Prophylactic Mastectomy - is it right for you?
Having prophylactic mastectomy is a very personal choice. There is no "right answer", only what you consider is best for you.
Women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer have the option of prophylactic (preventive) mastectomy as a way of decreasing their risk.
Factors that increase a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer include:
a genetic predisposition to breast cancer e.g. BRCA+, Cowden's Syndrome, Li-Fraumeni Syndrome
a strong family history of breast cancer
a breast cancer diagnosis at a young age
abnormal breast cells on biopsy that increase the risk of breast cancer, e.g. LCIS
a history of previo...
Source: Breast Cancer Reconstruction Blog - July 11, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: chemoprophylaxis preventive mastectomy tamoxifen breast reconstruction cowden's syndrome li-fraumeni syndrome nipple-sparing mastectomy prophylactic mastectomy BRCA Source Type: blogs
Prophylactic Mastectomy - is it right for you?
Having prophylactic mastectomy is a very personal choice. There is no "right answer", only what you consider is best for you.Women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer have the option of prophylactic (preventive) mastectomy as a way of decreasing their risk. Factors that increase a woman ’s chance of developing breast cancer include:a genetic predisposition to breast cancer e.g. BRCA+, Cowden's Syndrome, Li-Fraumeni Syndromea strong family history of breast cancera breast cancer diagnosis at a young ageabnormal breast cells on biopsy that increase the risk of breast cancer, e.g. LCISa history of previous ches...
Source: Breast Cancer Reconstruction Blog - July 11, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BRCA breast reconstruction chemoprophylaxis cowden's syndrome li-fraumeni syndrome nipple-sparing mastectomy preventive mastectomy prophylactic mastectomy tamoxifen Source Type: blogs
How old do you have to be to avoid radiation therapy after lumpectomy?
When I was in practice, women would often ask if they really needed to get radiation therapy to the breast after lumpectomy. There was no question that for younger women, radiation was important. Without it the chances were pretty good that the cancer would come back sometime in their life. But what if the woman was over 70? We know that in general, breast cancers in this age group are typically not very aggressive or life threatening. And the inconvenience of those daily visits, often for 6 or 7 weeks was a lot for an older person. My default position was that the radiation was probably not necessary if the cancer was ...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - July 10, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
I am way behind
Yesterday was National Cancer Survivors Day. How did I miss it? I should get to celebrate twice or something. But I wish it didn't have the S word in the title. How about National People Living With Cancer Day?Also, this weekend was the ASCO conference. I usually read what is announced each day and now have to catch up.Here are a few details so far:Extending Tamoxifen to ten years from five years reduces risk of reccurence by 15%Sorafenib Shows Benefit in Radioactive Iodine-Refractory Differentiated Thyroid CancerSurveillance in Breast Cancer Survivors: First Do No Harm - which discusses over testing after treatment ends. ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 3, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: medical news cancer research asco Source Type: blogs
Why not try to prevent breast cancer?
Can we do that? The answer is yes! I’ve talked about risk factors for breast cancer that can be lowered. We know that staying slim, exercising, not taking post-menopausal hormones containing progesterone can reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer. But we can’t change a woman’s genes. If a woman has the wrong genes, then all these things can help, but not enough. There are drugs that can reduce breast cancer risk. These are called SERMs – an abbreviation that says that these drugs attach to sites on cells where estrogen attaches. It is thought that estrogen fuels breast cancer growth. The first of these SERMs was...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - May 13, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Enjoy your Coffee and Fight Breast Cancer
I started drinking coffee because of breast cancer. After treatment I knew my brain wasn’t functioning quite as acutely as before the diagnosis, so coffee gave me the added ability to focus. I later learned that coffee was helping to address the effects of chemo brain. Now there are other reasons for breast cancer survivors to drink coffee. A study out of Sweden this month finds that women who are on the drug Tamoxifen and drink at least two cups of coffee a day have a reduced risk of recurrence of the disease.
This was a pretty extensive study of 600 women over a 5 year period. CBS reported this wethat researchers found...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - May 2, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Breast cancer risk reduction
There is a new trend in women who are deemed to be at high risk for breast cancer to have a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. A mastectomy is not minor surgery and comes with its own set of risks. Women who then want reconstruction can be faced with months of additional surgery as well as the issue of implant replacement later in life. Other side effects can linger such as lymphedema for a lifetime.A new government task force (who is spending our money on these things) announced that high risk women should consider taking either tamoxifen or raloxifene to reduce their risk. While the drugs carry their own risks, the...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 22, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: cancer risk breast cancer treatment Source Type: blogs
A letter of complaint
To whom it may concern:
Don’t get me wrong, if I had to get a cancer, I know I got the right one (breasts are very popular, not least amongst the research community) at the right time (had either of my grandmothers developed a cancer when they were 37, they wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale). I know that I am blessed to have been treated by the NHS, even if some of its wheels are coming off. I know that I am lucky, lucky, lucky in spades, not least because Tamoxifen-the-wonder-drug exists.
