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Here's another shocking thing I just came across.  Short overnight fasting in women with breast cancer may lead to recurrence.  We've all seen the celebrities who swear by fasting , something I must confess I have never considered, but who claim it enriches everything from their skin to their brains.  But in women with breast cancer, a short overnight fast of less than 13 hours was associated with a 36 percent higher risk of breast cancer recurrence and a 21 percent higher probability of death from the disease, compared to patients who fasted 13 or more hours per night, reports University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers. Researchers also reported that fasting fewer hours per night was associated with significantly less sleep and higher levels of glycated hemoglobin, which is a measure of average blood sugar levels over a period of months. These findings are relevant to cancer prevention and control efforts because elevated levels of...

Why does this not surprise me?  Apparently six percent of marriages end in divorce when the wife gets sick. We're not talking tonsillitis or the flu, but major, serious  illness, like heart attack or cancer. I should know.  I was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago, and though my husband went with me to the appointment where we discussed treatment, all I remember is him saying, "This is nothing," as we walked through the parking lot to Tully. Of course, as the surgeon talked on, telling us that though my cancer was non-invasive, it was the highest grade, which meant they weren't totally sure it hadn't spread outside the milk duct, he kept looking at me.  (Thankfully, it turned out not to.)  Walking out of the office, Larry said, "You were right.  It's something." I don't remember much about that time.  We had a three-year-old and I was more concerned about taking care of him (and making sure he didn't notice anything was wrong) ...

Did you know that the very cells produced when you're pregnant so you can breast feed can be hijacked by cancer cells to produce faster-growing, more aggressive tumors later?  “This normal pathway ends up contributing to the progression of cancer,” says Jay Desgrosellier, PhD, assistant professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, and first author of the study that discovered this. During pregnancy, certain hormones trigger specialized mammary stem cells to create milk-producing cells essential to lactation, according to newswise.com. The study found that mammary stem cells associated with the pregnant mammary gland are related to stem cells found in breast cancer. Scientists have long known there's a connection between breast cancer and pregnancy, primarily because both lead to fast-growing cells.  Cancer is a mutation in a fast-growing cell. Researchers specifically identified a key molecular path...

There's been an awful lot of back-and-forth.  Should women get mammograms?  Should they not?  Do mammograms really help?  Or are they just a waste of money? Now a new study has found that mammography has, indeed, led to fewer late-stage breast cancers, according to newswise.com. In the last 30 years, since mammography was introduced, late-stage breast cancer incidence has decreased by 37 percent, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds. The analysis takes into account an observed underlying trend of increased breast cancer incidence present since the 1940s, a sort of inflation rate for breast cancer, the Web site reports. Researchers looked at early-stage and late-stage breast cancer diagnoses between 1977-1979, before mammography became popular, and compared it to diagnoses between 2007-2009. Based on trends observed in the pre-mammography period of the 1940s to the 1970s as well as continued trends over time, t...

It's a sad fact, but true.  Black women are far more likely to die of breast cancer than white women. It's mainly because the cancer is often more advanced when it's found in black women, partly because white women are more likely to have regular check-ups and mammograms. I remember when I was having radiation for cancer and running into a beautiful young black woman who could not have been more than 20, there for the same reason as I. Now a new study has found that black women tend to present with more aggressive forms of cancer, too, or as the study put it, "biologically less favorable subtypes of breast cancer."  “It’s important that research continues to address these issues comprehensively, from the biology of the disease to the development of optimal treatment and access to healthcare," the Web site quotes Raquel Nunes, MD, a medical oncologist at the Washington Cancer Institute, who presented the study. “This work is particularly meaningful...

I wish I was around for this, or at least, my cancer was, before I was (in my opinion) over-treated.    But a new test can allegedly tell if a breast cancer is going to spread.  Nix the chemo, radiation, and surgery, if not needed. (Doctors can't always tell, so they treat, "just in case.") Almost 40,000 women a year die of breast cancer, and many thousands more are diagnosed with it. According to newswise.com, currently marketed tests assess risk for breast cancer metastasis by looking for changes in gene expression or in levels of proteins associated with growth of tumor cells,”  “But those changes don’t reflect the mechanism by which individual tumor cells invade blood vessels, a necessary step for metastasis," said Joan Jones, M.D. , senior author of the JNCI paper, professor of pathology , of anatomy and structural biology and of epidemiology & population health at Einstein and attending pathologist at Montefiore Medical Center . "By contra...

We've been told over and over how much being overweight or obese can affect our health. But what if it were to affect your treatment of cancer? A new study has found that calorie restriction, a kind of dieting in which food intake is decreased by a certain percentage, may improve outcomes for women in breast cancer. "According to a study published May 26th in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment , the triple negative subtype of breast cancer – one of the most aggressive forms – is less likely to spread, or metastasize, to new sites in the body when mice were fed a restricted diet," newswise.com reports. The Web site notes that when mouse models of triple negative cancer were fed 30 percent less than what they ate when given free access to food, the cancer cells decreased their production of RNA molecules that inhibit tumor growth. Researchers have found that these molecules, or genes, often increased in triple negative cancers that metastasize.  Breast can...

