Thank you, Angelina Jolie, for making your experience dealing with the BRCA gene public. Everyone has the BRCA gene. But a very small change in the gene, called a mutation (BRCA1 or BRCA2), can increase the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer more than 80 percent and ovarian cancer more than 30 percent. Other cancers… Read more »
Angelina Jolie recently underwent preventive mastectomy, she revealed today in a New York Times op-ed piece. The actor/director underwent the procedure because the combination of a “faulty” BRCA1 gene and a family history of cancer put her at high risk of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer. Preventive mastectomy (also called prophylactic or risk-reducing mastectomy)… Read more »
Today is Melanoma Monday—a well-timed reminder to stock up on sunblock and to look for the signs of skin damage and skin cancer. While it is highly treatable when caught early, skin cancer can still be dangerous. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer—there is almost one US fatality from it every hour. Most… Read more »
What do you know about HPV (human papillomavirus) and cervical cancer? Some cold, hard facts can help you stop the spread of this dangerous virus. HPV causes almost all cervical cancers—95 percent—and it is the most common sexually transmitted infection. The lifetime risk for HPV infection is almost 80 percent for sexually active adults; 14-… Read more »
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. We use this time of year as a helpful reminder that colorectal cancer screening is critically important. Colorectal cancer starts out as small growths known as polyps. During a colorectal screening test, if these polyps are discovered, they can be removed before they develop into colon cancer. When… Read more »
A daily dose of aspirin may decrease the risk for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The new information appears in Cancer, the American Cancer Society’s medical journal. The research team collected data on nearly 60,000 white women from 50 to 79 years old who were followed for 12 years. Participants came from the… Read more »
In its early stages, stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) rarely shows symptoms, so it is often left undiagnosed. As stomach cancer develops, it can cause pain, bleeding, weight loss, nausea, getting full quickly or loss of appetite. Though uncommon in the US, the risk of gastric cancer increases with: • high-salt diets (including cured… Read more »
Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death for adults in the US. But clinicians and researchers are making inroads against the disease. Recent progress and challenges in the field include: 1. Smoking – A dramatic decline in the number of smokers directly relates to clear evidence that smoking causes lung cancer and… Read more »
What’s the future of breast cancer research? Let’s consider some news-making studies: 1. Breast Cancer Prevention The American Cancer Society is searching for the causes of breast cancer with large, long-term study. 2. Decision Making There are medications available to women who are at high risk for breast cancer. A national study is evaluating what… Read more »
Discomfort from breast compression causes some women to delay their mammography appointment. While it’s hard to love getting a mammogram, there are five good reasons for them: 1. Mammography has helped reduce US breast cancer mortality by nearly a third since 1990. 2. Of all the years of life saved by mammography, 40 percent are… Read more »
