Barcelona, Spain: As early detection and treatment of breast cancer improves, more and more women are surviving the disease. However, they still face challenges, which include determining the moment when it might be reasonable to state they are “cured” of the disease, and obtaining life insurance. “In the Netherlands, most applications for life insurance are […]
Category: Cancer
Lymph node surgery could be avoided for women with aggressive types of breast cancer that respond well to upfront chemotherapy
Barcelona, Spain: Sentinel lymph node biopsies, where lymph nodes are surgically removed to check for signs of breast cancer spread, could be safely avoided for some women, according to research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference. Breast cancer becomes most dangerous when it begins to spread to other parts of the body and […]
Double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer reduces risk of dying from the disease in BRCA1 mutation carriers – but does not reduce further the already low risk in BRCA2 carriers
Barcelona, Spain: Healthy women who carry a breast cancer-causing mutation in the BRCA1 gene, not only reduce their risk of developing the disease but also their chances of dying from it if they have both breasts removed, according to new research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference. However, the study also found that […]
Women with DCIS at lowest risk of recurrence if they are post-menopausal or have oestrogen receptor positive cancer
Barcelona, Spain: Patients with an early form of breast cancer are less likely to suffer a recurrence if they are post-menopausal or if their tumour is oestrogen receptor positive, according to research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference. Although ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive form of breast cancer, it can […]
Risk of a second breast cancer can be better quantified in women carrying a BRCA mutation
Barcelona, Spain: The risk of a second breast cancer in patients with high-risk BRCA gene mutations can be more precisely predicted by testing for several other genetic variants, each of which are known to have a small impact on breast cancer risk. Breast cancer patients who are diagnosed at a very young age, or who […]
Decline in colorectal cancer deaths is a “major success” story; seven per cent fall in death rates since 2012
The decline in cancer of the intestines – colorectal cancer – is one of the major success stories of the past 30 years in Europe say researchers, as they predict that in 2018 death rates from the disease will continue to fall by around seven per cent compared to 2012. In a study published in […]
Survivors of childhood cancer are at great risk of heart problems in adulthood
Survivors of childhood cancer are at increased risk of suffering prematurely from cardiovascular disease in adulthood, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal [1]. In the first study to investigate the long-term health of childhood cancer survivors by means of systematic and comprehensive clinical evaluation of their health in comparison to the […]
Cancer drug leads to ‘drastic decrease’ in HIV infection in lung cancer patient
Doctors in France have found the first evidence that a cancer drug may be able to eradicate HIV-infected cells in humans. In a letter published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1], researchers led by Professor Jean-Philippe Spano, head of the medical oncology department at Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital AP-HP in Paris, France, report that […]
Younger women with advanced breast cancer needlessly excluded from treatment trials
Lisbon, Portugal: Pre-menopausal women with the most common type of advanced breast cancer are usually excluded from medical research unnecessarily, according to an expert panel who met at the Advanced Breast Cancer Fourth International Consensus Conference (ABC 4). In new guidelines for treating advanced breast cancer, the panel said that the majority of clinical trials […]
Combined therapies increase adverse side effects for patients with advanced hormone receptor-positive breast cancer
Lisbon, Portugal: Patients with advanced breast cancer who are treated with a combination of drugs that target specific molecules important for cancer development and also the hormones that are driving it are at increased risk of suffering adverse side effects. In new research presented at the Advanced Breast Cancer Fourth International Consensus Conference (ABC 4), […]