Breast Cancer
Table of Contents
- General Information About Breast Cancer
- New Information (2024)
- Complementary therapies for breast Cancer
- Detailed Information about Breast Cancer
- Male Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Types
- Breast Cancer Treatment Options
- Breast Cancer Complementary therapies
- Breast Screening Mammograms
- Breast Cancer Recurrence
- Metastatic Breast Cancer
- Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy
- Hereditary Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Anxiety and Stress
- Breast Cancer Causes
- Breast cancer-related Lymphedema
- Breast Cancer Overdiagnosis
- Breast Cancer and Pregnancy
- Breast Cancer Hair Loss
- Breast Cancer Prevention
General Information About Breast Cancer
KEY POINTS
- Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast.
- A family history of breast cancer and other factors increase the risk of breast cancer.
- Breast cancer is sometimes caused by inherited gene mutations (changes).
- The use of certain medicines and other factors decrease the risk of breast cancer.
- Signs of breast cancer include a lump or change in the breast.
- Tests that examine the breasts are used to detect (find) and diagnose breast cancer.
- If cancer is found, tests are done to study the cancer cells.
- Certain factors affect prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options.
Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website.
New Information (2024)
Lymph Node Removal
Removal of armpit lymph nodes can leave many breast cancer patients with lingering lymphedema, a painful swelling of the arm.
Now, new research may help identify which patients require extensive lymph removal, based on the number and size of tumors infiltrating lymph nodes, and which do not.
The 2024 study Omitting Axillary Dissection in Breast Cancer with Sentinel-Node Metastases looked at 2540 breast cancer patients, of whom 1335 were assigned to undergo sentinel-node biopsy only and 1205 to undergo completion axillary-lymph-node dissection. It found that the omission of completion axillary-lymph-node dissection was not inferior to the more extensive surgery in patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer who had sentinel-node macrometastases, most of whom received nodal radiation therapy.
You can bring this study to the attention of your medical team if you’re being told you need completion axillary-lymph-node dissection.
Women with breast cancer are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with women without breast cancer.
This 2024 study Diet quality and cardiovascular disease risk among breast cancer survivors in the Pathways Study looked at 3415 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in California between 2005 and 2013 and followed through December 31, 2021. The study found that implementing diets concordant with healthy dietary patterns may be beneficial for preventing CVD and CVD-related deaths for breast cancer patients. It found that the plant-based Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet may provide the most benefit, particularly for those breast cancer patients receiving cardiotoxic chemotherapies.
For people who have been diagnosed with cancer, a plant-based diet is also an important way to improve survival, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Complementary therapies for breast Cancer
Release suppressed emotions for better survival
This study looked at breast cancer survival and found that expression of emotion was related to better survival, and suppression of emotion was associated with worse survival.
This 2022 study involving 155 female breast cancer patients found a link between earlier trauma and breast cancer. It found that patients’ repression of negative emotions could contribute to the development of a more aggressive Breast Cancer type.
Go to Release suppressed emotions
Hyperthermia
This Study says: Significant improvement in clinical outcome has been demonstrated for tumours of the head and neck, breast, brain, bladder, cervix, rectum, lung, oesophagus, vulva and vagina, and also for melanoma. Additional hyperthermia resulted in remarkably higher (complete) response rates, accompanied by improved local tumour control rates, better palliative effects and/or better overall survival rates.
More about Hyperthermia
Keep your Cholesterol and Triglycerides at healthy levels
This study says: Many clinical studies have demonstrated that statins can influence carcinogenesis and cancer progression. While statins do not affect the incidence of most cancers, they do exert significant benefits on recurrence and survival in many cancer types, including breast cancer. Importantly, statin recurrence and mortality benefits are most strongly seen with lipophilic statins.
Go to Keep your Cholesterol and Triglycerides at healthy levels
Fasting as a cancer treatment
In this study of 2413 women with breast cancer, nightly fasting duration of less than13 hours per night was associated with a 36% higher hazard for breast cancer recurrence compared with fasting 13 or more hours per night. Conclusions: Prolonging the length of the nightly fasting interval may be a simple, nonpharmacologic strategy for reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence.
