This post is published in conjunction with the Breast Cancer Awareness month. Please note that information presented in this article was extracted and adapted from various sources in the Internet, and that you are advised to consult your doctor for more information.
Breast cancer is undeniably one of the deadliest BUT preventable diseases. Hence, everybody is advised to keep abreast of issues relating to the advancement and current research relating to breast cancer. For example, I have compiled some of the very interesting findings in the field of breast cancer and its treatments:
- Double mastectomies to prevent cancer increase
It was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that from 1998 to 2003, the rate of double mastectomies (the removal of both breasts) among women in the United States who had cancer diagnosed in only one breast more than doubled. The study involved an analysis of data for 152,755 women who were diagnosed with cancer in one breast between 1998 and 2003. The overall rate of double mastectomy — that included removal of an unaffected breast climbed from 1.8% in 1998 to 4.5% in 2003. Among mastectomy patients, the rate rose from 4.2% to 11.0%.
- Some breast cancers don’t respond to chemotherapy
Reuters Health reported that an analysis of the results of several studies confirm previous reports suggesting that chemotherapy offers little or no survival benefits for young women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers. In the current analysis, the researchers examined data from 480 women with early-stage breast cancer. All of the subjects were pre-menopausal — younger than 40 years of age — and the average follow-up period was 7.6 years. During follow-up, 155 patients died or experienced a distant recurrence.
Patients with ER-positive cancers were significantly more likely to have a longer overall survival than those with ER-negative cancers, the team reports.
- Exercise can ease some aspects of chemotherapy
For women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, an exercise program doesn’t do much to improve their quality of life — but it can boost their self-esteem, physical fitness, and chemotherapy completion rates. The average length of the exercise intervention was 17 weeks, and 70% of the participants stuck with it. Compared to usual care, aerobic exercise was significantly better in improving patients’ self-esteem, aerobic fitness, and percent body fat. Resistance exercise was also superior to usual care for improving self-esteem, lower and upper body strength, lean body mass, and chemotherapy completion rates.
- Painkillers may lower breast cancer risk
It was reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology that taking high doses of painkillers known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — such as ibuprofen or aspirin — is associated with a reduced risk of developing breast cancer. Regular use of NSAIDs was associated with a 24% lower risk of breast cancer, the researchers report. Breast cancer risk decreased with increased duration of NSAID use and was generally lowest after 7 or more years of use.
- Men less likely to survive early breast cancer
It was reported in the journal Cancer that while breast cancer is far more common in women than in men, men may be more likely to die from early-stage breast tumors. Male breast cancer is rare, accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancers. But unlike the case with breast cancer in women, there have been no improvements in survival the past 30 years in men with this disease. The rarity of breast cancer in men has prevented clinical trials, and treatment is based on what’s known about female breast cancer.
Among men whose breast cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes, the typical survival time was 6 years, compared with nearly 15 years among women.
- Diet does not improve breast cancer survival
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that adopting a low-fat diet high in vegetables, fruit and fiber does not prevent the cancer from returning or prolong survival among breast cancer survivors.
- Abortion not linked to breast cancer
Neither spontaneous abortion (also known as miscarriage) nor induced abortion appears to affect the risk of breast cancer in young women, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
In the present analysis, Dr. Karin B. Michels, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues analyzed the association in 105,716 women, between 29 and 46 years of age. Information on abortion was updated biennially beginning at the start of the study in 1993. During follow-up from 1993 to 2003, a total of 1458 women developed breast cancer, the report indicates. Histories of induced and spontaneous abortion were recorded in 16,118 and 21,753 of the participants, respectively.
There was no evidence that spontaneous or induced abortion significantly increased or decreased the risk of breast cancer.
- Pregnancy doesn’t have to wait after breast cancer
The British Medical Journal reported in 2006 that after being treated for breast cancer, women of childbearing age need only wait 6 months to conceive, not the 2 years that is often recommended. Proponents of the 2-year delay believe it will deter women from becoming pregnant while there is a chance that they may develop an early recurrence. Still, there are no published data to suggest that such a delay improves cancer or pregnancy outcomes.
Dr. Angela Ives, from the University of Western Australia in Crawley, and colleagues re-evaluated the effects of a delay in conception by analyzing data from 123 women who became pregnant after being treated for breast cancer. Fifty-four percent of the women became pregnant in less than 2 years after diagnosis and these women included 29 who underwent abortion, 27 who had a live birth, and 6 who miscarried.
The authors found that women who became pregnant had better survival rates than their peers who did not become pregnant. This benefit was greatest for women who waited at least 2 years to conceive; however, there was evidence that a wait of just 6 months was associated with improved survival as well, although the effect wasn’t statistically significant.
More on the Breast Cancer Awareness series:
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