Aromatase Therapy May Lessen Contralateral Breast Cancer Risk

Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer may find their risk for developing the disease in their healthy breast rises. While prophylactic mastectomies are sometimes recommended, a different form of therapy may offer hope for those who wish to avoid this eventuality. Researchers have found that aromatase inhibitors may help reduce the risk of contralateral breast cancer in women who carry very specific genetic mutations.

To arrive at those findings, researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston tracked women who were BRCA mutation carriers and who had been diagnosed with hormone-positive breast cancer. These women opted against prophylactic mastectomies.  While researchers found that women with BRCA 1 and 2 mutations were more likely to develop contralateral breast cancer, the risk fell in those who received aromatase inhibitors.

The findings, researchers say, may help women who are BRCA 1 or 2 positive prevent the development of contralateral breast cancer. While more research is needed to confirm the findings, the study indicates this form of therapy could hold promise for women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and wish to avoid double mastectomies.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in American women. Women are urged to speak with their healthcare providers for information on early detection and to gauge their specific risk. Women who carry the BRCA gene mutations may be at higher risk for developing this disease. Routine self-examinations, clinical exams and mammograms can help in the early detection of this disease should it present.

Should breast cancer be diagnosed, women should explore all the facts related to their case. While aromatase therapy may lower the risk for contralateral breast cancer, it may not be advised in all cases. Prophylactic mastectomies may still offer the best chance for avoiding complications down the road.

SBRT May Improve Lung Cancer Survival in Elderly Patients

Helping elderly patients diagnosed with a certain type of lung cancer enjoy a longer survival rate might be possible with the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT for short. New researcher indicates this treatment commonly used in medically inoperable cases can also have a positive benefit on the elderly.

SBRT has been proven very helpful in treating elderly patients who have early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To arrive at these findings, researchers at Emory University in Atlanta conducted a study on patients age 70 or older. While the current protocol for patients age 70 or older with NSCLC is observation, SBRT showed strong results, researchers found.

The study involved a total of 3,147 patients all age 70 or older. The patients had been diagnosed with NSCLC.  Out of the main group, 258 patients underwent SBRT treatments while another 2,889 patients received no treatment at all. The study showed that patients in the SBRT group had a 36 percent lower risk of death than patients who were not treated.

Lung cancer is a very serious disease that often leads to mortality. When patients are of more advanced age, doctors often seek to provide support care rather than expose patients to treatments that may present with severe side effects. Patients age 70 or older, however, may find that SBRT may offer them a ray of hope for leading a longer, fuller life, making potential risks worth the possible reward.

Patients of any age who are diagnosed with lung cancer are urged to carefully discuss all their treatment options with their healthcare providers. It is important to carefully weigh the potential rewards of treatment against the likely risks. The best course of action often centers entirely on the unique case, patient preference and the likelihood of a positive outcome.

2nd Cancers Rising in America

While overall new cases of cancer diagnosed in America are showing a downward trend, the rate of diagnosis for second cancers is on the uptick. Second cancers are not recurrences or spreading of the original disease. They are a new type of cancer or a new site of disease that is diagnosed in someone who has previously undergone treatment.

The shock of being diagnosed with a brand new type of cancer after having faced down the disease in the past can be incredibly difficult for patients to endure. This is, however, becoming a rather common occurrence as researchers say nearly one in five new cases reported in the United States is actually a patient who has had cancer before. The rise of second cancers has been sharp over the past two decades, researchers note. Back in the 1970s, second cancers accounted for only about 9 percent of all reported new cases. Now, that number has climbed to 19 percent with some people facing third, fourth or even more cancer diagnoses over the course of their lifetimes.

Treating second cancers can be traumatizing for patients and difficult for doctors, researchers say. For patients there’s a sense of disbelief that is quickly followed by a grim understanding of the treatments that are yet to come. For doctors, options for treatment may be problematic. For example, radiation often cannot be given to the same basic region of the body two times. Some highly effective cancer-fighting drugs may also have lifetime dose limits, complicating matters more.

