Breast Cancer

The long-term, worldwide trend of rising breast cancer mortality has apparently been reversed in several countries, with significant declines reported in the 1990s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. These are the findings of a study

NEW ORLEANS-Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast is more accurate than conventional methods for identifying the extent of invasive lobular carcinoma, according to a study presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting.

PHILADELPHIA-“Breast cancer is the most frequent misdiagnosis leading to professional liability litigation, and the most common breast cancer malpractice lawsuit is for misdiagnosis,” Kenneth Kern, MD, said at a 47th Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Furthermore, failing to detect breast cancer is among the top three law-suit-causing diagnostic errors made by internists, radiologists, general surgeons, OB-GYNs, and family practitioners, said Dr. Kern, of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Dartmouth Medical School. Dr. Kern derived these conclusions from several databases, including the NCI’s SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results) Program, the Physician Insurers Association of America Data Sharing Reports, and the US Civil Litigation survey.

Research conducted at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, suggests that the most serious and costly side effects of high-dose chemotherapy for breast cancer, including long-term hospitalization and severe inflammation of the

Despite a recent decline in incidence and mortality, breast cancer currently develops in one of eight North American women who live to 85 years of age, and remains the major cause of death in American women between the ages of 15 and 54.[1,2]

ATLANTA-Compared with other accepted medical interventions, breast cancer prevention with tamoxifen (Nolvadex) therapy is cost-effective, according to a poster presented at the ASCO annual meeting

Regular mammography screening combined with timely and appropriate treatment can reduce mortality from breast cancer by 30% in women ages 50 to 69 years and by 16% in women ages 40 to 49 years. A physician’s recommendation has

SILVER SPRING, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) has recommended that the FDA approve Ellence (epirubicin hydrochloride for injection, Pharmacia & Upjohn) for use as a component of adjuvant therapy in patients with evidence of axillary node tumor involvement following resection of primary breast cancer (stage II and III).

I would like to comment about Dr. Vicente Valero’s response to Dr. Padmini Iyer’s question regarding adjuvant therapy for a postmenopausal woman with stage IIIA breast cancer. Although Dr. Valero’s response was quite detailed with regard to chemotherapy, no mention was made about the role of radiation therapy in patients with advanced breast cancer.

The Cord Blood Registry, in collaboration with the Cord Blood Donor Foundation, is participating in a Breast Cancer Study at Stanford University School of Medicine. The study, funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, will

Marks, Hardenbergh, and Prosnitz provide an excellentoverview of the role of postmastectomy radiation therapy for node-positive breast cancer patients. Their review not only summarizes the most recent literature supporting the clearly established

Although a substantial number of women will suffer and die from breast cancer during the upcoming years, we clearly have made stepwise progress in treating patients with this cancer over the last 3 decades. Each of these steps of progress has led to

Postmastectomy locoregional radiation therapy markedly reduces the risk of locoregional recurrence. Several randomized trials, including two recently updated studies with 10- to 15-year follow-up, demonstrate an

NEW ORLEANS-Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is being employed increasingly in breast cancer, both in the research and clinical setting. A surgeon’s perspective on this modality was offered at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting by Benjamin O. Anderson, MD, medical director of the BioClinical Breast Care Program, University of Washington, Seattle

WASHINGTON-Enrollment for the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR), the largest cancer prevention trial yet undertaken, began May 25, and randomization of participants to the trial’s two arms is expected to start in July. The double-blind study of 22,000 woman at increased risk of breast cancer will compare the two drugs’ effectiveness in preventing the disease as well as their side-effects profiles.

DALLAS-The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is encouraging women and their physicians to “REMEMBER” a new breast health awareness campaign. The Foundation’s health education initiative adds Risk Evaluation to the traditional three-part program of Mammography Exam, Monthly Breast Exam, and Regular checkups, resulting in the acronym REMEMBER.

NEW YORK-Daughters of women with breast cancer face a broad range of medical, practical, and emotional issues, from their roles as advocates and caregivers to their own risk of developing the disease. A teleconference organized by Cancer Care, Inc., addressed these issues for an audience of more than 400 in the United States and Canada.

Some factors that lead to the development of breast cancer are similar to those responsible for the development of ovarian cancer, say the authors of a new study. Consequently, women who survive breast cancer, especially those under the age of

SAN FRANCISCO-Women who have survived breast cancer are at increased risk for subsequent ovarian cancer, and this risk is especially high in women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50 and in African-American, Asian, and Hispanic women, according to data presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

NEW ORLEANS-When talking with women about their personal risk of developing breast cancer, “terms such as relative risk are not very useful,” Patricia Kelly, PhD, said at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting, co-sponsored by the Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans.

ASCO-Substituting epirubicin for methotrexate in a commonly used adjuvant regimen significantly increased survival for premenopausal women with node-negative early-stage breast cancer in a randomized study by the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group and Swedish Oncology Centers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting

NEW ORLEANS-The diagnosis of breast cancer is becoming less invasive and far more accurate, said Steve H. Parker, MD, director of the Sally Jobe Breast Centre, Denver. Dr. Parker delivered the plenary lecture at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting, cosponsored by the Ochsner Medical Foundation.

NEW ORLEANS-Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains strongly associated with the development of breast cancer in the minds of many. But the discerning clinician should “go beyond P values and relative risk” and use the known data to make decisions regarding this issue, John C. Arpels, MD, said at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting.

ASCO-A multicenter, open-label, phase II study has confirmed results of the pivotal study of capecitabine (Xeloda) for treatment of taxane-refractory metastatic breast cancer. In this study, 25% of patients with measurable disease treated with capecitabine responded, with a median duration of response of 8.3 months, median time to progression of 3.2 months, and median survival of 12.3 months.

We evaluated combination therapy for advanced and recurrent breast cancer with cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), doxorubicin (Adriamycin), uracil and tegafur (UFT), and tamoxifen (Nolvadex) (CAUT), designed as

Paclitaxel (Taxol) is one of the most active drugs in the treatment of ovarian and breast cancers. Combination therapy with paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) exhibits high activity in anthracycline-pretreated breast cancer,

This is a phase I dose-escalation study of uracil and tegafur (in a molar ratio of 4:1 [UFT]) administered in combination with calcium folinate and paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer. This trial was initiated to 1)

Uracil and tegafur (in a molar ratio of 4:1 [UFT]) has proven activity against breast cancer and is delivered in an easy-to-administer oral formulation. Orzel, which combines UFT with the oral biomodulator, calcium folinate, may

Use of continuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer has met with some success in recent years. In order to build on this experience, investigators at the Royal Marsden Hospital and

This phase I study was designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting side effects of combination treatment with paclitaxel (Taxol) and UFT (uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar ratio) plus oral