Several types of biopsies can be performed when breast cancer is suspected -- each with unique pros and cons. Core needle biopsy is known to have fewer complications and a shorter recovery time than surgical biopsy. But is it as accurate? A new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests it comes close.
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A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly half of breast cancer survivors report ongoing pain after treatment.
The latest debate over breast cancer screenings may leave you with more questions than answers. At what age should you begin mammography screenings? And how regularly do you need them? Are breast self-exams really a useful early intervention? Are clinical breast exams a beneficial supplement to mammography?
There's good news from the American Cancer Society (ACS). In its report, Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2009-2010, the ACS notes that deaths from breast cancer are down.
For years, breast cancer survivors have been advised to avoid stressing the arm during strength training or other exercise because muscle strain can increase the severity of lymphedema flare-ups.
A new study published in the International Journal of Cancer suggests that postmenopausal women with higher insulin levels may be at greater risk of developing breast cancer.
For women who suffer from migraines, here's a bit of good news: New research shows that your risk for breast cancer may be reduced by as much as 26 percent.
A link has been found between breast cancer survival and two proteins at high levels in the blood that are indicators of inflammation.
The study results were reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology
Breast cancer risk assessment and prevention should start much earlier in life than it currently does, say Canadian researchers who examined breast cancer risk factors in young women. The study appears online and in the June print issue of the The Lancet Oncology.
A new study has found that women who develop lymphedema fare worse than women without the condition and have higher out-of-pocket medical costs after radiation and surgery.
Most breast cancers in Hispanic women are detected by the women themselves, a new study shows. This is despite high rates of screening mammography in this population.
Experts say female childhood cancer survivors who have had radiation should get mammograms earlier than general population of women.
Researchers are making progress in predicting breast cancer risk, recurrence risk, and response to cancer treatment by looking at factors such as breast density and tumor size.
Two newer breast imaging techniques will help doctors diagnose and stage breast cancer, but neither technique will replace standard mammography for the detection of breast cancer. Results from both studies were presented at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting.
Drinking coffee or consuming other caffeine-laden foods does not appear to boost breast cancer risk, says a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Young women diagnosed with a common form of early-stage breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are no more likely to have recurrences than older women with the disease, a new study finds.
Shelley Volz, now age 59, got the news about her breast cancer diagnosis 10 years ago, right before she was headed from San Francisco to New York for the wedding of her younger brother. While she says she does not think she found it as difficult as many people to disclose the diagnosis, she did think about others' reactions.
Calculating a woman's bone mineral density appears to shed light on her risk for breast cancer, says a report in the journal Cancer.
A medication already approved to reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women also appears to cut the risk for other women, says a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Women with breast cancer who have a vitamin D deficiency at the time of diagnosis are more likely to have a recurrence or to die from their disease, say researchers at an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.
Women who take the drug Taxol? weekly after receiving chemotherapy for 12 weeks live longer compared to women who take four Taxol treatments every three weeks, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Women who are overweight or obese when diagnosed with locally advanced breast cancer face a higher chance of recurrence than either normal or underweight patients, a new study shows. In addition, overweight and obese patients have a shorter life expectancy, according to a report in the medical journal Clinical Cancer Research.
Many women diagnosed with a precancerous breast lesion known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) face a low risk of a recurrence or of developing invasive breast cancer, says a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Not only does hormone replacement therapy raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, it raises the risk of a specific type of malignancy called lobular breast cancer. Researchers, reporting in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, also found that the cancer risk appeared earlier than the five-year period cited by other research.
The gene mutation BRCA1, which is known to increase the risk of breast cancer, is prevalent among Hispanics and young African-American women with breast cancer, says a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
A new radiological diagnostic tool called stereo mammography allows clinicians to detect more lesions and could significantly reduce the number of women who are recalled for additional tests following routine screening mammography. A 3-D view of breast tissue may provide a more accurate method of detecting breast cancers, say researchers at the Radiological Society of North America meeting.
Women diagnosed with breast cancer who have a mastectomy are increasingly choosing to have their other healthy breast removed as a preventive measure.
Breast cancer death rates continue to decline more than 2 percent annually, a long-running trend that can be traced to early detection and better treatments, according to a new American Cancer Society (ACS) report.
There appears to be little or no link between breast cancer and acrylamide, a substance found in many baked and fried foods, say researchers at an American Chemical Society meeting.
While a healthy diet remains a mainstay of cancer prevention, eating more than the recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables, and fiber will not give you added protection against breast cancer recurrence, says a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Current methods of gauging a woman's breast cancer risk that rely on her family history may underestimate the danger, says a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A sophisticated radiation therapy system safely allows the delivery of a higher daily dose for breast cancer patients and shortens the treatment time for women from six or seven weeks to just four, researchers say.
Tamoxifen helps prevent breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease who have also had their ovaries removed as part of a hysterectomy, says a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer should have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the other breast in addition to mammography, says the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Breast cancer treatment trials that are funded by drug companies are more likely to show positive results than studies sponsored by other sources, say researchers in the journal Cancer.
