Mastectomy News and Research

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Mastectomy is surgery to remove the breast (or as much of the breast tissue as possible).

MRI better than current standard of practice in assessing neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

More breast cancer patients with large palpable tumors are now undergoing chemotherapy before surgery in an effort to reduce the size of their tumor, and MRI is the best way to predict if the chemotherapy is working, preliminary results of a study show. If the chemotherapy is successful, then the woman may be able to undergo breast-conservation surgery rather than a mastectomy.

3 Mar 2005

When breast augmentation or reduction cases are medically necessary

Traditionally, breast augmentation and reduction surgeries are defined by health insurers as cosmetic. It's a definition that often puts patients at odds with health insurers. Payers have difficulty deciding if breast augmentation or reduction cases are medically necessary.

22 Feb 2005

Adding radiation therapy to chemotherapy improves survival in patients with high-risk breast cancer

For patients with high-risk breast cancer treated with radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy, the addition of radiation therapy leads to better survival outcomes with few long-term toxic effects, according to a 20-year follow-up of a randomized trial, which appears in the January 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

19 Jan 2005

Patients with cancer detected on screening mammography undergo less toxic treatment

Women who have their breast cancers detected by physical examinations are at least twice as likely to undergo toxic treatments than those who have their cancer detected by mammography—regardless of the age of the woman, a new study shows.

28 Dec 2004

Women over the age of 60 with low-risk breast cancer may not need to receive radiation therapy after surgery

The current treatment standard recommended for most women with early stage breast cancer is breast conservation therapy, consisting of lumpectomy following by radiotherapy. The purpose of the radiotherapy is to kill any tumor cells in the remaining breast area that may have been missed by the surgery.

13 Dec 2004

Short course of radiation therapy following lumpectomy

Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have presented preliminary results of a clinical trial in which women received a two-week shorter course of radiation therapy than the current standard following a lumpectomy.

13 Dec 2004

Botox reduces pain and spasms during breast reconstruction after mastectomy

Botox, known for reducing wrinkles, also can be used to reduce pain and spasms during breast reconstruction after mastectomy, according to results of a recent University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) study.

29 Nov 2004

Breast conserving therapy safe for hereditary breast cancer

Women with hereditary breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy appear to have no increased risk for recurrence in the treated breast, according to results from a prospective study published in the January 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

23 Nov 2004

New radiotherapy regime benefits young women with breast cancer

Women under 35 years of age with breast cancer can have an almost 20% lower risk of their disease recurring if they are treated using a new radiotherapy regime.

26 Oct 2004

Ductal lavage is not an effective method for detecting breast cancer

Ductal lavage--a method used to collect cells from the milk ducts of the breast--has been proposed as a screening tool for cancer detection because ducts that yield fluid were thought to be more likely to contain cancer cells.

21 Oct 2004

Sister study that examines causes of breast cancer opens

A new study that will look at 50,000 sisters of women diagnosed with breast cancer opened today for enrollment across the United States. The Sister Study, conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), will investigate environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer.

18 Oct 2004

On-line campaign asks, where does all the breast cancer research money go?

Barbara Ehrenreich and Breast Cancer Action (BCA) have launched an online Flash movie and email campaign that exposes the lack of coordination among more than 30 federal agencies and dozens of private foundations and pharmaceutical companies funding research on breast cancer.

28 Sep 2004

50,000 women whose sisters had breast cancer needed for nationwide study

Women who know the angry, helpless feeling of watching a sister face breast cancer have gained a new, active, and personal way to fight the disease with the nationwide launch of The Sister Study.

26 Sep 2004

Study on the long-term health effects associated with silicone breast implants

It is estimated that between 1.5 million and 2 million women in this country have had breast implants since they first appeared on the market in 1962.

23 Sep 2004

Acupuncture more effective at reducing nausea and vomiting after major breast surgery than the leading medication

The researchers also found that patients who underwent the 5,000-year-old Chinese practice reported decreased postoperative pain and increased satisfaction with their postoperative recovery. In conducting the trial, the researchers also demonstrated that the pressure point they stimulated possesses previously unknown pain-killing properties.

22 Sep 2004

Breast reconstruction at the time of mastectomy does not delay post-operative chemotherapy for women with breast cancer

“The findings weren’t a surprise to us, but we wanted to document the safety of immediate breast reconstruction so that surgeons in other settings can have the same confidence in the approach,” Bold said.

20 Sep 2004

Surgery plus radiation therapy an effective way to treat early breast cancer in women aged 70 and older

For early breast cancer, the standard of care is surgery to remove the cancerous lump followed by radiation therapy, thereby allowing the patient to keep her breast. However, older women are not always offered this option.

1 Sep 2004

African-American women are less likely to be treated with breast reconstruction after mastectomy than women of other races

According to a new study published August 23, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, African-American women had significantly lower immediate breast reconstruction rates compared to Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic women. The abstract of this article will be freely accessible via the CANCER Newsroom.

23 Aug 2004

Tool that enables women with breast cancer to choose their own course of treatment

McMaster University cancer researcher, Tim Whelan, a radiation oncologist with the Juravinski Cancer Centre, has developed a tool that enables women with breast cancer to choose their own course of treatment.

29 Jul 2004

Women with a history of cancer in their family are better off having MRI scans instead of mammograms

New research by Mieke Kriege at the Department of Medical Oncology, Rotterdam Family Cancer Clinic suggests that women with a history of cancer in their family are better off having MRI scans instead of mammogram's.

28 Jul 2004