Herceptin Combinations Improve Survival, Lessen Heart Toxicity
December 23rd 2009Two studies presented in December at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium offer hope of enhancing both the effectiveness and safety of Herceptin (trastuzumab), the drug that helped introduce the era of targeted therapy a decade ago.
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Imaging Strategies: The Bigger Picture
December 23rd 2009When doctors search for cancer inside the body using images from X-rays, radio waves, or echoes of bouncing sound, they are scanning for tumors they can see. But maybe in the future this same technology might help doctors spot tumors that can’t yet be seen, by looking for their footprints in the surrounding tissue.
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Reduction of Hair Loss Through Scalp Cooling May Vary with Treatment
December 11th 2009One of the most visible side effects of chemotherapy is hair loss—a problem so distressing that some patients refuse treatment to avoid going bald.Studies have suggested that cooling the scalp during and immediately after treatment may help reduce hair loss. When the skin is cold, less blood flows to hair follicles, reducing their exposure to the drugs. One product, the Penguin Cold Cap System (manufactured by Medical Specialties of California UK), is billed as preventing hair loss in 80 percent of patients.
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Obesity and Alcohol Linked to Negative Outcomes in Women with Breast Cancer
December 10th 2009Women diagnosed with breast cancer could lower their risk of recurrence by cutting back on alcohol consumption, a new analysis suggests. Obesity itself is known to raise the risk of breast cancer, but a study described Thursday suggests that, after diagnosis, women who are overweight may fare worse than their normal-weight peers.
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Why Prophylactic Mastectomy Rates Are Increasing
December 9th 2009Consistent with previous research, data presented Friday has found that a woman diagnosed with breast cancer is more likely to undergo mastectomy of the healthy breast, called prophylactic mastectomy, if she has an MRI and biopsy of that breast during treatment of the cancerous breast
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