Nov 22, 2008
Outcomes Differ with Type of Post-Mastectomy Breast Reconstruction

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Nov. 22 -- For women who've had breast reconstruction immediately after mastectomy, the type of procedure may determine outcomes following radiation, researchers found.  <READ MORE>

Nov 24, 2008
Breast Cancer Benefit Seen for Bevacizumab Combo

BASEL, Switzerland, Nov. 24 -- The maker of capecitabine (Xeloda) said today that a phase III study showed adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy can increase progression-free survival in women with metastatic breast cancer.       <READ MORE>

Oct 21, 2008
3-D Doppler May Unmask Malignant Breast Lesions

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 21 -- Noninvasive distinctions between malignant and benign breast lesions emerged more clearly when evaluated by 3-D Doppler ultrasound, investigators here concluded.      <READ MORE>

Oct 13, 2008
Coffee Drinking Does Not Raise Breast Cancer Risk

BOSTON, Oct. 13 -- Several cups of coffee a day do not seem to pose an overall breast cancer risk, researchers here found in a large cohort study, confirming other research.      <READ MORE>

Oct 13, 2008
Tamoxifen May Unmask ER-Negative Tumors

HOUSTON, Oct. 7 -- When tamoxifen is used as a chemoprevention agent, it may hasten the diagnosis of estrogen receptor-negative tumors while blocking development of ER-positive lesions, according to a new analysis of a landmark trial.      <READ MORE>

Sept 25, 2008
ASTRO: Breast Cancer MRI Kinetics May Predict Nodal Status

BOSTON, Sept. 25 -- The MRI-related kinetics of a breast tumor may reveal a patient's lymph node status without surgical sampling, data from a small retrospective study suggest.      <READ MORE>

Sept 24, 2008
ASTRO: No Benefit Seen for Efaproxiral Against Metastatic Brain Tumors

BOSTON, Sept. 24 -- An investigational radiation sensitizer, efaproxiral (Efaproxyn), had no significant benefit for women whose breast cancers had spread to the brain, a researcher said here.     <READ MORE>

Sept 23, 2008
Protective Role Seen for Hormone Therapy in BRCA1 Carriers

TORONTO, Sept. 23 -- Hormone therapy did not increase the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women with a BRCA1 mutation, according to a case-control study.     <READ MORE>

Sept 22, 2008
ASTRO: Acupuncture Relieves Vasomotor Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients

BOSTON, Sept. 22 -- For breast cancer patients with treatment-related vasomotor symptoms, acupuncture may offer an effective, durable alternative to drug therapy with fewer side effects, researchers found.      <READ MORE>

Sept 22, 2008
ASTRO: Partial Breast Radiation Effective in Preventing Cancer Recurrence

BOSTON, Sept. 22 -- For women with early stage breast cancer, a week of balloon brachytherapy is as effective as standard whole-breast radiation in preventing recurrence, a researcher said here.     <READ MORE>

Sept 8, 2008
ASCO Breast: Targeted Therapy May Restore Endocrine Sensitivity to Metastatic Breast Cancer

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 -- Breast cancer that has become hormone insensitive may revert to sensitive status with targeted therapy, investigators reported here.     <READ MORE>

Sept 8, 2008
ASCO Breast: Survival Benefit of Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy Limited

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 -- Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy improves survival only for younger women with early-stage, hormone receptor-negative disease, analysis of a large government database suggests.    <READ MORE>

Sept 3, 2008
No Cognition Risks Seen for Breast Cancer Prophylaxis with Aromatase Inhibitor

BRIGHTON, England, Sept. 3 -- In postmenopausal women at high risk for breast cancer, two years of prophylaxis with an aromatase inhibitor did not lead to cognitive impairment, according a placebo-controlled study.   <READ MORE>

Aug 25, 2008
Breast Cancer Phenotypes Linked to Reproductive Factors

SEATTLE, Aug. 25 -- Different molecular subtypes of breast cancer appear to be influenced by specific reproductive factors, investigators here reported.   <READ MORE>

Aug 20, 2008
Bisphosphonate Thwarts Bone Loss from Breast Cancer Endocrine Therapy

VIENNA, Austria, Aug. 20 -- In premenopausal patients with early-stage breast cancer taking endocrine therapy, bone mineral density remained stable with a bisphosphonate and improved over time, according to a multicenter randomized trial.    <READ MORE>

July 31, 2008
Patients Found to Lack Knowledge about Breast Cancer Treatment

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 31 -- More than half of breast cancer patients are ill informed about the risks and benefits of treatment options, and minority patients know even less, investigators here reported.    <READ MORE>

July 29, 2008
Two Breast Cancer Screening Systems Equally Effective

BURLINGTON, Vt., July 29 -- Breast cancer screening programs in Vermont and Norway got similar results, despite significant differences in approach, researchers here said.    <READ MORE>

July 14, 2008
Cancer Stem Cells May Drive Breast Cancer

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 14 -- Malignant stem cells appear to fuel the growth and spread of aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer, suggesting clues for new therapeutic strategies, investigators here reported.      <READ MORE>

