Women Cancer Health Treatment

University of Arkansas surgeon has developed a new procedure to prevent swelling of the arm associated with breast cancer. This is a new procedure to prevent one of the most common side effects associated with breast cancer treatment – lymphedema or swelling of the arms due to faulty drainage of the lymph nodes.
V. Suzanne Klimberg, MD, director of the UAMS breast cancer program, led a study funded by the Tenenbaum Breast Cancer Research Foundation of breast cancer patients at risk for developing lymphedema. Her findings were published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology, and she will present the study March 17 at the Society of Surgical Oncology 60th Annual Cancer Symposium in Washington, DC.

“The removal and analysis of the lymph nodes under the arm remains the most important factor in determining the severity of disease in breast cancer patients,” Klimberg said. Read more!

Breast cancer is caused by a mixture of genetic factors, environmental influences and ageing, says the National Breast Cancer Centre. The risk of developing it can be further increased with these factors:

1. FAMILY HISTORY
Risk is higher for mothers, daughters and sisters of women who had it prior to menopause.

2. GENETIC DAMAGE
Mutations of the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes.

3. EARLY MENARCHE
Starting your periods before the age of 12.

4. EXPOSURE TO RADIATION
To breast tissue in particular, before age 20.
Read more!

Passionately Pink for the Cure™ is a new, year-round fundraising and education program kicking off October 1, 2006, in conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The program encourages companies, schools and organizations to take that promise, make it their own, and make a difference by supporting breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. Visit www.komenaustin.org for more details or email Lisa Feller at LFeller@komenaustin.org.
As part of the program, companies, organizations, and individuals nationwide are picking one day in October and urging their associates and friends to demonstrate their support by making a $5 donation and dressing up in pink.

Realizing the fact that 212,920 women and 1,720 men, according to the American Cancer Society, will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Anyone can participate! Read more!

Women who take Herceptin, the advanced breast cancer “wonder drug”, could suffer heart problems as a result, research has indicated. The researchers say that 28% of women receiving the novel breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) suffered cardiac problems as a result. The affected women had to stop taking the cancer drug temporarily while their heart problems were treated.
The drug Herceptin is thought to reduce the chance of relapse in women with certain types of early stage breast cancer. But at a cost of up to $70,000 per year, it is out of reach for some patients. Previous evidence from clinical trials found that between 10% and 26% of patients experienced cardiac problems, depending on its combination with other drugs. One frequently cited US study found that 18.6% of women had to stop taking the drug because of cardiac problems. Read more!

SCIENTISTS have discovered a new breast cancer gene which doubles a woman’s chance of developing the disease, a finding that may lead to better treatment of the disease. Carrying a damaged version of the gene called ATM means the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 70 increases from one in 12 for the general population to one in six, the researchers said.

Researchers screened 433 patients who had a family history of cancer and a control group of 521 women. A certain damaged gene, carried by about 2 percent of all families, more than doubled the risk for breast cancer by age 70, the scientists said in today’s issue of Nature Genetics. Read more!

About one third of all cancer deaths are related to diet. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) dietary choices, together with exercise and a healthy weight, could prevent 3 to 4 million cancer cases worldwide each year. The top 3 causes of cancer are genetics, diet and environment. If individuals work to minimize the factors linked with the risks, as high as 60-70 percent of cancers can be prevented.

Following a Plant Based Diet
The best type of diet to prevent cancer is one that is based mostly on a variety of plant foods. Scientific evidence shows that vegetables and fruits protect against many different types of cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends 5 to 10 fruits and vegetables a day, which can reduce incidences of cancer by as much as 40 percent. Read more!

Laughter helped Kylie Minogue beat cancer, sister Danii has revealed. The brunette Minogue has revealed how she and her sibling often dressed in silly clothes and watched British comedy ‘Little Britain’ to keep up Kylie’s spirits during her battle with the deadly illness.
She told Cosmopolitan magazine: “We’d love to do what we call “daggy dancing”- just really stupid dancing to anything I had on my iPod. And we played name that tune. Kylie is really good at it.” Read more!

Mammography has been known as the gold standard in early detection of breast cancer. Mammograms are X-rays of the breasts to look for suspicious masses or breast tissue changes before they can be seen or felt.
But mammography is not perfect. Accuracy depends on the quality of film, the technique used and the skill of the radiologist examining the films. Dense breast tissue can make abnormalities difficult to see on a mammogram.

The Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource issue examines other imaging technology in use or that’s being studied to help doctors detect and diagnose breast cancer. Read more!