A genetic "signature" that consists of 186 genes combined together can predict the risk of recurrence for some common cancers, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
The mammogram is changing for the better, say experts trained in breast imaging.
New computer-driven technologies should make the yearly exam more accurate and easier on patients than ever before.
Women who are heavier in young adulthood have a lower risk of developing breast cancer before they reach menopause, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Steaks, hamburgers, and other red meat could raise younger women's risk for an estrogen-linked form of breast cancer, says a report in Archives of Internal Medicine.
A breast biopsy is the preferred follow-up procedure to confirm a cancer diagnosis, even though several other test options exist and may be offered by physicians, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Women who are physically active in the year before they receive a diagnosis of breast cancer are more likely to survive the disease, according to a study reported in the journal Cancer.
Women whose mothers took DES, a synthetic estrogen, while pregnant have nearly double the risk of breast cancer, according to a report in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Older American women are not getting as many mammograms as they say, or think they are, according to a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
African-American women who are premenopausal are twice as likely to get a certain type of breast tumor, one that is a particularly virulent form of breast cancer, than other women, according to a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers have defined aspects of disabling fatigue that persists for years in almost one-third of breast cancer survivors, says a report in the medical journal Clinical Cancer Research.
The benefit of breast cancer chemotherapy may depend on the status of estrogen receptors lying on the surface of tumor cells, according to an analysis reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Younger women with non-BRCA hereditary breast cancer are up to six times more likely to develop a new cancer in the other breast in the next 20 years, when compared with the general population, according to a study reported in the medical journal Cancer.
Older and younger women derived similar decreases in death rates from breast cancer and in recurrence when they were on the regimens containing the more aggressive chemotherapy, according to a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Targeted radiation that sends medicine directly to the site of a breast cancer tumor and takes only five days to complete has shown success in early studies, say experts.
Even though estrogen can trigger the growth of breast cancer cells, small doses of the hormone can also help kill tumor cells, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The results of a 13-year study confirm that tamoxifen, a medication long used to treat breast cancer, can also prevent the malignancy in healthy women at high risk for the disease, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Many breast cancer patients who are using hormone therapies such as tamoxifen to cut the risk of recurrence prefer tablets over injections, given a choice, says a new report in the Annals of Oncology.
Progress in the early detection and treatment of breast cancer is paying lifesaving dividends, with continuing decreases in mortality rates, according to a new American Cancer Society (ACS) report.
Concerned about cancer recurrence, women with breast cancer often choose a mastectomy over a less-drastic lumpectomy when they have control over the decision, according to a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A new study reported in the medical journal The Lancet offers more evidence for a move away from tamoxifen as the standard medication for postmenopausal women with early breast cancer whose tumor is fueled by estrogen.
Results from several breast cancer-related research studies were presented at the recent "Era of Hope" meeting of the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.
Mammography coupled with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), conducted on an annual basis, would catch almost all tumors in women at high risk for breast cancer, according to a study reported in The Lancet.
Researchers have identified a gene mutation that may contribute to certain cancers, including breast cancer, say researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Women with a common thyroid problem called hypothyroidism are less likely to develop invasive breast cancer than women with normal thyroid function, according to a study reported in the medical journal Cancer.
Researchers report they have found a pattern of 76 genes, something geneticists call a
Adding radiation therapy to chemotherapy improves survival in patients with high-risk breast cancer who have had a modified radical or full mastectomy, say researchers in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A new genetic test could one day spare many women diagnosed with breast cancer from the rigors of chemotherapy, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A study has found that women taking raloxifene for osteoporosis have an added benefit - the medication may also significantly reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.
A new study that will look at 50,000 sisters of women diagnosed with breast cancer opened today for enrollment across the US.
The majority of women in the US are getting their first screening mammogram for breast cancer at age 40, as recommended by health experts, according to a new report in the medical journal Cancer.
A new blood test holds promise for improving the treatment of advanced breast cancer, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For a small group of women with a genetic or family history for breast cancer, regular MRI breast screening may be the best way to spot tumors early, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Many women ignore recommendations to undergo regular mammograms, and as a result miss out on the lifesaving benefits of the screening exam, according to a study reported in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The activity of two genes may tell physicians who will succeed on tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer and, more importantly, who will fail, according to a new report in the medical journal Cancer Cell.
Women often avoid getting mammograms because they are afraid of the pain, but the fear is unfounded, according to report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The first head-to-head comparison of the drugs tamoxifen and exemestane in women with advanced breast cancer showed the latter was not only safe, it also improves disease-free survival.
Genetic testing is a process for determining genetic alterations that may be linked with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Women with breast cancer have fewer adverse effects from chemotherapy and less fatigue when using virtual reality as a distraction intervention during treatments.
Active smoking appears to play a larger role in the development of breast cancer than previously thought, according to a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Because partial-breast irradiation is seen as a promising alternative treatment for breast cancer patients who have just had a lumpectomy, the NCI has this treatment under study.