Women, next time you pump gas, you might want to let the attendant do it. That's because a recent study has found that gasoline and chemicals formed by combustion are two of the biggest breast cancer carcinogens. T he greatest sources of breast cancer carcinogens in the environment were found to be gasoline and chemicals created by combustion, such as benzene and butadiene, according to medical news today (MNT). Such chemicals are present in vehicle fuel, lawn equipment, tobacco smoke and burned or charred food. Chemicals often found in industrial degreasers, speciality cleaners and spot removers were found to be other breast cancer-causing chemicals, while other mammary carcinogens include chemicals found in flame retardants, stain-resistant textiles, hormone replacement therapy and drinking water disinfection byproducts. "Reducing chemical exposures could save many, many women's lives. When you talk to people about breast cancer prevention, chemical exposure of...

It always sounded, to me, like the stuff of horror movies.  Cancer caused by a virus ?  That anyone can catch? Well, it turns out neither breast cancer or a type of brain tumor called a glioblastoma (the most fatal kind) are not caused by a virus. Accordingn to sciencedaily.com, the study, which was based on over seven billion DNA sequences, found no genetic traces of viruses in these forms of cancer. "It has been scientifically proven that about 15 per cent of all cancer cases are the result of viral infection, but many researchers believe that even more cancers could be caused by viruses," the Web site reports. Among other theories, it is suggested that the Epstein-Barr virus could be a possible cause of breast cancer and that the cytomegalovirus might cause the malignant brain tumour glioblastoma. Seven types of viruses are now known to be the source of 10-15 percent of all malignant human cancers, Arild S. Foss writes at sciencenordic.com. Cervical cancer is a...

Not sure I agree with t his but a new study has found that women who get false positives on mammograms only suffer for a short time.  It doesn't affect their overall well-being. As someone who (twice) received positive positives, I suppose I can't really comment on this.  But I can't believe that some women aren't, if not, scarred for life, at least thinking about life a little differently after that.   According to newswise.com, " Dartmouth researchers have found that the anxiety experienced with a false-positive mammogram is temporary and does not negatively impact a woman’s overall well-being." The Web site goes on to note that a nywhere from 40 to 60 percent of women who undergo routine screening mammography during a ten-year period will experience a false-positive mammogram (guess I beat the stats!).  Such mammograms require additional testing, sometimes involving a biopsy, to confirm that cancer is not present. Researchers have suspected that in...

A couple of weeks ago we learned that Vitamin D might prevent breast cancer.  Now researchers are turning to a new letter in the alphabet.  They're saying that a  derivative of  Vitamin A ,  known as retinoic acid, found abundantly in sweet potato and carrots, helps turn pre-cancer cells back to normal healthy breast cells. Wish we'd known that nine years ago, when my first pre-cancerous breast cells were found. The vitamin doesn’t appear to change "the course of full-blown cancer, only pre-cancerous cells, and only works at a very narrow dose," according to newswise.com, reporting on the study. Scientists created a  model of breast cancer progression composed of four types of cells each one representing a different stage of breast cancer: normal, pre-cancerous, cancerous and a fully aggressive model.   "When the researchers exposed the four breast cell types to different concentrations of retinoic acid – one of the chemicals that the body con...

Wonderful.  Something new for women over 60 to worry about (and maybe stop worrying about, too).  You're far more likely to develop Alzheimer's than breast cancer.  (Guess I'm OK.  I had breast cancer at 50.) A new study has found that one in eight women will develop breast cancer over their lifetimes, but for Alzheimer's? It's one in six, according to CNN.com. And for men?  Only one out of 11 men over 60 will develop Alzheimer's. How do we always manage to get the short end of the stick?!   Age is the greatest risk factor for gender differences among Alzheimer's patients, but it's not the only reason. Researchers are also looking at genetic and hormonal differences, according to Maria Carrillo, vice president of medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer's Association , CNN reports. The disease affects more than 5 million Americans, two-thirds of them women. The new details about this disease and its impact on women come from a surv...

Worried about getting breast cancer?  Or, have it, and worry it will come back?  An astonishingly simple way to prevent both may be taking Vitamin D .   Many research studies have focused on whether Vitamin D is helpful in preventing cancer, according to Sheryl Wood at health.yahoo.com. But few studies have looked at whether vitamin D helps to increase survival in women who have had breast cancer, she writes. Recently published research showed that higher amounts of Vitamin D in the blood were associated with an increased chance of survival in breast cancer patients. Vitamin D - a fat-soluble vitamin - is important for regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in our bones, according to Medical News Today. P ast studies revealed an association between low Vitamin D levels and an increased risk of premenopausal  breast cancer . The body's main source of the vitamin is from the sun, but some foods - such as oily fish, eggs and fortified fat spread...

