Ovaries News and Research

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Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea improves survival in premenopausal women with early stage breast cancer

Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea in premenopausal women being treated for early stage breast cancer was associated with significantly improved patient survival, according to a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) in collaboration with leading US cancer centers and cooperative cancer research groups.

4 Jun 2010

Egg donation is not a simple process

Jennifer was a junior in college when she decided to donate her eggs to a couple undergoing fertility treatments. Like most donors, she was primarily motivated by altruism. But she admits that the compensation -- $7,000 – didn't hurt.

3 Jun 2010

Women who undergo bilateral oophorectomy tend to have smaller tumors

More than half a million women in the United States undergo a hysterectomy each year and approximately half of those surgeries include removal of the ovaries. Researchers know that removing a woman's ovaries is associated with a reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer, but it has not been clear whether those cancers that do arise in these women differ from breast cancers in the general population.

29 May 2010

Abnormal androgen signaling in ovaries cause female infertility

Male sex hormones, such as testosterone, have well defined roles in male reproduction and prostate cancer. What may surprise many is that they also play an important role in female fertility. A new study finds that the presence and activity of male sex hormones in the ovaries helps regulate female fertility, likely by controlling follicle growth and development and preventing deterioration of follicles that contain growing eggs.

27 May 2010

Fat tissue different in men and women

The age-old question of why men store fat in their bellies and women store it in their hips may have finally been answered: Genetically speaking, the fat tissue is almost completely different.

15 May 2010

Progestins increase chances of cancer metastasizing: Study

After menopause, 6 to 10 million women take hormone therapies, which are often a combination of estrogen and progestin, to replace hormones lost from inactive ovaries. Progestin is a hormone that is used to counteract the potentially negative effects of estrogen therapy on the uterus. In studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, evidence has been found that estrogen and progestin in hormone therapies increase the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

7 May 2010

Study: Flaxseed diet reduces ovarian cancer, increases survival rates

In the race to find answers about ovarian cancer, researchers now have something to cluck about. For five years, University of Illinois researchers have been using the chicken as a model to study this deadly disease and have recently discovered that a diet enriched with flaxseed decreases severity of ovarian cancer and increases survival in hens.

5 May 2010

Preclinical safety data reports Natural S-equol has little effect on 2 reproductive hormones

Natural S-equol, a novel soy germ-based compound, is very likely the primary ingredient for reducing hot flushes in the dietary supplement SE5-OH, which is under development for reduction of menopause symptoms, according to pre-clinical efficacy data from studies using an animal model presented at the Experimental Biology 2010 annual meeting.

3 May 2010

Women with family history of breast cancer face increase risk of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most deadly disease of the female reproductive system, with most cases diagnosed in later stages. Yet while ovarian cancer affects 1 in 70 women in the United States, many women have never discussed the risk with their doctor.

30 Apr 2010

Women's perceptions of sexual function after gynecologic surgery

Most women scheduled for gynecologic surgery to address noncancerous symptoms said in a recently published survey that they were not worried about the effects of the procedure on their sex lives.

13 Apr 2010

Hormones leptin and insulin work together to affect regulation of blood sugar levels, female fertility

New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggest that the hormones leptin and insulin work together in specific neurons in the hypothalamus region of the brain to affect both the regulation of blood sugar levels in the body and, surprisingly, female fertility.

12 Apr 2010

Research opens way for development of new preventions and treatments for breast cancer

Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have discovered that breast stem cells are exquisitely sensitive to the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone, a finding that opens the way for the development of new preventions and treatments for breast cancer.

12 Apr 2010

Is grandmother’s age significant to autism?

A report just published in the online journal, PLoS ONE, indicates that the mothers of children with an autistic spectrum disorder were themselves more likely to have been born to older mothers. These findings could open up new avenues in autism research.

8 Apr 2010

Research may help scientists understand the mechanism behind cellular differentiation

Multipotent stem cells have the capacity to develop into different types of cells by reprogramming their DNA to turn on different combinations of genes, a process called "differentiation."

6 Apr 2010

Resurgence of mumps orchitis among teenage boys and young men

Urologists at a leading Irish hospital have reported an alarming increase in the number of teenage boys and young men developing mumps orchitis, in a paper published in the April issue of the urology journal BJUI.

30 Mar 2010

Studies shed light on treatment options for women carrying BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations

Two studies to be presented at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday), shed light on the treatment options facing women carrying the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations which predispose them to breast cancer.

27 Mar 2010

Study finds 15-year outcomes of BCT and mastectomy similar

26 Mar 2010

Informing young women surviving breast cancer about opportunities to have children

At a time when more and more young women are surviving breast cancer and delaying childbirth, it is important to take their needs and wishes about their future fertility into consideration when deciding on treatment, the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona will hear today.

26 Mar 2010

Fertility remains a significant issue for majority of breast cancer patients

The use of chemotherapy and hormonal treatments in young women can have significant implications for their fertility.

24 Mar 2010

Bilateral oophorectomy may do more harm than good

Removal of the ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) while performing a hysterectomy is common practice to prevent the subsequent development of ovarian cancer. This prophylactic procedure is performed in 55% of all U.S. women having a hysterectomy, or approximately 300,000 times each year. An article in the March/April issue of The Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology suggests that this procedure may do more harm than good.

10 Mar 2010