Cause of Breast Cancer Spread Discovered

Scientists in London have found a molecule that could be aiding the spread of beast cancer, according research published in the American Journal of Pathology. Lead author, Dr. Amanda Harvey, has previously established that a molecule known as Brk, found in 60 percent of breast tumors, plays an important role in accelerating breast cancer cell growth. Her latest findings demonstrate that Brk to be involved in helping breast cancer cells spread.
(Read more about Cause of Breast Cancer Spread Discovered)

- Cause of Breast Cancer Spread Discovered video

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- African American Women and Breast Cancer
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Fertility Drugs Raise Cancer Risk

Taking medications to enhance fertility appears to increase the chance of developing uterine cancer in particular, as well as some other forms of the disease, according to a very large, long, recently completed study. Drugs that stimulate ovulation have been used for more than three decades to help women who have difficulty conceiving, who are undergoing in vitro fertilization, or who are donating or selling their eggs. But the drugs’ effect on health has never been clarified.

- Fertility Drugs Raise Cancer Risk video

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- Cause of Breast Cancer Spread Discovered

Racial Gap in Cancer Mortality Stubbornly Persists

In statistics almost unchanged from those in 1981, blacks have been found to be significantly more likely to develop and die of cancer than whites, a recent study revealed. And blacks, once diagnosed with cancer, don’t live as long as their white counterparts.

In a study co-authored by Ahmedin Jemal, strategic director for cancer occurrence at the American Cancer Society (ACS), it was shown that while cancer death rates have fallen for everyone in recent decades, the gap between whites and blacks is about the same as 28 years ago.

- Racial Gap in Cancer Mortality Stubbornly Persists video

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Exercising After 50 Reduces Breast Cancer Risk

Walking as little as 30 minutes a day, especially after age 50 – even in the course of doing household-related chores – can significantly reduce a woman’s risk of contracting breast cancer, a recent study found.

“It doesn’t always have to be sports,” said Associate Professor Karen Steindorf of the German Cancer Research Center, a leader of the research. “In our calculations, we have also taken account of activities such as gardening, cycling or walking to the shops. Our advice to all women is therefore to stay, or become, physically active also in the second half of your life. You will not only reduce your risk of breast cancer, but it has been proven that your bones, heart and brain also benefit from it.”

- Exercising After 50 Reduces Breast Cancer Risk video

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- African American Women and Breast Cancer
- BRCA Breast Cancer Genes
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Nicotine Found to Accelerate Breast Cancer

Nicotine speeds the growth of breast tumors and aids the cancer's spread to other parts of the body, a recent study has found.

A large body of previous research on nicotine has implicated the well-known tobacco component in helping to cause a wide variety of cancers, including those of the lungs, head, neck and prostate gland. But this study, published in Cancer Research, is the first to be done on the nicotine-breast cancer connection. (Read more about Nicotine Found to Accelerate Breast Cancer)

- Nicotine Found to Accelerate Breast Cancer video

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10 Ways to Lower Your Risk of Breast Cancer

Most of the news we hear about breast cancer deals with addressing the disease after it's already been diagnosed. The best treatment for any disease, is through prevention. Here are 10 ways to lower your breast cancer risk. 1. Exercise and be consistant about it. Moderate physical activity, like brisk walking, 3 times a week can reduce a young woman's risk of developing breast cancer by 33%, and the risk of breast cancer after menopause by 26%. 2. If you smoke, quit now. The sooner, the better.

- 10 Ways to Lower Your Risk of Breast Cancer video

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Cancer Death Rate Declining

Some good news in the battle against cancer: recent findings in a report published in the latest issue of Cancer shows cancer death rates dropped steadily on average 2.1 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, nearly twice the annual decrease of 1.1 percent per year from 1993 through 2002.

- Cancer Death Rate Declining video

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African American Women and Breast Cancer

“I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to see my children grow up and my grandchild grow, you get this really scary feeling inside,” says Rosamond Stallings. When 45 year old Rosamond Stallings was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago, doctors urged her to immediately have a mastectomy. “They found like six malignant tumors,” says Rosamond. Recent studies have shown that 30 percent or more of breast cancer patients fail to receive complete treatment, and that African American women are as much as 10 percent less likely than white women to receive optimal therapy. But now, supported by a $10 million grant from the Department of Defense, a study, led by a team of doctors at Columbia University Medical Center, will look at possible reasons for the disparity.

- African American Women and Breast Cancer video

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City Women Are More Likely To Develop Breast Cancer

Women living in urban areas have denser breasts, which make them more susceptible to developing breast cancer, according to a recent study presented at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Women's breast tissue may be fatty or glandular or a mixture of both. Women who have more glandular breasts show denser tissue on a mammogram. These women have been found to have nearly four times the risk of developing breast cancer compared to women with fatty breasts. To determine if there was a situational factor that attributed to the breast density, researchers analyzed digital mammograms of over 900 women from urban, suburban, and rural areas.

- City Women Are More Likely To Develop Breast Cancer video

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Cancer Patients In Need of Psychological and Social Support

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine addresses the toll that cancer therapies have on patients' mental and emotional state that may potentially cause other health problems. Cancer treatments save and prolong many people's lives; however, care that focuses solely on eradicating tumors without acknowledging a patient's well-being can increase the patient's suffering and affect their ability to follow through on treatment. The report proposes that oncology care providers use a new standard of care that accomplishes three goals: screen patients for distress and other problems, coordinate and connect patients with health care or service providers who can treat these problems, and periodically re-evaluate patients to determine if patient care needs adjustment.

- Cancer Patients In Need of Psychological and Social Support video

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