As the number of second cancer cases continue to rise, doctors do stress that a new diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the world. Oftentimes, if the new cancer is caught early enough, doctors can devise effective treatment plans. That means people who have faced cancer before are urged to not neglect screenings for other cancers. They are also urged to go in for routine follow-ups.

People who have been diagnosed with cancer in the past are advised to speak with their healthcare providers about their risks for other forms of the disease. The best screening recommendations will come from healthcare providers that understand the patient’s unique case.

New Rules Mean Those at Lung Cancer Risk May Receive Annual Screening

Lung cancer, like many other forms of this often devastating disease, is generally easier for medical professionals to tackle when it is caught as early as possible. Early detection, however, has sometimes been hampered by a lack of access to more advanced screening procedures to find this disease in earlier stages. All of that is beginning to change.

Courtesy of studies that have demonstrated higher survival rates for patients whose cancer is found early, Medicare has announced that it will cover low-dose computed tomography (CT) screenings on an annual basis for some at-risk patients. While the rules may vary somewhat based on the specific insurance a person has, the door for better screening has been opened.

Understanding the ins and outs of the new rules is important not only for medical professionals, but also patients who may find themselves asked to report for yearly exams. Under the new rules, those at highest risk for lung cancer development will be provided access to CT screening exams.

Medicare defines higher risk patients as those who are current or former smokers age 55 to 77, and sometimes up to age 80. People eligible for yearly exams must have smoked what amounts to about a pack a day for 30 years or more. For those former smokers, they need to have quit within the previous 15 years to be considered eligible. It’s also important to note that eligible screening candidates should have no current respiratory symptoms.

The reason for the change in the rules is simple: CT scans can lead to more effective early interventions. The National Lung Screening Trial found that CT scans can reduce the mortality rate of heavy smokers by 20 percent by leading to faster, more effective interventions. The increase in effectiveness is compared to standard X-ray exams.

People who are at high risk for lung cancer are urged to talk with their medical professionals about reducing their risks. Depending on age and length of habit, more aggressive early screening options may be available.

Radiation Therapies Have Improved by Leaps and Bounds

Radiation therapy for cancer treatment has long been proven to be beneficial. This type of treatment, however, presented some potential pitfalls in its application. While high-energy radiation is known to damage DNA so completely that cancer cells die, the cells around a tumor can also be harmed in the process.

Practitioners say advancements in this technology have combined to make radiation treatments safer today than they’ve ever been before. New technologies in the treatment of different types of cancer have enabled doctors to better pinpoint these therapies to eradicate cancer while sparing as many other cells as possible. Here are just a few of the advancements that have been made to make radiation treatment safer:

• Better positioning for breast cancer patients – A simple change of patient positioning during radiation treatments has proven incredibly beneficial for producing safer results. Rather than have a patient lie on the back, doctors are finding a facedown position pulls radiation away from the heart and lungs while reducing the amount of tissue irradiated in the right breast by 86 percent and 91 percent in the left.

• Prostate cancer spacer gel – This new technique enables a spacing gel to be placed between the prostate and the rectum that effectively moves the rectum out of the way during treatment. This can spare the rectum from taking collateral damage.

• Better insights – Image-guided radiation therapy has enabled doctors to better see a tumor before and during treatment. This, in turn, improves precision and accuracy of treatments.

• Reduced treatment requirements – Some forms of cancer, such as lung, liver and spine, are now requiring fewer treatments courtesy of stereotactic body radiation therapy. This can limit collateral exposure while still proving effective in treatment.

• Better access – Technological advances, such as proton-beam therapy, have enabled doctors to target hard-to-reach tumors better with lower doses of radiation.

Radiation therapy has come a long way in recent years. Thanks to advances, doctors are often able to spare nearby cells while still ensuring effective tumor shrinkage.

The Cancer Notebook: Why You Need One?

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, chances are pretty strong you have a lot of questions on your mind. Unfortunately, it’s also likely these questions are coming so fast and furious you can’t sort them well enough to speak a coherent sentence let alone carry on a serious conversation with your doctor.

