Information for your health

African-American women are less likely than white women to receive radiation therapy after a lumpectomy, the standard of care for early stage breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Actress Christina Applegate's breast cancer has got much of media coverage and drew attention from millions of readers.

With a gene mutation in BRCA1, a woman like Applegate would be at a high risk for breast cancer for sure. But does that mean women with this or other mutations have to definitely get breast cancer? The fact is that not all women with defective genes end up having the disease. Why?

New research may explain why breast cancer tends to be more aggressive in women with denser breast tissue.

Breast cancer cells grown in dense, rigid surroundings step up their invasive activities, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators report in the Sept. 9 issue of Current Biology.

The findings suggest a cellular mechanism for the correlation between human breast tissue density and tumor aggressiveness. Women with increased breast density on mammograms have an increased risk for both developing breast cancer and having breast cancers with invasive characteristics.

Feelings of happiness and optimism play a positive role against breast cancer. New research suggests that while staying positive has a protective role, adverse life events such as the loss of a parent or close relative, divorce or the loss of a spouse can increase a woman's risk of developing the disease.

Australian scientists have identified a way to 'switch off' a molecule, a key player in the molecular processes that trigger breast cancer and certain forms of leukaemia, according to Eurekalert, the news service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The molecule, known as Gab2, operates downstream of a major breast cancer oncogene, HER2, the target of the drug Herceptin.

Attenuated Salmonella bacteria engineered to express the Fas ligand (FasL) accumulate in tumors and reduce their growth, researchers report in the July 29 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Research reported today should provide relief to women who are worried after a relative's breast cancer diagnosis. The study shows that a family history of breast cancer does not give a useful indication of the likelihood that a woman will develop it herself at an early age.

News just in is that women with adequate levels of vitamin D have a higher chance of living cancer-free after early detection and treatment for breast cancer.

What are our best sources of vitamin D? Should we go out now and buy the supplement, or just drink more milk?

Kingston-based nutrioninist consultant, Patricia Thompson, states that our best source of vitamin D lies not in products, but in something far easier to access!

Screening for breast cancer in older women could save up to 34 lives a year, says a new Otago University study.

Screening women aged 50-69 should result in 20-34 fewer breast cancer deaths a year, an overall reduction of between 5.7-8 per cent, a Dunedin School of Medicine survey found.

Beginning screening at 45 instead of 50 should prevent an additional one to seven deaths.

Study author Associate Professor Brian Cox said the overall effect of screening was "modest as the reduction was confined to just a few age groups".

Women newly diagnosed with breast cancer could be faced with the extra dilemma of having to decide whether to be tested for dangerous gene mutations, as evidence emerges that those with high-risk changes to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes may fare better with particular forms of chemotherapy.

For women with several close relatives who had already had breast cancer, immediate testing might be warranted, Associate Professor Liz Lobb will tell the Sydney Cancer Conference today, because it could alter treatment decisions and improve survival.