Health News

Do Women Live Longer With Lumpectomies or Mastectomies?
There’s been a growing trend in America among women with early (stage I or II) breast cancers. Instead of having only the tumor removed with a lumpectomy, women are choosing to have the entire breast removed (mastectomy) for even small cancers. 
Can Resistance to HER2 Therapy Be Overcome?
The standard of care for HER2-positive breast cancer is Herceptin ( trastuzumab ). Over time, though, this aggressive cancer can become resistant to the medication. New research may have discovered a way around this resistance.
Who’s Going to Hurt After Cancer Surgery?
While the most common types of breast cancer are usually not painful, treating the disease can be. A new study found that about one in four women being treated suffered persistent pain up to six months after treatment.
A Better, Faster, Cancer Genetic Test?
A major risk factor for breast cancer is carrying a harmful mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Finding out whether or not a BRCA gene alteration is harmful hasn’t been all that easy, though. That could be changing.
Social Media Impacts Cancer Rx Adherence
“I hurt, ache, swell, pain, shuffle, have significant join pain, have cognitive issues, and feel like I’m 80 when I’m mid-50’s. But I’m also so afraid of the breast cancer that I shuffle alongside of everyone, like you do.” Those are the words of a breast cancer survivor talking on a social media channel.
Statins Do and Don’t Impact Breast Cancer
Statins are drugs that help lower cholesterol. They’ve been around for decades. They’re cheap and they work. This common heart medicine may also have important anti-cancer qualities.
Watch Your Booze Ladies
There is a world of difference between having a cocktail and binging drinking. The body was not designed to process excessive alcohol in short periods of time. Specifcally with women.
Is Screening Older Women for Breast Cancer Worth It?
Breast cancer screening guidelines have been changing. There’s controversy about when screening should start - at 40 or 50 or not at all. But at what age should a woman stop having mammograms? Are we spending money on unnecessary screenings?
A Breast Cancer Elf?
Here’s an intriguing thought. What if we could reprogram cancer so it responds to treatment? That’s exactly what breast cancer experts are exploring.
Can a Single Gene Defeat Tamoxifen Treatment?
Not all women respond to a common breast cancer drug called tamoxifen . Not to worry–these women can now be identified and switched to another medication before the disease turns deadly.