I could do the Tamoxifen-induced medical menopause with barely a whimper, really I could. I buy moisturiser by the bucke...
Source: Bah! to cancer - April 8, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Stephanie Tags: Cancer Treatment wellbeing menopause side effects Tamoxifen Source Type: blogs
More tamoxifen may be better.
So you have been taking tamoxifen to prevent your breast cancer from coming back and are now approaching the 5-year mark. Time to stop? After all that was the deal your oncologist promised. And, enough hot flashes and worry about uterine cancer and blood clots developing. But things have changed. Your doc may recommend you keep taking the drug another 5 years. The good news is that your chance of having your cancer come back is reduced by around 25 percent. That is according to a new study just published in the journal Lancet (Mar 9 2013). There are lots of studies that show that 5 years treatment with tamoxifen is bett...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - March 20, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Tamoxifen has my head spinning
Wednesday, February 20, 2013Current mood: ScaredSo yesterday was my 6 month Oncology Checkup. I loathe my 6 month checkups. Not at that fact that I have to see the Dr. but at the fact that I have to step back in time and relive my cancer all over again. Yesterday was particularly fun in the fact that I had to once again have a conversation about taking Tamoxifen....My cancer was ER/PR+ and Her2+. I took precautions against the Her2+ part of my cancer and took a drug called Herceptin every 3 weeks for a year via an IV. I did not experience any side affects with this dr...
Source: Sharing My Cancer Crapness - February 20, 2013 Category: Cancer Source Type: blogs
Free Cancer Research Tool: Use It!
In preparation for appointments with my doctors, I search Pubmed.gov, a free online database of nearly every medical journal and article in print. I read articles related to my cancer, print them out, and share them with my docs to review new options for my care or confirm we are on the right track. As a young adult cancer patient, I have been doing this for nearly a decade.
I enter a search term into pubmed.gov. (Here are some general examples of search terms: ‘tamoxifen resistance’ or ‘radioactive iodine uptake’ or ‘testicular protheses’.) Next I click on the title of an art...
Source: Everything Changes - January 15, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kairol Rosenthal Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Familial breast cancer (update): guideline consultation
This updated guideline is in draft form for consultation. It includes
a number of potential new recommendations on issues including; when to
offer genetic testing; what surveillance strategies should and should
not be offered; and the use of tamoxifen or raloxifene as treatments to
prevent breast cancer. Registered stakeholders are invited to comment on
the provisional recommendations until the 25th February 2013.
Press release
Consultation documents and further information (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - January 15, 2013 Category: UK Health Authors: The King's Fund Information & Library Service Source Type: blogs
More cliff news
Finally I caught up with my oncologist yesterday. She could still barely talk after being out with the flu but I had called after I waited nearly a week. I saw her nurse practitioner on Monday and called after lunch on Friday. I thought that was long enough to leave me dangling on the Femara cliff.Last August when I saw her, she was all set to take me off Femara at this visit. We talked about it so I could emotionally prepare for the cliff of the end of breast cancer treatment. I did stress over it, think about it, whine about it, and otherwise cope maturely.When I went to my appointment on Monday she was out with the stom...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - January 12, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: test results osteoporosis frustration breast cancer treatment Source Type: blogs
I am making this a positive thing
Although I wont take my last Femara tablet until I see my oncologist on Monday, just to be sure there are not any last minute positive studies that will show Femara forever will prevent any future return of cancer cooties, I am making this a positive thing - as much as I can.Breast cancer treatment puts you into menopause. My breast cancer treatment started on August 1, 2007 and my hot flashes began shortly there after. Tamoxifen continued them. Femara continued them. I am not sure I remember life without hot.flashes. This is now January 5, 2013 which means its been 5 years and 5 months of hot flashes. They can be convenie...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - January 5, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: cancer treatment hot flashes side effects Source Type: blogs
The view into 2013 for breast cancer
I found an interesting and helpful blog post on the Telegraph site this morning. (And that’s not something you’ll hear me say very often.) I especially liked the last bit, about the rub-on Tamoxifen. If my medical menopause and hot flushes could be limited to the top left-hand corner of my right breast, I’d be a happy – and cool – almost-in-remission girl indeed. (Except when I had PMT, obviously.)
The article is here. I found it via Living Beyond Diagnosis on Twitter. (Source: Bah! to cancer)
Source: Bah! to cancer - January 5, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Stephanie Tags: Cancer Treatment News 2012 breast cancer telegraph Source Type: blogs
