Breast cancer

How Dana-Farber Investigators Seize Opportunities to Advance Medicine

by

Investigators who run investigator-initiated trials (IITs) have two essential qualities. One is curiosity, which keeps them alert, aware of discoveries, and able to make connections that lead to new treatment ideas.   The second is determination.   “The burden of responsibility for what is typically a many-year-long study falls on that one investigator,” says Ursula Matulonis, MD, … Read more

Lumpectomy vs. Mastectomy: Five Things to Consider 

by

A frequent component of treatment for breast cancer is surgery to remove the cancer.   While mastectomy was more common in decades past, experts at Dana-Farber want you to know that science and treatment have advanced. Improved screening, early diagnosis, and advances in medicine are enabling many more patients to have the option of breast-conserving surgery, … Read more

Tailored Treatment and Support for Older Adults with Breast Cancer 

by

The trip from Nantucket to Boston, involving a long drive and ferry ride, is an arduous four-hour journey (not counting summer traffic). But when Nantucket resident and retired educator, Claudia Kilvert, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she committed to regularly getting in the car with her husband and 80-pound golden retriever Luna to get treatment … Read more

What’s the Connection Between BRCA and Ashkenazi Jewish Ancestry? 

by

People who inherit mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at heightened risk for a variety of cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic. It’s estimated that one in 300-400 people in the general population carry a mutation in either of these genes. Among people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent, the prevalence is … Read more

Research Drives Key Protein from the Shadows to Reveal Its Role in Breast Cancer Subtype 

by

In a branch of the PI3K protein family — with members named PI3Kα, PI3Kβ, PI3Kδ, and PI3Kγ — PI3Kβ was long treated as the proverbial middle child: neglected by cancer scientists in favor of its more prominent siblings.  In a new study, Dana-Farber researchers demonstrate that it doesn’t deserve its obscurity — that in fact … Read more

Finding Reason to Laugh with Metastatic Breast Cancer 

by

By Valerie Frank Ever since I can remember, I’ve made people laugh. ​​I was always the funny friend, and when I was in my mid-20s I made it official by becoming a Main Stage cast member of ImprovBoston — an improvisational comedy theater in Cambridge, MA. Once I retired from improv to become a suburban … Read more

What is HER2-Low Breast Cancer? 

by

One of the ways of classifying breast cancers is by the level of a protein called HER2 on the surface of tumor cells. HER2, which stands for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, helps control how breast cells grow, divide, and repair damage.  Breast cancers marked by high levels of HER2 are known as HER2-positive … Read more

Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, Mother is Given a Chance to Raise Her Son 

by

Just over a year after giving birth to her son, Emmett, Abigail Myers faced a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in March 2014.   It started when Myers woke up one morning feeling sore. When she found a lump, she rushed to her doctor, all the while in disbelief that she might have cancer.  A resident … Read more

Do Contraceptives Reduce or Increase the Risk of Cancer?

by

Millions of people regularly take or use contraceptives, such as birth control pills, to avoid unwanted pregnancy or relieve menstruation-related side effects such as cramps or heavy bleeding.   There is some evidence that contraceptives may affect cancer risk — specifically, that oral contraceptives may increase the likelihood of developing breast and cervical cancers but reduce … Read more

Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, Valentines Ferry On

by

At first, Joy Mills and Arthur “Buck” Benedict look like any other happy, older couple traveling by ferry from their home on Peaks Island, Maine, to Portland. Admiring the beautiful views, they sit outside when weather permits. They laugh, chat with friends, and occasionally needle each other during the 18-minute trip.  Once a month, the … Read more

Breast Cancer Patient Achieves Her Dreams Thanks to Dana-Farber Care 

by

When Jennifer Fullerton was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, her mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. “I thought I was going to die. That first day all I could think was ‘why me,’” Fullerton says. “My mom very poignantly told me, ‘Today you can say ‘why me,’ but tomorrow, ‘why not me’. And you … Read more

Mother, Community Leader with Breast Cancer Has Remarkable Response to Immunotherapy

by

Nancy Arsenault was taking a lunch break from driving her elementary school bus route in her hometown of Stow, Massachusetts, when she began to experience double vision. She had been first diagnosed with pre-invasive breast cancer in 2006, which recurred in 2011. In 2019, she developed an invasive breast cancer in her chest wall and … Read more

Can Plant-Based Diets Help Prevent Breast Cancer?

by

Plant-based diets have many known health benefits, but can they reduce the risk of breast cancer? In fact, some evidence suggests that people who eat rich in non-starchy vegetables may be at lower risk of some kinds of breast cancer. However, Dana-Farber physician and researcher Jennifer Ligibel, MD, cautions that the evidence that consuming a … Read more