Many women who undergo a mastectomy, either to treat breast cancer or reduce their risk for the disease, are eligible for reconstructive procedures that restore the shape of the lost breast. The choice a woman makes – whether to have reconstruction, what type, and when – is highly personal, and takes into account her overall … Read more
By Melissa Angiolillo When I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer at age 35, I was overcome with fear. Buried within that fear was guilt that I wasn’t handling my diagnosis the “right” way. The pressure to be positive was overwhelming. It seemed as though I was expected to wrap myself in a pink … Read more
Not only are more effective drugs for breast cancer coming to the clinic, but oncologists are making important progress in matching breast cancer treatment to specific patients and the molecular characteristics of their tumors. It’s also becoming more feasible to rachet the intensity of treatment up or down depending on the patient’s risk status, and … Read more
When Catherine Goff was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma while attending college in the 1970s, it was the shock of a lifetime. Less surprising – but still life-changing – was her later diagnosis with breast cancer, a common secondary cancer for patients like Goff who received high doses of radiation therapy to the chest. Between these … Read more
When Erin’s phone rang the night before her first visit to Dana-Farber’s Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers, she was surprised to hear the voice of the oncologist she would see the next day: Ann Partridge, MD, MPH. “She called to tell me it was going to be okay,” says Erin, who was 36 … Read more
Just as there are many types of breast-conserving surgery or reconstruction available to cancer patients after mastectomies or lumpectomies, there are a variety of considerations for those who – after consultation with their oncologist – decide to forego more surgery and wear breast prostheses (or breast forms and partial shapers). Diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer … Read more
Following surgery and/or radiation for early stage breast cancer, chemotherapy is sometimes given to eliminate remaining cancer cells that could cause trouble later. Traditionally, women have been more likely to undergo follow-up chemotherapy if clinical and pathological factors suggested a significant risk of recurrence, such as a larger tumor, higher stage and pathological grade of … Read more
Although there is currently little evidence that breast self-exams help find breast cancer early when women also get screening mammograms, doing regular self-exams can be a way for you to keep track of how your breasts look and feel, according to the American Cancer Society. Any changes in your breasts should be reported to your … Read more
Most breast lumps are not cancer. But many myths persist about the relationship between the two – including whether a woman can tell if a lump is cancer by the way it feels, and whether a small lump is less likely to be cancer than a large lump. With the help of Beth Overmoyer, MD, … Read more
As a breast cancer survivor living an hour away from Boston, Deb Ragosta was thrilled when Milford Regional Medical Center – located just a few minutes from her Hopedale, Mass., home – became affiliated with Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) in 2008. While she had completed active treatment in 1995, she knew the partnership … Read more
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” may be a valid philosophy in general, but not in dealing with the molecular machinery of cancer cells. There, the applicable motto might be might be, “If it’s broke, keep it that way.” That’s the approach taken by a class of targeted drugs known as PARP inhibitors, which … Read more
By Srivani Ravoori, PhD, American Association for Cancer Research This post first appeared on the Cancer Today website. In a study presented Dec. 7 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers conducted genomic analysis of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer samples that had become resistant to therapies. They found multiple alterations that were not … Read more
Adjuvant therapies are treatments that are given after surgery or other frontline therapy to reduce the risk that cancer will come back. Frontline therapy may succeed in removing or eliminating the entire visible mass of a tumor, but tiny, undetectable traces of it may remain in the body. Adjuvant therapy is designed to kill or … Read more
Neoadjuvant therapy is given to shrink a tumor in advance of the main treatment, which is usually surgery. It is sometimes called preoperative or induction therapy. The most common forms of neoadjuvant therapy are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy. By shrinking tumors prior to removal, these treatments can make surgery easier for both the … Read more
When Trish Vickery learned in 2013 that she had inflammatory breast cancer, she knew all too well the gravity of her diagnosis. Her mother had died from the disease. Yet Vickery is living a full and energetic life — working, traveling, exercising, rowing on the Charles River in Boston, and spending time with her husband … Read more
Radiation therapy is one of the pillars of breast cancer treatment and may be used at any stage of the disease. It is primarily used in one of two ways: to decrease the chance of the cancer recurring following surgery, or to palliate symptoms of metastatic disease. What is radiation therapy? Radiation consists of beams of … Read more
By Sandy Cassanelli Finding out I had breast cancer in 2013 was very hard; learning two years later that my cancer was metastatic was even more distressing. But both times, exercise helped me face my situation. I was in the best shape of my life when I was diagnosed at age 36. I was running, … Read more
Aromatase inhibitors are drugs given to patients with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer (HR+). They target the aromatase enzyme, which helps produce female hormones such as estrogen. Estrogen drives the growth of many HR+ tumors, and these drugs help control estrogen production, says Harold Burstein, MD, PhD, a breast cancer specialist in the Susan F. Smith Center … Read more
By Eric Winer, MD When a woman learns she has breast cancer, and she has cancer treatment available to her, it is only natural that she and her doctor would choose a powerful course of action. And in many cases, this approach makes sense. However, aggressive treatments often come with consequences. Bigger surgeries lead to … Read more
When Cathy McCue, 44, tried to find words to tell her 8-year-old twin boys about her cancer, she turned to books like “Mom Has Cancer” and “Nowhere Hair.” Her own story began in June 2015, when she felt a pain in her right breast while at the gym. After finding a lump later that night, … Read more