American women have a 12 percent lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer, the second most common cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society. While young women do get breast cancer, the disease is much more common in women aged 60 and older. Rachel Freedman, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist at the … Read more
A metastatic breast cancer diagnosis can be a stressful, life-changing event. While metastatic breast cancer it is not curable, it is treatable. Today, with the help of new treatments including biologic targeted therapies and novel drug combinations, many patients with metastatic disease can live well for years. Metastatic breast cancer means that the cancer has … Read more
Young women with breast cancer face many unique emotional challenges: They may be in college, dating, starting a career, raising a family, or trying to start one. “Cancer disrupts many aspects of young adulthood such as family planning, careers, relationships, sexuality, and sexual health,” said Karen Fasciano, PsyD, clinical psychologist and director of Dana-Farber’s Young … Read more
Every day, Pat Hastings is in the barn by 5 a.m. As steward of the Hamilton Rare Breeds Foundation in Hartland, Vt., Hastings oversees herds of Poitou donkeys, Choctaw mustangs, Dales ponies, and American Cream draft horses. She has worked on farms for 35 years, and it’s here, with her horses, that she recovers from … Read more
For many women with localized breast cancer, a lumpectomy followed by breast radiation therapy may be the most effective treatment, with survival rates equal to a mastectomy. But if the cancer comes back, can women have additional lumpectomies? Women should not have a second lumpectomy in the same breast if they were previously treated with … Read more
Duncan Finigan isn’t fond of the phrase “stage IV.” “I choose to call it treatable, non-curable cancer, or a chronic disease,” the mom of four says. Following a physical exam by a new gynecologist last October, Finigan expedited her December mammogram, which ultimately led to an MRI, ultrasound, and a diagnosis of stage IV breast … Read more
This post originally appeared on Critical Mass as part of the 2015 National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week. By Beth Fairchild My name is Beth Fairchild. In my former life, I was an artist, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend. Now, while I may still be all of these, I have added fearless fighter and … Read more
Chemotherapy before surgery shrank triple-negative breast tumors in women in a clinical trial to the point where half of those who had not been eligible for breast-conserving surgery became eligible for it, according to investigators at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The findings were reported at the American Surgical Association annual meeting and in … Read more
By Deb Norris My life plays like a Lifetime movie. I was born tall, blonde, with big breasts (note – they later tried to kill me). I was the straight-A cheerleader who dated the captain of the football team and became a corporate executive. Friends teased me that I lived a charmed life. Then at … Read more
Radiation therapy, which uses radiation to kill cancer cells, is a common treatment option for breast cancer patients. After a lumpectomy, a standard course of radiation therapy with breast cancer lasts six weeks. A new option for some breast cancer patients uses slightly higher doses of radiation over a shorter period of time. Both the … Read more
It was a Monday when Katie Lazdowski got the news no 33-year-old mother expects to hear: “You have breast cancer.” Waiting is never easy, but waiting to find out what’s next after a cancer diagnosis can be excruciating. After meeting with a local oncologist in Amherst, Mass., about two hours west of Boston, on Wednesday, … Read more
Nearly 40 years after its introduction, tamoxifen continues to prove its value as a breast cancer prevention drug. The most recent evidence comes from the International Breast Cancer Prevention Study 1 (IBIS-1), which for 20 years has been tracking breast cancer occurrence and survival rates in more than 7,000 women who had a higher than average … Read more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for women with advanced (metastatic) breast cancer. The new therapy, palbociclib, will be used to treat postmenopausal women with metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer who have not received previous treatment. Palbociclib, which is marketed under the name Ibrance, will be used in combination … Read more
After a breast cancer diagnosis, it can sometimes be hard to wrap one’s mind around all of the terminology used by doctors and nurses. In fact, a recent study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found a significant lack of knowledge among breast cancer patients about the basic characteristics of their disease, including how advanced it is … Read more
This post was originally published in January 2015. The link between pregnancy and breast cancer has been a focus of breast cancer research over the last decade, which has shown that there are a variety of factors related to pregnancy that can play a role in developing breast cancer. After a pregnancy, a woman’s short-term … Read more
Young women may think about having children, but when diagnosed with breast cancer, patients often face these decisions long before they thought they would have to. For Maggie Loucks, NP-C, who was diagnosed at age 28, preserving fertility became a major factor in deciding what treatment plan to pursue. “You’re 28-years old and you want to … Read more
For many women with breast cancer, a mastectomy, or removal of the breast, is a necessary part of treatment. Although breast reconstruction is available to most women, some choose to use prosthetics to replace the missing breast(s). If a patient decides to use prosthetics, there are special types of apparel, known as mastectomy clothing, which can … Read more
Metastatic breast cancer (MBC), also known as stage IV breast cancer or advanced stage breast cancer, ultimately affects approximately 20-25 percent of all people with breast cancer. There is no cure for MBC, but new developments in treatment and research are helping patients live longer and experience a better quality of life. “There are women … Read more
Twenty years ago, scientists announced the discovery of BRCA1, which arguably has become the best-known cancer susceptibility gene in the world. When inherited in a mutated form, the gene sharply increases a woman’s chances of developing breast or ovarian cancer, often at an early age. The discovery has changed the way women with a family … Read more
Lise Pass has been living with metastatic breast cancer for nearly a decade, but she prefers focusing not on her disease, but rather on her children – all 48 of them. In addition to a biological son and daughter who are now adults, Pass and her husband Harry have been foster parents to 46 boys … Read more