July 9, 2008
Breast Cancer In Younger Women Shares Common Genetic Factors

DURHAM, N.C., July 9 -- The poorer prognoses of younger women's breast cancers may be the result of a unique set of genomic traits not present in older patients, researchers said.      <READ MORE>

ROCKVILLE, Md., July 8 -- The FDA has approved a genetic test that can be used to identify breast cancer patients whose tumors are HER2-positive, making them candidates for treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin).     <READ MORE>

BALTIMORE, June 26 -- Molecular breast imaging may be a more cost-effective follow-up approach to mammography than MRI for high-risk women and those with dense tissue, according to a small retrospective study.    <READ MORE>

CHICAGO, June 6 -- Diabetic patients with breast cancer had significantly higher rates of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy if they were taking metformin, data from a small retrospective analysis suggest.    <READ MORE>

CHICAGO, June 2 -- Combining targeted biologic therapies after progression of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer may improve response despite prior treatment with multiple trastuzumab (Herceptin) regimens.   <READ MORE>

CHICAGO, June 2 -- In recurrent or metastatic breast cancer, bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly improved progression-free survival when added to docetaxel (Taxotere), a multicenter European study showed.  <READ MORE>

CHICAGO, June 1 -- Premenopausal women with early-stage hormone-sensitive breast cancer derived a significant survival benefit when zoledronic acid (Zometa) was added to the adjuvant therapeutic mix, a multicenter Austrian trial showed.       <READ MORE>

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 16 -- A pair of breast cancer trials, described in this MedPage Today audio report, kicked off a pre-meeting release of more than 5,000 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting abstracts.      <READ MORE>

CALGARY, Alberta, May 13 -- A physically active life may reduce a woman's breast cancer risk by 25% to 30%, according to a systematic review of the literature.     <READ MORE>

SEATTLE, May 12 -- Short-term follow-up mammograms for tracking "probably benign" breast lesions miss about 40% of the small minority that are actually malignant, researchers here said.    <READ MORE>

NEW YORK, May 5 -- Women with a history of breast cancer but who are negative for BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 may have a greater risk of occult malignancies than previously believed, a surgeon reported here.    <READ MORE>

SAN DIEGO, April 18 -- Intraductal chemotherapy may have potential as a treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ and possibly breast cancer prevention, according to a feasibility study.    <READ MORE>

NEW YORK, April 16 -- Weekly paclitaxel (Taxol) outdid docetaxel (Taxotere) every week or every three weeks in disease-free and overall survival for women with axillary lymph node or high-risk node-negative breast cancer, researchers here reported.    <READ MORE>

SAN DIEGO, April 14 -- For women with recurrent HER2-overexpression breast cancer, an investigational peptide vaccine tended to reduce mortality although there was no impact on disease reappearance, according to data reported here.   <READ MORE>

NEW YORK, April 8 -- Postmenopausal women who took conjugated equine estrogen doubled their risk of benign proliferative breast disease, researchers here said.    <READ MORE>

SUTTON, England, March 20 -- In early-stage breast cancer, delivery of a lower total radiation dose in fewer but larger fractions reduces effects on normal tissue with no loss in tumor control, according to results of two large randomized trials.    <READ MORE>

NEW YORK, March 11 -- Breast cancer patients with HER2/neu-positive disease can be treated safely with an every-other-week chemotherapy regimen followed by trastuzumab (Herceptin), researchers here found.   <READ MORE>

BOSTON, March 10 -- The aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) can prevent late recurrence of breast cancer, even when patients start on the drug long after stopping adjuvant tamoxifen, researchers here said.  <READ MORE>

LA JOLLA, Calif., March 6 -- High estradiol levels in women who have been treated for early-stage breast cancer may increase the risk of recurrence, researchers here said.   <READ MORE>

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 22 -- The FDA today approved bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol) for chemotherapy-naïve patients with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer.   <READ MORE>

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 15 -- Computer-aided screening mammography reduces the need for more imaging, leads to fewer false-positives, and may detect more malignancies compared with double reading, an analysis of more than 200,000 exams suggested.  <READ MORE>

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Feb. 13 -- Women with metastatic breast cancer had significant improvement in progression-free survival when treated with bevacizumab (Avastin) and docetaxel (Taxotere) in combination, the drug makers announced here.  <READ MORE>

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Jan. 29 -- Digital mammography is more accurate than film for women under 50 who are pre- or perimenopausal and who have dense breast tissue, a new analysis of a large randomized trial demonstrated.   <READ MORE>

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21 -- The FDA has given trastuzumab (Herceptin) the additional indication of adjuvant monotherapy for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, Genentech announced here.    <READ MORE>

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 16 -- The FDA has approved a genetic test that can be used to assess risk of tumor recurrence and long-term survival for women with aggressive breast cancers.   <READ MORE>

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 11 -- Here's a look at intriguing prospects still in early trials in five areas of breast cancer research presented at the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  <READ MORE>

NEW YORK, Jan. 9 -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer susceptibility mutations are not one-size-fits-all risk factors for malignancies, researchers reported.   <READ MORE>

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 9 -- To prevent recurrence of node-positive breast cancer, docetaxel (Taxotere) may offer a small advantage if added to anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy, researchers found in a multicenter trial.   <READ MORE>

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