August 2009 Research News

False Positives Higher with Breast Exam than with Mammography
August 31, 2009
Using both a clinical exam -- a manual exam of the breasts by a medical professional -- and a mammogram is better at detecting breast cancer than a mammogram alone, but clinical exams produce more false positives. Read more...

Tamoxifen May Increase Risk of Some Forms of Breast Cancer
August 25, 2009
Research suggests that there may be a link between taking taking tamoxifen for 5 years and a higher risk of developing hormone-receptor-negative cancer in the opposite breast. Read more...

Sequential Strategy No Help in Early Breast Cancer
August 19, 2009
Taking Femara (chemical name: letrozole) for 5 years as the first adjuvant hormonal therapy medicine improved overall survival by 13% compared to taking tamoxifen for 5 years. Read more...

Low-Dose Estradiol an Option for Some Breast Cancers
August 18, 2009
A small study found that estradiol, a form of estrogen, was an effective treatment for about 30% of advanced-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers that had stopped responding to hormonal therapy. Read more...

MRI May Hinder Early Breast Cancer Staging
August 13, 2009
Routinely doing MRI after diagnosis and before surgery for early-stage breast cancer may lead to more mastectomy recommendations vs. lumpectomy recommendations with no improvement in outcome. Read more...

Exercise Eases Lymphedema Symptoms
August 12, 2009
A small study found that strength training doesn't worsen lymphedema after breast cancer surgery and actually can help reduce the symptoms associated with lymphedema as well as the risk of lymphedema flare-ups. Read more...

Breastfeeding May Cut Hereditary Breast Cancer Risk
August 10, 2009
Breastfeeding one baby -- even for as little as 3 months -- seems to reduce the risk of breast cancer before menopause in women with higher-than-average risk compared to high-risk women who never breastfed. Read more...

Isolated Tumor Cells Reduce Breast Cancer Survival
August 12, 2009
Women diagnosed with node-negative, early-stage breast cancer -- but with isolated cancer cells in the sentinel lymph node -- were 56% less likely to survive without the breast cancer coming back in the 5 years after treatment compared to women who were truly node negative (no cancer cells at all in the sentinel lymph node). This suggests that women diagnosed with isolated cancer cells in the sentinel node should be treated as if the cancer is node-positive. Read more...

Migrating to U.S. Increases Hispanic Cancer Risk
August 6, 2009
Hispanics living in the United States are more likely to develop any type of cancer compared to Hispanics living in their native countries. Read more...

Anesthetic Injection Reduces Pain of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
August 6, 2009
Adding the local anesthetic lidocaine (a numbing medicine) to the tracer liquid used in sentinel lymph node biopsy can reduce pain during and after the injection. The lidocaine causes few side effects and doesn't interfere with the procedure's success. Read more...

Monotherapy Preferred for Metastatic Breast Cancer
August 5, 2009
Treating metastatic breast cancer with one chemotherapy medicine at a time (monotherapy) is as effective as using two or more chemotherapy medicines at the same time (combination chemotherapy) and likely causes fewer and less severe side effects. Read more...