The cancer-stopping power of tea does not play favorites; Venus and Mars can both benefit from increasing their intake of green tea. In men, ECG reduces the body’s synthesis of DHT, a potent form of testosterone that causes prostate cancer.
ECG has also been found to be the most potent catechin in inducing cancer cell death in human prostate cancer cells. In women, ECG also helps keep breast cells from turning cancerous. In addition, green tea enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy and helps protect against radiotherapy damage.
A recent lung cancer study showed that a combination of catechins rather than ECG alone was more effective at producing apoptosis (programmed cell death), and the effect was synergistically increased when catechins were combined with other anti-cancer agents such as the well-known breast cancer drug tamoxifen. Read more!

Women who have had surgery for breast cancer can lift weights to improve quality of life and gain a better sense of well-being, according to researchers here.
In a study of 86 women who were between four and 36 months past their primary treatment, those who were assigned to twice-weekly weight-training sessions had significantly better quality-of-life score and global psychological scores compared with controls, reported Kathryn H. Schmitz, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues at the University of Minnesota.

Previous studies have shown that aerobic exercise improves quality of life for breast cancer survivors, but whether weight training would offer a similar benefit in women who have recently undergone breast cancer therapy was unclear, the investigators wrote. Read more!

Sisters share all kinds of things: clothes, makeup, family recipes. Unfortunately, sometimes they also share a disease. According to the American Cancer Society, sisters of breast cancer patients are twice as likely to develop it as well. Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences are trying to find out why, and they need the help of Latinas.

Women whose sister have breast cancer are being asked to join the Sister Study, a national study focusing on identifying factors that influence the development of this type of cancer.
By studying sisters, who share the same genes and often similar experiences and environments, researchers are hoping to have a better chances of learning what cause the disease. Read more!

An African American woman is less likely to get breast cancer than a white woman, but more likely to die from it. For her, breast cancer often comes at a younger age and in more dangerous forms than for other U.S. women.

Dr. Beth A. Jones of Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Conn., found that a breast tumor characteristic called “p53″ (gene mutation that belongs to the tumor itself, not part of the woman’s genetic inheritance) is four times more common in African American than white women and P53 tumors are harder to treat.

“Women with p53 alterations don’t have the same response to standard chemotherapy treatment,” explained Jones. “One study suggested using higher-dose chemotherapy.” Read more!

One research showed that approximately 520,000 Americans die of cancer each year and it’s been cost roughly $104 billion to United States, including medical expenses and loss of work productively. Stats reported that in the 1980s more than 4.5 million Americans died from cancer and mostly appears in people middle-aged and older and can occur at any age.

Actually cancer is not one disease, but rather many related diseases. Cancer is typed according to the part of the body where it is located and the kind of cells that comprise it. Here are some common types of cancer cells and their locations :

Sarcomas, it grow in bones and connective tissues between organs and skin, but sometimes spread into the lymphatic system or blood. Read more!

Recovery from breast cancer is not so different a program than simply exercising to avoid such a catastrophic event in a woman’s health and life. If you have followed fitness for any amount of time, visited your doctor or taken a class in school, the informative path to righteous living is well paved with getting the blood flowing and the heart pounding. In turn, you increase your chances of avoiding disease (heart-related, cancer, diabetes). Likewise, if you have successfully battled the disease and yearn for a method of attack against it recurring or simply want to lessen the unpleasant after affects, the all-knowing finger will be pointing in the same direction…the local gym.

Even as early as the 1980’s, research was proving that aerobic exercise improved fatigue levels and nausea in post cancer patients. Fast forward to present and the benefits have multiplied over the years. Subsequent studies indicate that weight training, aerobic exercise, and fitness emphasizing mind and body (i.e., yoga) all have a substantial impact of up to 25-50% improvement on pain, fatigue, overall optimism, the general fitness level of the individual and how much a person can improve their quality of daily life, complete with energy-draining tasks. Read more!

As women, especially American women, much of our femininity is centered on our breasts. No matter where you look, there are pictures, billboards, commercials, television shows, and movies with women with these beautiful breasts and ample cleavage. The thought of losing one or both breasts, to breast cancer, can be devastating for many of us. Sure, there’s reconstruction, but will it ever really look the same again? Even if you have reconstruction, you’ll never have sensation there again and, for many of us, that definitely affects our sexuality.

I went through two separate mastectomies, for my breast cancer, despite the fact that I wanted them both done at the same time. Two different surgeons told me that wasn’t necessary. They found out, later, that it was, as I had the same breast cancer in both breasts. Through these surgeries, I learned a few things about what to expect, and how to get up and running again, after a mastectomy for breast cancer. Read more!