors that were around an inch or greater in size and might have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Cancer Survivor, Debra's Blog

Cancer by nature is a pretty private, individual disease. I think I heard somewhere that over 35 different diseases that affect the breast in the same way are all put under the same label of breast cancer. Course of treatment varies widely, and each woman's response to treatment varies just as widely. The after effects and aftermath are intensely personal and at times highly embarrassing to deal with.

So why am I choosing to post my private battle online? I had to think long and hard about that but I realized the benefits far outweighed the potential drawbacks for me:

What is a Transvaginal Ultrasound?

A transvaginal ultrasound is a sonogram performed through the vagina that allows for close-up views of the pelvic organs. The bladder, the reproductive organs, including the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries plus portions of the colon can be visualized and evaluated using sound wave imaging. There is no radiation exposure from a transvaginal ultrasound.

Transvaginal ultrasound may help:

Cancer Costs Double in Less Than 20 Years

Over a period of nearly two decades, the medical costs of cancer care almost doubled in constant dollars, but remained proportional to other medical costs, researchers said.

Over the same time -- from 1987 to 2005 -- cancer costs shifted away from inpatient care, according to Florence Tangka of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues.

Meanwhile, the share of cancer costs picked up by private insurers and Medicaid increased while private, out-of-pocket expenditures declined slightly, they reported online in the journal Cancer.

17 Years Later, Stage 4 Survivor Is Savoring a Life Well Lived

Each year on a day in January — the 15th, to be precise — I go to a Web site and post a message to hundreds of women I’ve never met, saying, essentially, “I’m still here.”

What is cancer?

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.

In Tests, Vitamin D Shrinks Breast Cancer Cells

Doctors have known that low levels of vitamin D are linked to certain kinds of cancers as well as to diabetes and asthma, but new research also shows that the vitamin can kill human cancer cells.

The results fall short of an immediate cancer cure, but they are encouraging, medical professionals say.

JoEllen Welsh, a researcher with the State University of New York at Albany, has studied the effects of vitamin D for 25 years. Part of her research involves taking human breast cancer cells and treating them with a potent form of vitamin D.

Study: Aspirin Cuts Risk of Death After Breast Cancer

Breast cancer survivors who take aspirin regularly may be less likely to die or have their cancer return, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.

The study of more than 4,000 nurses showed that those who took aspirin — usually to prevent heart disease — had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer and a 50 percent lower risk that the cancer would spread.

How to Live Well Beyond Breast Cancer

Most books about breast cancer are focused on a woman’s immediate crisis, helping them learn more about the disease and make urgent treatment decisions. But what happens to women after all the decisions are made, the treatment is finished and life is supposed to go back to normal?

January 15, 2010

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