Exclusive: New federal guidelines advise GPs to provide additional care to patients with higher breast density, which can make cancers harder to detect in mammograms
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When Krysty Sullivan had a routine mammogram in 2019, she was given the all-clear.
Eleven months later, she felt a lump.
Continue reading...Presenter says she is ‘in a much more positive place’ after having lumpectomy and catching cancer early
Davina McCall has revealed she has undergone surgery for breast cancer and urged others to “get checked”.
In a video posted to Instagram, the presenter said she was “very angry” when she found out about the cancer, but felt in a “much more positive place” after a lumpectomy.
Continue reading...Patients who had more cells had better outcomes, particularly for aggressive types such as triple-negative breast cancer
In the 18th century, physicians noticed nuns had some of the highest rates of breast cancer. It was one of the earliest clues that led scientists to suspect that child-bearing and breastfeeding could protect against the disease.
Modern data has confirmed the centuries-old observation but the biological reasons behind it have remained unclear. Explanations have often focused on pregnancy-related hormonal changes, but research published Tuesday in Nature has found breastfeeding provides long-lasting immune protection.
Continue reading...Stigma around mifepristone is stopping studies, experts in reproductive health claim in Lancet opinion piece
A drug used in medical abortions could help prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease, according to an international group of doctors and scientists.
However, “stigma” around mifepristone is stopping pharmaceutical companies from investigating its potential as a new treatment doctors could offer to reduce the risk of breast cancer, they say.
Continue reading...Price Tag singer plans to have surgery after performing at Summertime Ball this month
Jessie J has said she has been diagnosed with early breast cancer and plans to undergo surgery after her performance at this month’s Summertime Ball.
The Price Tag singer, 37, said in an Instagram video she has spent much of her recent time “in and out of tests”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Racial disparities highlighted as researchers estimate 10 million women have conditions such as fibroids or endometriosis
More than a quarter of women in England are living with a serious reproductive health issue, according to the largest survey of its kind, and experts say “systemic, operational, structural and cultural issues” prevent women from accessing care.
The survey of 60,000 women across England in 2023, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and analysed by academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, found that 28% of respondents were living with a reproductive morbidity, such as pelvic organ prolapse, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, or cervical, uterine, ovarian or breast cancer.
Continue reading...World Cancer Research Fund goes further than UK and WHO advice on alcohol after review of evidence
Women should avoid alcohol altogether to reduce their risk of breast cancer, a charity has warned.
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has published a review of evidence on how diet and lifestyle factors can play a role in the development of the disease.
Continue reading...TV, radio and online adverts aimed at increasing uptake of routine mammograms for women aged 50 to 71
Women in England will be encouraged to attend potentially life-saving screenings for breast cancer in TV, radio and online adverts as part of the first NHS awareness campaign for the disease.
Women in the UK are invited for their first routine mammogram between the ages of 50 and 53, with further invitations arriving every three years until they reach 71, after which they can request screening.
Continue reading...If successful, the scheme could speed up testing and reduce radiologists’ workload by around half
The NHS is launching the world’s biggest trial of artificial intelligence to detect breast cancer, which could lead to faster diagnosis of the disease.
AI will be deployed to analyse two-thirds of at least 700,000 mammograms done in England over the next few years to see if it is as accurate and reliable at reading scans as a radiologist.
Continue reading...Study finds too few women are told chemotherapy can cause early menopause – or given the drug that can lessen that risk
When Patsy Mullen was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had no idea that chemotherapy treatment could lead to early onset menopause.
It was Mullen’s oncologist who mentioned the possibility, and offered the then 47-year-old the drug Goserelin, which reduces the risk by up to 70% compared with women receiving chemotherapy alone.
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Continue reading...First real-world test finds approach has higher detection rate without having a higher rate of false positives
The use of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening increases the chance of the disease being detected, researchers have found, in what they say is the first real-world test of the approach.
Numerous studies have suggested AI could help medical professionals spot cancer, whether it is identifying abnormal growths in CT scans or signs of breast cancer in mammograms.
Continue reading...Health Services Safety Investigation Body reveals difficulties inmates have when they leave jail for treatment
A female inmate remained handcuffed to a male prison officer while she had a mammogram, in an example of prisoners being denied their dignity while receiving NHS care, a watchdog has revealed.
The incident is highlighted in a report by the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) into the difficulties prisoners can face when they leave jail to see a GP or visit a hospital.
Continue reading...Procedures performed by convicted breast surgeon were not a recognised or authorised type of operation
The convicted breast surgeon Ian Paterson pitched one of his patients an unauthorised cleavage-sparing mastectomy “almost like a sales job”, an inquest has heard.
Chloe Nikitas, an environmental consultant from Tamworth, died in 2008 at the age of 43 from breast cancer that returned three years after having a mastectomy she believed had removed all of her breast tissue.
Continue reading...Supermodel says she is in remission after being diagnosed seven years ago and rejecting traditional medicine
Elle Macpherson has said she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago but is now in remission despite refusing chemotherapy.
The Australian supermodel and actor, who rose to fame in the 1980s, is publishing a memoir – Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself – in which she says she took a holistic approach to the illness, going against the advice of 32 doctors.
Continue reading...Latest study shows Enhertu, rejected by Nice, can stall growth of tumours by a year, longer than standard chemotherapy
Thousands of women with advanced breast cancer in England and Wales are being denied a drug that cuts the risk of the disease spreading by more than a third.
Enhertu has been rolled out to patients with HER2-low breast cancer in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has rejected it for patients in England. Women in Wales are also being denied the drug.
Continue reading...New ‘liquid biopsy’ will act as an early warning sign to anticipate risk of tumours returning
A new blood test can predict the risk of breast cancer returning three years before any tumours show up on scans in an “incredibly exciting” breakthrough that could help more women beat the disease for good.
More than 2 million women are diagnosed every year with breast cancer, the most prevalent type of the disease. Although treatment has improved in recent decades, the cancer often returns, and if it does, it is usually at a more advanced stage.
Continue reading...Ability to preserve tissue in a special gel solution for at least a week will help doctors identify most effective drug treatments
Scientists say they have a made a potentially “gamechanging” breakthrough in breast cancer research after discovering how to preserve breast tissue outside the body for at least a week.
The study, which was funded by the Prevent Breast Cancer charity, found tissue could be preserved in a special gel solution, which will help scientists identify the most effective drug treatments for patients.
Continue reading...Isolation and lack of health insurance also correlate to reduced mammogram rates for breast cancer
Women who are low-income, socially isolated and lack health insurance are far less likely to be up-to-date on mammograms, a breast cancer screening tool experts said is critical to reducing breast cancer deaths, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer to afflict American women, and kills an estimated 40,000 Americans each year. Cancer overall kills 605,000 Americans a year and is the second-leading cause of death, a toll the Biden administration aims to reduce through a Cancer Moonshot initiative.
Continue reading...Researchers at Nottingham Trent University hope device used at home will improve tracking of tumours
Scientists are developing a device that fits inside a bra and could monitor whether a breast cancer tumour is growing.
Researchers hope the device will provide a new non-invasive method of detecting tumour growth that patients can use “in the comfort of their own homes”.
Continue reading...Mary Kelly Foy, the MP for Durham, is recuperating from surgery and is expected to make a full recovery
A Labour MP has urged women to attend breast cancer screenings as she revealed her own diagnosis.
Mary Kelly Foy, the City of Durham MP, said she was recuperating from surgery and was expected to make a full recovery thanks to an early diagnosis.
Continue reading...