Breaking news in breast cancer research will affect whether or not a significant number of women with early-stage breast cancer can forgo chemotherapy. On June 3rd, at ASCO (the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting) researchers presented their findings of a highly-anticipated study called the TAILORx trial, which followed almost 10,000 women with early-stage breast cancer.
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Read More Breast Cancer Treatment, Chemotherapy, endocrine therapy
Breast cancer belongs in the garbage can. Period.
Breast cancer needs to be cut out and thrown away. Done. The end.
If only it were that simple. Many surgeons will tell you that it is that simple. Just cut out the tumor and be done with it. But breast cancer is a very complex disease that requires a mosaic of treatments from a multidisciplinary team dedicated to the destruction of breast cancer.
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Fighting breast cancer was hard. It was also unfair. Linda was only 53, she ran marathons, ate lean meats, enjoyed her vegetables and took a walk every night with her husband. So it was profoundly unfair when a spot was found on her annual screening mammogram. She had a core needle biopsy, which demonstrated a breast cancer. Although the tumor was small, it was high grade. Linda chose to remove her breast and have a mastectomy. And then she took chemotherapy.
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Read More Breast cancer, Breast Cancer Treatment, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Conditions and Diseases, Knoxville Tennessee, Mammography, Treatment, Tumor
Josephine took her last dose of radiation therapy, got dressed, and walked down the hallway. The staff and other cancer survivors were waiting for her. She strode towards them, feeling like a Cheshire Cat with a smile a mile wide. She enjoyed every step. She enjoyed every congratulation. She enjoyed every good cheer. She grabbed the hammer and rung the bell. She was done. Her journey to beat breast cancer was complete.
Fighting breast cancer takes a lot of energy and determination. Many days just wipe you out and some days you just cry. At the end of the journey, the air is fresh, the sky is blue and the sun is brighter than it ever was.
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Why is chemotherapy given to cancer patients? Because chemotherapy kills cancer.
Chemotherapy is a combination of medicines that kill cancer cells by stopping their cellular division (mitosis) and “birthing” of new cancer cells. If cancer cells cannot give birth to new cancer cells, then the cancer itself will die. Chemotherapy is not very specific to cancer cells only, as chemotherapy also kills rapidly dividing healthy cells, which leads to many of the side effects of chemotherapy.
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Jane is a 36-year-old mother of three just trying to make it through the day. She has children in three different schools, and the constant driving was taking a toll on her. One day, while putting on her seat belt, her left breast hurt. She thought nothing of it as she drove around town from school to ballet to soccer and to the grocery store. Then, one morning, in the shower, she noticed a lump in her breast. No one in her family, not her mother, not her sisters, not her aunts, had breast cancer. Still, she was scared. She called her physician who recommended a mammogram and ultrasound. Jane had breast cancer.
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Lilly had found the lump exactly one month ago. She called her doctor immediately who arranged for a mammogram.
That day at the Breast Center was a day Lilly will never forget.
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Read More Breast cancer, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Mammography, personal storiesThe stick was positive. You had been trying for months to get pregnant and finally, the little stick turned pink. Feeling the warm glow deep in your belly, you knew you had a little baby growing inside.
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Read More Breast cancer, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Pregnancy, Radiation therapy, Tamoxifen
Breast cancer cells (Photo credit: crafty_dame)
A question that I am often asked is Do I Need Chemotherapy? Or why does anyone need chemotherapy? The answer is: Because chemotherapy kills cancer.
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Read More Breast cancer, Cancer, Cell (biology), Chemotherapy, Nature (journal), OncoType Dx, Stem cell, Tumor