New results presented at the 12th European Breast Cancer Conference show that a test, which looks at the activity of 70 genes in breast cancer tissue, is possible to use in the clinic to identify patients with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) that is at high risk of recurring and progressing. Adjuvant treatments, such as chemotherapy, […]
Category: Cancer
Bridging the age gap: two studies show how older breast cancer patients can be treated more effectively
Women with breast cancer who are aged older than 70 years are sometimes not offered surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy because doctors believe their patients will not be able to tolerate these treatments and will derive little benefit from them. These decisions may contribute to worse breast cancer survival rates for older women than for younger […]
Pattern of gut bacteria linked to effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients
Researchers studying the activity of gut bacteria in breast cancer patients have found a possible link with how well their chemotherapy works. The study, presented at the 12th European Breast Cancer Conference, included a small group of women who were being treated with chemotherapy before surgery. In some women, where the chemotherapy seemed to eliminate […]
Spotting breast cancer that has spread to the brain before it causes symptoms could improve survival
Breast cancer patients whose disease has spread to their brains fare better if their metastases are picked up before they begin to cause symptoms, according to a study presented at the 12th European Breast Cancer Conference. Breast cancer that spreads to the brain is becoming more common and it is one reason why the disease […]
‘Social smokers’ face disproportionately high risk of death from lung disease and lung cancer
‘Social smokers’ are more than twice as likely to die of lung disease and more than eight times as likely to die of lung cancer than non-smokers, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress. [1] The study also shows that the risk of lung cancer death for ‘social smokers’ – those […]
Breast cancer drug, olaparib, depletes store of immature eggs in mouse ovaries
Fertility preservation counselling should be considered for young women before treatment with the drug, say researchers Australian researchers have shown for the first time that a new drug used to treat breast cancer patients damages the store of immature eggs in the ovaries of mice. The authors of the study, which is published in Human […]
First comparison of dangers of tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarettes and water pipes
Any smoking and vaping technique may increase risk of COVID-19 infection and death Smoking and vaping, whether by means of tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarettes or waterpipes, stiffens the arteries, causes inflammation and damages DNA, leading to a variety of health problems, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal [1]. In addition, smoking and […]
What are your chances of having a second IVF baby after fertility treatment for the first?
Women have a good chance of having a second child with the help of fertility treatment after the birth of their first child born this way, according to the first study to investigate this, published in Human Reproduction [1], one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals. Researchers in Australia calculated that after a woman […]
Androgen-deprivation treatments for prostate cancer could protect men from COVID-19
A study of 4532 men in the Veneto region of Italy has found that those who were being treated for prostate cancer with androgen-deprivation therapies (ADT) were less likely to develop the coronavirus COVID-19 and, if they were infected, the disease was less severe. The authors of the study, published in the leading cancer journal […]
Death rates from prostate cancer predicted to decline overall in EU but rise in Poland
Lung and pancreatic cancer death rates continue to rise in women Death rates from prostate cancer are predicted to fall in 2020 in the EU, largely due to better diagnosis and treatment, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1]. In the latest predictions for cancer deaths in the […]