Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be scary.
It's a life-changing event that can make you feel like you're losing control.
Once you've learned about your diagnosis, how do you make smart, informed decisions about what comes next?
Reading about breast cancer research can help you better understand the disease and reclaim control over your feelings.
You'll be able to better communicate with your doctors, be more aware of your treatment options, and make an educated decision about being part of a clinical trial.
Starting online is a good place to begin.
You can almost always find the abstract, the summary of a research paper and read it for free.
It will help you decide if that paper applies to your situation.
You might need to pay for a subscription if you want to read the full paper.
Luckily, local libraries usually have subscriptions to a number of journals, so you can read the papers there for free.
Don't get overwhelmed.
There are thousands of papers on breast cancer research published each year, but certain studies are considered better than others.
Randomized controlled trials are the best way to figure out if a new medicine works.
Often in a randomized controlled trial, one group of people receives a new medicine while the other gets a placebo, a harmless substance that looks just like the medicine being studied.
Both groups usually get the standard of care as well.
Next, here are some key terms you may come across while looking at research papers.
Disease-free survival means how long a person lives without the cancer coming back.
Progression-free survival means how long a person lives without the cancer growing.
Overall survival means how long a person lives, whether or not the cancer comes back or grows.
Lastly, a term that sounds complicated but really isn't is the P-value or the probability value of a study.
This term refers to the statistical significance of study results.
The more statistically significant the study results, the more reliable they are.
Most researchers suggest looking for results with a P-value less than 0.05.
This means there was more than a 95% chance the results were reliable and due to the difference in treatment.
To put it simply, the smaller the P-value, the stronger the evidence.
So, when you feel ready, take a deep breath and check out some breast cancer research.
It may give you a better understanding of your diagnosis and treatment choices, and help you along in your journey.
Learn more about understanding breast cancer research at breastcancer.org/understanding-research.