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22 Results for search "Cancer: Breast".

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What's the disease that women fear the most? The answer is most likely to be breast cancer. And if you ask them the disease they're most likely to get, their answer would be breast cancer as well. But they would be wrong. Among the most lethal diseases of women in the United States, breast cancer lags behind heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and Alzheimer's...

Just by coincidence, I usually see my breast surgeon in October, National Breast Cancer Awareness month, but I saw her early this year because she's on maternity leave again. After my visit, I ran into a friend. When I told her where I was, she suddenly looked alarmed. "I didn't know you had breast ... problems," she said, concerned. "I don't!" I jumped to reassure her. Then I was suddenly tongue...

In the Jewish Scriptures, it is written that every 49th year there is to be a Jubilee Year. In the Jubilee Year, all debts are forgiven and everyone is given a fresh start. As I approached my 49th birthday, I knew that something big was going to happen that was going to change my life forever. I never imagined that the vehicle would be breast cancer. While my 49th year was not always as joyful as ...

Anne Hofstadter is a breast cancer survivor. Her sister and mother have also had breast cancer. So Anne worries that her 46-year-old daughter may eventually be diagnosed with the disease -- especially since her daughter's paternal grandmother also suffered from it. But it never occurred to her to fret about her 44-year-old son. "I guess I knew men could get breast cancer, but it seemed more like a...

Judy* needed my medical clearance to keep walking. It was a beautiful fall morning in southern California, and more than 2,500 walkers were setting off for the final leg of a 75-mile, three-day walk from Santa Barbara to Malibu to raise money for breast cancer prevention. Judy was suited up in shorts and cross-training sneakers. Pinned to her pink t-shirt was a laminated picture of a young, vibran...

It used to be thought that the more the surgeon cut from a woman's breast, the more likely she was to survive breast cancer. By the time surgery was over, a woman with a small tumor in one breast would have lost her breast, the chest muscles underneath and a trail of the lymph nodes up to her collarbone. It's an image that still holds great power for many women who are newly diagnosed, but it's an...

If you find a lump in your breast, don't delay -- see your doctor as soon as possible. Anything you notice that's different from your normal breast tissue should be investigated. The good news is that more than 80 percent of breast lumps turn out to be benign tumors or cysts. How can my doctor tell whether a lump is cancerous? If a breast exam, mammogram, or follow-up ultrasound turns up a suspic...

How does breast cancer occur? Breast cells become cancerous when they mutate and start to multiply at an abnormally fast pace, crowding out healthy tissue. The abnormal cells grow into a dense mass that may be visible on a mammogram or that you may feel as a lump. Breast cancer typically starts in the ducts (passages through which milk travels to the nipple) or the lobules (areas where milk is pro...

Can a mammogram save my life? Mammograms -- X-ray pictures of the breasts -- are a valuable but imperfect tool for detecting breast cancer. The death rate from breast cancer has dropped dramatically in the last 20 or 30 years, but most of that progress is due to better treatments, not mammograms. While a mammogram can definitely uncover hidden cancers, recent research suggests that the X-rays don'...

How does depression affect cancer patients? For cancer patients, depression means much more than just a dark mood. The illness, which strikes about up to 25 percent of all cancer patients (compared with about 7 percent of the general public), can sap a person's immune system, weakening the body's ability to cope with disease. Patients fighting both depression and cancer feel distressed, tend to ha...

It was eye-catching news in 2002 when researchers called a halt to a major government-run study of a hormone therapy used by millions of older women. Researchers stopped the study, one of a series of clinical trials under the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), after they found that long-term use of estrogen and progestin raised the risk of heart disease, stroke, blood clots, and invasive breast canc...

What's a breast biopsy? A breast biopsy is a procedure in which a doctor removes a small amount of tissue or fluid from your breast in order to examine it under a microscope for signs of cancer. Your doctor will usually recommend a biopsy if there's a lump in your breast or something suspicious on your mammogram or ultrasound scan. About 80 percent of biopsies show that no cancer is present. If t...

You may have heard that some genes put women at extra risk for breast cancer. If your mother, grandmother, aunt, or sister has had the disease, you may very well wonder if a breast cancer gene runs in your family. The first thing you should know is that only a small minority of breast cancers -- about 5 to 10 percent -- can be traced to specific mutations, and even having family members with bre...

Why do I need to examine my breasts? Finding a tumor before the cancer has spread to other parts of your body can mean the difference between life and death. Many breast cancers are first detected by women themselves -- and according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), women who are attuned to changes in their bodies are more likely to spot a suspicious lump. New guidelines issued by the ACS sa...

"Take a walk. Earn big money, up to 1.7 cents per step!" If I saw an ad making that claim, I certainly would find it hard to believe. But in the last few years I have learned that in the fight against breast cancer, small steps can indeed lead to substantial cash. More than 20,000 people know the power of walking and understand that the meager per-step earnings add up to a healthy sum that helps ...

Responsible breast cancer specialists advise their new patients to weigh their options carefully before rushing into treatment. If you have breast cancer, you're likely to need a combination of therapies. These will depend on the type and size of the tumor, your age, and the degree to which the cancer has spread. Take your time as you think over each option, and consider taking your partner, a fri...

You've made it through many of the hard choices in your breast cancer treatment only to confront another major one: whether -- and when -- to have your breast (or breasts) reconstructed after your mastectomy. Some women want a fully reconstructed breast that looks as much as possible like the original. Others want a new breast that simply helps them look the way they like in a bathing suit. Still ...

What is radiation therapy? Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is the use of high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. If you have external radiotherapy, the most common radiation approach, the radiation will be aimed directly at your tumor or, if it's after surgery, at the whole breast. Isn't the radiation dangerous? Radiation kills healthy cells along with cancer cells, so it...

When you or someone you care about has or is facing the possibility of breast cancer, it is natural to feel many bewildering and frightening emotions. No one wants to get sick at all. Certainly no one wants to get cancer. And there are kinds of cancers that seem particularly terrible, not only because of their death-dealing potential, but because they or their treatment hits us "where we live." B...

How are drugs used to fight breast cancer? Doctors use certain medications to help prevent breast cancer or, in combination with other therapies, to fight it and treat it. The kinds of drugs you'll take depend on what stage your cancer has reached, whether it responds to hormones like estrogen, whether you're resistant to any medications or treatments, and how well you tolerate the ones prescribe...

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States (other than skin cancer). And while it takes over 40,000 lives in the U.S. each year, it isn't the deadliest cancer. (Lung cancer is). But when it comes to inspiring fear, breast cancer is in a class by itself. As is often the case with diseases, much of the fear springs from misunderstanding. How much do you know about breast c...

You may think of flax as a source of fine linens, but the plant's greatest value may well lie in its small, dark seeds. As far back as the 700s, King Charlemagne ordered every loyal Roman to eat flaxseed for health, and today many alternative medicine gurus echo that decree to all who will listen. Flaxseed is more than just nutritious -- health experts believe the seed can actually help prevent he...