Breast Cancer

New practice guideline now recommends a 2-mm margin width as the standard for patients with DCIS undergoing breast-conserving surgery.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among Black women of all ages and is increasing in younger women in the U.S.

What do patients think about being tested for many genes that may impact their hereditary risk for breast or ovarian cancer, beyond the well-known BRCA mutations?

A study involving women with a BRCA mutation who had risk-reducing surgery to lower their risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer found that many of these individuals have surgical procedures such as oophorectomy or mastectomy without a full understanding of how they will affect their sexuality and other aspects of their lives.

The field of breast cancer has evolved from the days of defaulting to chemotherapy for every patient, yet much work remains to individualize treatment. Though more promising novel regimens have become available, an expert urges clinicians to carefully weigh whether a particular new agent will provide a significant enough benefit to offset its associated toxicities, cost, and the time and commitment by the patient it requires.

Hope S. Rugo, MD, professor of Medicine and director of breast oncology and clinical trials education at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses DigniCap, a scalp cooling device to prevent chemotherapy-induced hair loss.

Many risk factors for breast cancer have been identified. One suspected risk factor is in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment; however, several studies have been inconclusive because of limited follow-up.

Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD, MPH, professor of Public Health Sciences and associate director of Population Sciences at the Penn State Cancer Institute, discusses what researchers already know regarding diet and exercise and breast cancer, and what questions are yet to be answered.

Debu Tripathy, MD, chair of the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the potential for using breast cancer tumor DNA to make treatment decisions.

Olga Ivanov, MD, breast cancer surgeon at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute, discusses sexual difficulties women who have had risk-reducing cancer surgery face.

A study of women treated with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus plus exemestane for their advanced breast cancer found that daily use of an alcohol-free, steroid-based mouthwash markedly decreased the incidence and severity of stomatitis, and the researchers recommend that this preventive regimen become standard of care in this setting.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine explored the use of the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13) in predicting functional decline and death within 1 year of breast cancer treatment.

Kelly Kenzik, MS, PhD, epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, discusses her findings regarding long-term mortality disparities among African American and white women with breast cancer.

Although public awareness of breast cancer is generally high, this is not the case for metastatic breast cancer, and the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is partnering with leading cancer advocacy groups on a new project to change that.

As survivorship rates for cancer have increased, so has the awareness of the emotional toll cancer has on a person rather than just the physical.

Halle Moore, MD, medical oncologist, Cleveland Clinic, discusses survivorship issues and symptoms that breast cancer survivors face.

Duration of aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy for postmenopausal women with early stage breast cancer has been debated for some time.

Short-term group acupuncture is valuable and cost-effective for patients with breast cancer, though it may not be the first form of therapy that comes to mind when trying to manage cancer pain.

While it is known that overweight and obese survivors of breast cancer experience poorer outcomes, gaps remain with regard to risk perception and communication between survivors and health care providers.

Tara Sanft, MD, Yale Cancer Center, discusses VEGF as a possible link between diabetes and cancer.

Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the immediate and long-term effects of febrile neutropenia.

Women who extended their adjuvant therapy with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) to 10 years after treatment for their early-stage HR-positive breast cancer reduced their risk of recurrence by more than a third and experienced no new toxicities or worsening of quality of life.

Researchers are hoping that a new nationwide effort aimed at helping patients to share their tumor samples and clinical information will lead to new discoveries and better treatments for metastatic breast cancer.

Women with a history of infertility, and have undergone hormonal fertility treatment have denser breast tissue, which may increase their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.