Barcelona, Spain: The average number of moderate or marked side-effects reported by breast cancer patients is lower if they are treated with radiotherapy to part of the breast or a reduced dose to the whole breast, rather than with standard radiotherapy to the whole breast, according to new findings presented at the 11th European Breast […]
Women with breast symptoms are at higher risk of cancer diagnosis in between regular screening visits
Barcelona, Spain: Women who report symptoms such as lumps, nipple retraction or nipple discharge during their regular breast screening appointments, are at higher risk of developing breast cancer during the interval before their next visit in two or three years’ time as part of a national screening programme. In new research presented at the 11th […]
Average size of breast tumours decreased following introduction of screening but is now increasing again
Barcelona, Spain: The average size of breast cancers at diagnosis decreased dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s following the introduction of screening, according to research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference. However, the new research also reveals a slight increase in the average size of breast tumours since 2001, perhaps as a result […]
Counting the cost: researchers create model to help life insurers calculate breast cancer survivors’ risk of death more accurately
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 […]
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 […]
Study of nearly 300,000 people challenges the ‘obesity paradox’
The idea that it might be possible to be overweight or obese but not at increased risk of heart disease, otherwise known as the “obesity paradox”, has been challenged by a study of nearly 300,000 people published in in the European Heart Journal [1]. This latest research shows that the risk of heart and blood […]