So there's Google Glasses and ones you can wear at night that are really sunglasses but that cut out the glare. But how about glasses that allow doctors to see cancer cells? "Viewed through the glasses, cancer cells appear to glow blue under a special light, thanks to a fluorescent marker injected in the tumor that attaches only to cancerous and not to healthy cells. Also, the lighter the shade of blue, the more concentrated the cancer cells are," Medical News Today reports. Surgeons currently have to remove not just cancerous tissue but the tissue surrounding a tumor, as well.   Samples of the tissue are then sent to the lab to be examined under a microscope, and if cancer cells are found, the patient often has to have a second operation to remove more tissue, which is then also sent to the lab. According to one doctor, about 20-25% of breast cancer patients who undergo lumpectomy need to come back for a second operation. British researchers described in 2012 ...

I am that woman. A suspect mammogram led to a biopsy nine years ago, then a lumpectomy, a cancer diagnosis, radiation and hormone therapy. Turned out the cancer was really pre-cancer, ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS), which, today, is starting to be treated very differently.  But my cancer – or precancer, as it’s now being called – was high-grade, which means my cells spent a distressing week and a half in the pathology lab where medical professionals carefully and deliberately weighed and studied and pored over them to make absolutely certain mine wasn’t, in the end, a form of invasive cancer. Fortunately, for me, they turned out to be right, but when the disease returned again two years later, even though this time the abnormal cells were low-grade (and most likely never progress to anything that would kill me), it was treated as though it were invasive cancer and I underwent the surgery that all women dread. Imagine my surprise, last year, when doctors came out o...

So now I've heard everything.  Stay lean and fit to avoid breast cancer.  Take statins if your cholesterol is high.  Now, eat plenty of tomatoes if you want to stave it off. A new study has found that a  tomato-rich diet may help protect at-risk postmenopausal women from breast cancer,  according to newswise.com.  And I thought tomatoes were only good for the prostate! "Breast cancer risk rises in postmenopausal women as their body mass index climbs," the Web site notes. "The study found eating a diet high in tomatoes had a positive effect on the level of hormones that play a role in regulating fat and sugar metabolism." “Eating fruits and vegetables, which are rich in essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals such as lycopene, conveys significant benefits," newswise quotes  the study’s first author, Adana Llanos, PhD, MPH, who is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Rutgers University, who completed the research while she...

Here's another reason to watch your cholesterol, if you're a woman.  A new study has found that high cholestrol can fuel breast cancer. Acting almost like an estrogen, according to newswise.com, a byproduct of cholesterol can functions like that hormone and grow and spread the most common types of breast cancers, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute report. But statins do appear to reduce the threat. These days it's very confusing to know whether your cholesterol -- either "good" or "bad" -- is high enough for medication. I'm in this very boat myself.  My cholesterol level (which runs in my family) was very high, even after I lost weight and doubled my exercise.  So I'm on a low dose of a statin and it's helping keep my numbers where they should be.  I'd love to go off it, but when I tried it this summer, my levels shot back up. So looks like I'll be on it for life. Anyway, "The research for the first time explains ...

Just when I thought it was safe to come out of the water . . .or something like that.  Diagnosedwith breast cancer in 2005 and 2007, I took the blood test commonly referred to by its initials, BRCA1 and BRCA2, to see if I had the gene mutation for the disease.  Of course, I'd already had breast cancer so the horse was kind of already out of the barn (oh, those mixed metaphors!). But as breast cancer is also related to ovarian cancer, I wanted to see if I had the gene.  My grandmother was Jewish and many Jewish women carry -- or pass on -- this mutation.  Thankfully, I was negative, but the fact remained that I had developed breast cancer even without the gene, and now scientists have found that women without the gene mutation are not completely clear of getting the disease. According to newswise.com, those of us not carrying the gene mutation may have thought our risk of cancer had receded. But that's turning out not to be true.  Just because you have a neg...

It's hard not to know that obesity is a factor in many cancers, including that of the breast.  But an ominous new study has found that being obese puts you at high risk for a very rare but aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Called "basal-like," it's found in obese women, whose bodies present a favorable environment for the biological mechanisms of this disease to ignite. Breast cancer is not one but many diseases made up of several distinct subtypes, newswise.com reports. "The basal-like subtype, an aggressive form of breast cancer, is found in 15 to 20 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer, with a high percentage of cases found among young and African-American women," according to the Web site. The really bad news is that women diagnosed with the basal-like subtype often have a poor prognosis and cannot be treated with hormonal and targeted therapies. Studying mice, researchers found that obesity "radically alters the cellular micro-en...

So they were lying to us all along.  Remember all those articles that said housework was good exercise?  You know, shoving that vacuum around, leaning over to pick up socks and underwear (your husband's and son's, of course) off the floor, folding the clothes from the dryer.  Well, turns out we got pranked. According to sciencedaily.com, it was all hogwash.  Citing a  University of Ulster study, the article says,"people who included housework as part of their weekly exercise tended to be heavier." The article quotes Prof. Marie Murphy, who led the study, as saying, " "Housework is physical activity and any physical activity should theoretically increase the amount of calories expended. But we found that housework was inversely related to leanness which suggests that either people are overestimating the amount of moderate intensity physical activity they do through housework, or are eating too much to compensate for the amount of activity undertake...