Greater collaboration between health care providers needed to ensure that breast cancer patients get full benefit from tamoxifen treatment

Barcelona, Spain: Recently published research has shown that some breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen may not be getting the full benefit of their treatment because they have also been taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), prescribed drugs that inhibit the effect of an important enzyme. Now researchers have developed a strategy for overcoming this problem, […]

Breast cancer and socioeconomic status: worse outcomes for women from poorer backgrounds are not due to late diagnosis alone

Barcelona, Spain: The largest study in Europe to look at the link between socioeconomic status and survival after breast cancer has found that women from poorer backgrounds have worse outcomes and that this is only partly explained by more advanced cancer at diagnosis. Although other studies have found that lower socioeconomic status is linked with […]

Health professionals need to address fertility issues in young women with breast cancer in order for them to make informed decisions

Barcelona, Spain: At a time when more and more young women are surviving breast cancer and delaying childbirth, it is important to take their needs and wishes about their future fertility into consideration when deciding on treatment, the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona will hear today (Wednesday). Dr. Anne Armstrong, from the […]

Recurrence of breast cancer after more than ten years is an important indicator of survival

Barcelona, Spain: Recurrence of breast cancer in the same area as the original tumour remains the strongest, independent prognostic factor for subsequent metastasis and death, even for patients who have been free of disease for a very long time, according to research presented today (Wednesday) at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7). Dr Sven […]

Study shows doctors are failing to lower heart patients’ cholesterol adequately. Women are particularly at risk of insufficient cholesterol targets

Only half of all patients at high risk of heart disease are given correct targets for lowering their cholesterol levels according to a study of 25,250 patients in Germany published online today (Thursday 11 March) in the European Heart Journal [1]. The study investigated the way primary care doctors assessed their patients’ risk factors and […]

Behavioural problems in childhood doubles the risk of chronic widespread pain in adult life

Bad behaviour in childhood is associated with long-term, chronic widespread pain in adult life, according to the findings of a study following nearly 20,000 people from birth in 1958 to the present day. Chronic widespread pain is a common complaint that can have a major adverse effect on quality of life, often requiring referral to […]

Too many of Europe’s top football venues are not adequately prepared for treating spectators who suffer heart attacks

Too many major sports arenas in Europe do not have adequate equipment and procedures in place to save the lives of spectators who suffer heart attacks while watching a sporting event, according to new research published online today (Wednesday 3 March) in the European Heart Journal [1]. In a study of 187 top sports arenas […]

World first: woman gives birth to two healthy babies in separate pregnancies after ovarian transplant

For the first time, a woman has given birth to two children after her fertility was restored using transplants of ovarian tissue that had been removed and frozen during her cancer treatment and then restored once she was cured. Following her ovarian transplant, Mrs Stinne Holm Bergholdt gave birth to a girl in February 2007 […]

Risk of stillbirth is four times higher after IVF/ICSI compared to pregnancies achieved spontaneously or after non-IVF fertility treatment

Women who become pregnant with a single foetus after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have an increased risk of a stillbirth, according to new research out today (Wednesday). The study of over 20,000 singleton pregnancies, published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1], found a four-fold increased risk of […]

Inadequate access to opioid-based pain relief is a human rights issue for cancer patients

Many cancer patients in Europe are being denied access to adequate pain relief because of over-zealous regulations restricting the availability and accessibility of opioid-based drugs such as morphine. Authors of the Europe-wide study say that restricting access to pain-killing drugs in this way is a breach of patients’ human rights, and they conclude that “there […]