Breast Cancer News and Research

Latest Breast Cancer News and Research

Topographical brain maps are new frontier to catch early schizophrenia

John Csernansky wants to take your measurements. Not the circumference of your chest, waist and hips. No, this doctor wants to stretch a tape measure around your hippocampus, thalamus and prefrontal cortex.

9 Jul 2009

Elevated insulin levels linked to increased breast cancer risk

Elevated insulin levels in the blood appear to raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings are published in the online version of the International Journal of Cancer.

9 Jul 2009

Environmental manganese and cancer mortality rates

In the first ecological study of its kind in the world, a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researcher has uncovered the unique finding that groundwater and airborne manganese in North Carolina correlates with cancer mortality at the county level.

9 Jul 2009

Relationship between migraine history and breast cancer risk among premenopausal and postmenopausal women

The relationship between migraine headaches in women and a significant reduction in breast cancer risk has been confirmed in a follow-on study to landmark research published last year and conducted by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The new study found a 26 percent reduced risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of migraines.

9 Jul 2009

Blacks with equal care still more likely to die of some cancers

"African Americans are less likely than whites to survive breast, prostate and ovarian cancer even when they receive equal treatment, according to a large study that offers provocative evidence that biological factors play a role in at least some racial disparities," the Washington Post reports.

8 Jul 2009

Many breast cancer patients being kept in the dark on breast reconstruction

Despite the increase of breast reconstruction procedures performed in 2008, nearly 70 percent of women who are eligible for the procedure are not informed of the reconstructive options available to them, according to a recently published report.

7 Jul 2009

Democrats navigate reform - opposition from unions, Liberals

"Unionized workers have fought to preserve their relatively expensive health plans through contract talks, sometimes at the expense of wage increases," CQ Politics reports. "Now, with some unions airing televised ads targeting senators who support the idea of counting some health benefits as taxable income, pressure is increasing on Capitol Hill to look elsewhere to offset the cost of a health care overhaul."

7 Jul 2009

Senior breast cancer patients receive ‘chemo’ if treated in private practices

In a study to determine the non-medical factors that may be associated with the decision to treat nonmetastatic breast cancer, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health evaluated the association between oncologist characteristics and the receipt of chemotherapy in elderly women with breast cancer and found that they were more likely to receive chemotherapy if treated by oncologists employed in a private practice.

7 Jul 2009

Specialized glycans act as tumor suppressors

Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specialized complex sugar molecules (glycans) that anchor cells into place act as tumor suppressors in breast and prostate cancers.

6 Jul 2009

Discovery of genetic key to breast cancer's ability to survive and spread

New research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) sheds light on a genetic function that gives breast cancer cells the ability to survive and spread to the bone years after treatment has been administered.

6 Jul 2009

IU Simon Cancer Center researcher heads cancer study during Indiana Black Expo's health fair

A small drop of blood can provide researchers with countless clues into cancer. You can help researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center by donating a blood sample during the Indiana Black Expo's INShape Indiana Black & Minority Health Fair.

6 Jul 2009

Recent trends in breast cancer incidence in U.S. white women by urban/rural and poverty status

The recent decline in invasive breast cancer in the US was significantly less pronounced in the poor and those who live in rural areas. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medicine suggest this may be due to varying reductions in the numbers of women taking hormone therapy (HT).

28 Jun 2009

Possible link between insulin glargine and cancer prompts urgent call for more research

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) has made an urgent call for more research into a possible link between use of insulin glargine (an insulin analogue) and increased risk of cancer, following evidence from studies in Germany, Sweden and Scotland. However, until this further research becomes available, these experts are stressing that patients with diabetes taking Lantus should continue to do so, although some might wish to consider alternative types of insulin. The studies are reported in Diabetologia (the journal of EASD), edited by Professor Edwin Gale of the University of Bristol.

28 Jun 2009

New breast biopsy technique

Researchers have developed a new breast biopsy technique that could lead to decreased procedure times and reduced patient discomfort and morbidity, according to a study performed at Roberts Research Institute, the University of Western Ontario and London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada.

24 Jun 2009

A new take on growth factor signaling in tamoxifen resistance

Differences in growth factor (GF) signaling may cause the poor prognosis in some breast cancer cases. A new study, published in the open access journal BMC Medical Genomics, suggests that some estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers respond poorly to tamoxifen because of increased GF signaling.

23 Jun 2009

Researchers develop promising new breast cancer diagnostic marker

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have developed a new breast cancer diagnostic marker that could enable physicians to more easily determine which patients have a less aggressive form of the disease that may not require chemotherapy treatment.

21 Jun 2009

Insurers refuse to stop cancelling some sick patients' policies

Members of Congress grilled executives from the insurance industry's big three - UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, and Assurant - for canceling coverage of more than 20,000 paying policy holders at a hearing Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.

18 Jun 2009

Whole-genome searches unlock secrets of a childhood cancer

Two new studies from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia advance the search for genetic events that result in neuroblastoma, a puzzling, often-deadly type of childhood cancer.

17 Jun 2009

Novel light-sensitive compounds show promise for photodynamic cancer therapy

Chemists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed novel compounds that show promise for photodynamic cancer therapy, which uses light-activated drugs to kill tumor cells.

17 Jun 2009

Case study: Paying for health care in a recession

NPR reports on the health care struggles of Howard County, Maryland, a well-off and generally liberal area with hospital fees set by the state and a county program for the uninsured. "But like the rest the country, Howard County is facing the impact of the recession: Employers have to cut back on benefits, so employees cut back on their coverage."

17 Jun 2009