May 13th 2024
A large study finds that obesity and metabolic syndrome raise breast cancer mortality risk, but through different mechanisms. Metabolic syndrome is linked to a specific type of breast cancer, whereas obesity increases risk across all breast cancer subtypes.
High-Dose Chemo Most Benefits Patients With High-Risk Breast Cancer
June 11th 2020A 20-year follow-up comprising a secondary analysis to an original study shows that high-dose chemotherapy plus hematopoietic stem cell transplant benefit patients with high-risk stage III disease with 10 or more axillary lymph nodes involved.
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Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer Show Decreased Brain Health, Cognitive Function
June 8th 2020Previous studies show that up to 75% of women with breast cancer exhibit disease- and treatment-related affects that include poorer cognitive function in the forms of psychological well-being, decision making, and adherence to treatment.
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Long-Term Risk of Invasive Breast Cancer Increases Following a Diagnosis of DCIS
May 28th 2020In the 2 decades following their diagnosis for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), women in a study out of England demonstrated a greater risk of invasive breast cancer and mortality compared with the general population. Overall, DCIS represents close to 20% of screening-detected breast cancers every year.
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Women Frequently Encounter Employment, Insurance Issues After Breast Cancer Diagnosis
May 24th 2020A majority of women younger than 45 years faced employment and insurance coverage difficulties following treatment for early stage breast cancer, with 35% fearing loss of health insurance coverage if they left their current job during treatment—despite wanting to continue working.
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Patients With Breast Cancer, COVID-19 Fared Well in Recent Study
May 20th 2020A small trial out of Columbia University Irving Medical Center shows encouraging recovery results among patients with breast cancer who contracted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and/or high clinical or radiographic suspicion. Hospitalization was not necessary for nearly three-quarters of the patients.
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Advanced, Fatal Breast Cancers Reduced Through Mammography Screening
May 11th 2020Fatal breast cancers were reduced by 41% and advanced breast cancers by 25% following recommended screening for the disease by mammography in 9 counties in Sweden, emphasizing the importance of early detection.
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Study Attempts to Define Gains From Chemo for HR-Positive, HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
May 9th 2020Compared with tumors smaller than 8 mm among patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, ERBB2-positive (formerly HER2-positive) breast cancer, tumors between 8 and 10 mm benefited more from postoperative chemotherapy.
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Consensus Called for When Choosing Optimal Treatment for Breast Cancer–Related Lymphedema
May 7th 2020More than 20% of breast cancer survivors are severely affected by breast cancer–related lymphedema, with debilitating adverse effects that include depression, chronic pain, and recurrent skin infections—all affecting overall quality of life.
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In new data from the phase 3 EMBRACA trial presented yesterday at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, researchers found that PARP inhibitor talazoparib exhibited no statistically significant benefit in the secondary end point of overall survival in patients with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer and mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes.
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Does Posttreatment Weight Loss Equate to Improved Quality of Life Among Survivors of Breast Cancer?
April 27th 2020An international team of investigators recently tried to answer this question, focusing on women with diagnosed early-stage disease and considered obese, with a body mass index above 30 kg/m2.
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FDA Approves Trodelvy for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
April 22nd 2020The FDA granted accelerated approval to Immunomedics’ Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy) as the first antibody-drug conjugate that targets the Trop-2 antigen. Trodelvy is indicated for treatment of relapsed or refractory metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that has spread to other parts of the body.
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How Are Breast Cancer and Obesity Related? Possible New Link Discovered
April 18th 2020There is a greater risk of hormone receptor–positive breast cancer if a patient is obese. Researchers from the University of Louisville have discovered a possible new link between obesity and a greater risk for developing breast cancer: adipose fatty acid binding protein.
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Oncology Groups Issue Preliminary COVID-19 Triage Guidelines for Breast Cancer
April 16th 2020Several prominent oncology organizations, including the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the Commission on Cancer, have joined forces to issue preliminary guidelines on how to treat patients with breast cancer during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Regular Exercise Confers a Significant Survival Benefit Among Patients With Breast Cancer
April 10th 2020Meeting HHS’ minimum requirements for daily and weekly exercise reduced breast cancer recurrence and mortality among patients with high-risk breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. This benefit was even seen in patients who had not met these requirements before their diagnosis.
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Study Results Show Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy May Be Effective in Patients With TNBC
April 9th 2020The standard therapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains chemotherapy, despite a dismal prognosis due to lack of estrogen and progesterone hormone receptors, as well as HER2 receptors. Targeted therapies for this difficult-to-treat, often aggressive, subtype of breast cancer remain elusive.
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White Blood Cell Profile Linked to Greater Breast Cancer Risk
April 4th 2020What can be done to further delineate the risk factors associated with breast cancer to increase prevention efforts across the board? The key may lie in the white blood cells that circulate in the blood, particularly leukocytes and monocytes.
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Genetic Testing May Benefit Older Women With Breast Cancer
April 2nd 2020The 2 main criteria that warrant genetic testing for breast cancer in women are age and having a family history of cancer. Postmenopausal women without any hereditary risk factors, however, often do not undergo genetic testing for the disease.
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AB MRI Shown to Improve Cancer Detection Rate in Women With Dense Breast Tissue
March 26th 2020Not all women with dense breast tissue have a high risk of breast cancer, but they all have an increased risk compared with women who have average tissue density. Can this patient population benefit from screening with abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (AB MRI) over digital breast tomosynthesis?
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Two hormone-modulating breast cancer therapies (HMTs), tamoxifen and steroidal aromatase inhibitors, were associated with a decrease in the number of women who received a diagnosis of a neurodegenerative disease, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Specifically, the 2 HMTs were associated with significant decreases in diagnoses of Alzheimer disease and dementia.
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Does Treatment Begin and End Sooner With Neoadjuvant or Adjuvant Chemotherapy?
March 13th 2020Patients who undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy tend to be younger, with larger tumors and greater nodal involvement. But differences in their 30- and 90-day mortality rates compared with those of patients treated adjuvantly are clinically insignificant.
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Did Medicaid Expansion Impact Cancer Diagnosis Rates?
March 12th 2020Investigators tracked time to treatment for 3 types of cancer in states that expanded Medicaid coverage on January 1, 2014, comparing rates before and after the expansion. Patients with new diagnoses of invasive breast, colon, or lung cancers aged 40 to 64 years were included in the analysis.
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Does Method of Communication Influence a Woman's Understanding of Familial Breast Cancer Risk?
March 5th 2020Thirty-seven percent of women prefer to receive their lifetime risk of breast cancer through numbers and words, while 73% prefer a combination of lifetime and 10-year age-related risk.
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Mammography Screening Improves Outcomes Among African American and White American Patients With TNBC
February 29th 2020Screening mammography is important for reducing race- and ethnicity-associated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) disparities among African American and white American patients. At present, there is a 40% higher mortality rate among African American women compared with white American women.
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