It’s OK! Just breathe, give yourself some time to process what you’ve been told and grab a notebook. That’s right, a notebook!
Your notebook doesn’t have to be fancy to be beneficial – a basic ring design will work fine. As you square off to fight the disease, this notebook can come in handy for such things as:

•    Jotting down questions for your doctor – Following the initial diagnosis, you’ll have lots of questions about treatment options, what to expect, how long the process should take and so on. Dedicate a portion of your notebook specifically for questions you need to ask your doctor. Be sure to leave space so you can write down notes as he or she answers, too.

•    Recording your thoughts – Cancer treatments can be scary and it sometimes helps to simply write down your thoughts, hopes, dreams and fears. This can help you get through long night when sleep just won’t come and it can also assist while you’re waiting on appointments you’d rather not be at.

•    Keeping a record of side effects – While side effects and many cancer treatments do go hand in hand, that’s not always the case. Err on the side of caution by writing down all symptoms for review by your doctor at your next appointment. Remember, if symptoms are severe, it’s best to call right away and not wait for that appointment.

Facing off with cancer is no easy task and neither is keeping all the questions in your mind straight as you prepare for battle. A “cancer notebook” can help you make sure the questions that need to be asked are.

Click here if you have any doubt related to colon cancer care.

Using the Internet to Provide Cancer Support

There are millions of people who have battled cancer and who will battle cancer in the future. And yet when your loved one is diagnosed with cancer - or you, yourself, are diagnosed with cancer - it can suddenly feel as if you are alone in the world. There is nothing lonelier that trying to decipher all the information about a disease from which you are suddenly inseparable and determine what to do in terms of treatment. It is a surreal, overwhelming time and it can feel as if you are adrift in a boat over which you have no control.

Slowly but surely most of us will realize that we indeed have a rich and varied community available to us - membership in a club that none of us wanted to join. But that membership does mean that we have access to people who have come before us and, in turn, we are able to provide that support to those who will inevitably come after us. We have the benefit of their experiences and the information they have gathered, and this can very much help us feel that we are not so alone. There are others who have felt this indescribable feeling; others who have stood where we now stand.

In the age of the internet we are luckier than ever in having access to this information and community support. Using the internet - community forums, online support groups, cancer informational resource pages, and more - we can:

• Better understand the details of our diagnosis and the treatment options that are available to us.
• Learn what questions we should be asking of our doctors.
• Read about natural options for helping to ease symptoms that arise from treatment.
• Talk with people who truly understand what we are feeling.
• Give us hope by reading the stories of those who have battled before us and come out the other side.

Take advantage of all that the internet has to offer in terms of helping us to achieve a better understanding of cancer and a calmer, more positive outlook in our health care plan.

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Scheduling Cancer Screenings for the New Year

There is a significant amount of information regarding cancer - including types, stages, diagnosis, treatment, causes, and much, much more. Sifting through the information depends on your diagnosis - or potential diagnosis - and if you will be undergoing treatment. But one piece of information seems to remain consistent across the board - early diagnosis is absolutely crucial for successful treatment in most cases and in very many cases can save your life. Yet people still often put off the screenings that they know they should be having.

Now, with the New Year upon us, it’s a great time to make a commitment to ourselves and our health by scheduling our routine screenings.

•    Women who are age 21 and older should make their appointments with their gynecologist to get a regular pap smear - a routine screening for cervical cancer.

•    Starting at age 40, women should schedule their mammogram appointments which screens for breast cancer. For women who have been told by their doctor that they have dense breast tissue, a breast ultrasound may be ordered as a supplement to - or instead of - a mammogram.

•    Both men and women age 50 or over should schedule a colonoscopy - a test that screens for polyps and colon cancer.

•    Beginning at age 50, men should be screened for prostate cancer - an easy screening that takes place right in the doctor’s office.

With this new commitment to regular screenings on the table, it is also important to commit to a healthy lifestyle through a healthy diet, regular exercise, regular use of sun block, staying away from tobacco, and limiting alcohol use.

There are none among us who would skip a regular screening for our children but, sadly, many of us do much better at taking care of others than we do at taking care of ourselves. Now is the time. When it comes to overall health and cancer prevention, make this New Year your new start for getting healthy and taking care of yourself.

Click here if you have any doubt related to breast cancer care.