Go to Fasting as a cancer treatment
Paw Paw Cell-Reg (PawPaw extract)
This study of 94 patients says: James Forsythe, M.D., Director of the Cancer Screening and Treatment Center of Nevada, in Reno, agreed to recruit test subjects for us among his stage 4 cancer patients. Dr. Forsythe found that the paw paw capsules, named Paw Paw Cell-Reg, when given one capsule qid, stabilized a number of patients with advanced breast, lung, prostate, lymphatic, and colorectal cancers…The product was effective whether used alone or as an adjuvant with other treatments including IGF-I and insulin-potentiation. Evidence of effectiveness included reductions in the blood levels of tumor antigens, measurable decreases in tumor sizes, inhibition of further metastases, weight gain, increased mobility, enhanced energy, and increased duration of survival.
See more at Paw Paw Cell-Reg (PawPaw extract)
Antihistamines
This study included all 54,406 women with Breast Cancer [BC] diagnosed in Sweden 2000 through 2008. It concluded:
This population based registry study shows that women treated with second generation antihistamines have a better overall and BC specific survival compared with non users regardless of age, history of allergy, ER status and tumor stage. The results are strongest for desloratadine use and use after BC diagnosis.
Note: There is some concern that the antihistamine Cimetidine has estrogenic properties. If you have a certain type of breast cancer or prostate cancer, for example, this may be a concern.
See Antihistamines
Bisphosphonates
This article in The Lancet referenced a meta-analysis of randomised trials of bisphosphonates involving 18,766 women over a 20 year period. In postmenopausal women, the addition of bisphosphonates resulted in highly significant reductions for bone recurrence (6·6% vs 8·8%) and for breast cancer mortality (14·7% vs 18·0%) at 10 years…This landmark report on breast cancer treatment should lead to widespread adoption of bisphosphonates as a standard of care for the adjuvant therapy of early-stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
See Bisphosphonates
Propranolol
This study says: Propranolol was also shown to have an effect on metastasis to the brain – the other major site of interest in breast cancer. This meta-analysis provides evidence that beta blocker use can be associated with the prolonged survival of cancer patients, especially patients with early-stage cancer treated primarily with surgery.
See Beta-blockers
See Metformin
This study reviewed the records of 460 consecutive patients with pathologically proved stage I-III breast cancer…Regarding overall survival, diabetic breast cancer patients treated with metformin as antidiabetic agent had longer mean overall survival time (59.71 months) than diabetic patients not treated with metformin (41.79 months) and nondiabetic patients (52.0 months).
See Metformin
Detailed Information about Breast Cancer
Male Breast Cancer
Breast cancer in men usually occurs between 60 and 70 years of age. Male breast cancer makes up less than 1% of all cases of breast cancer…
Breast Cancer Types
Breast cancer cells taken out during a biopsy or surgery will be tested to see if they have certain proteins that are estrogen or progesterone receptors…
Breast Cancer Treatment Options
You have many treatment options besides those offered by your oncologist (chemo, surgery, etc) including complementary therapies…
Breast Cancer Complementary therapies
Therapies that can be used alongside your conventional treatments to reduce treatment side-effects & pain and prolong survival.
Breast Screening Mammograms
Independent expert groups in Switzerland and France have recommended that breast screening be stopped or reduced substantially…
Breast Cancer Recurrence
Many patients get the “all clear”, breathe a sigh of relief and promptly go back to their old diet and lifestyle. But, all too often a deadly recurrence ensues…
Metastatic Breast Cancer
Cancer that spreads from where it started to a distant part of the body is called metastatic cancer. For many types of cancer, it is also called stage IV cancer.
Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy
Many women who have surgery to remove an entire breast to treat or prevent breast cancer have the option of having the shape of the removed breast rebuilt.
Hereditary Breast Cancer
There is emerging new evidence that adopting a healthy lifestyle may be particularly relevant for women with hereditary susceptibility to breast cancer…
Breast Cancer Anxiety and Stress
Anxiety and distress may cause problems such as nausea and vomiting before each treatment, having more pain than usual, and sleeplessness…
Breast Cancer Causes
Knowing what caused your Breast Cancer is important because if you can identify the cause you can do something about it in some cases.
Breast cancer-related Lymphedema
If you have breast cancer, no matter which type of surgery you have, you will likely have one or more lymph nodes removed from under your arm…
Breast Cancer Overdiagnosis
Finding cases of cancer with a screening test (such as a mammogram) that will never cause any symptoms. This can lead to unnecessary treatment and suffering..
Breast Cancer and Pregnancy
Breast cancer occurs about once in every 3,000 pregnancies. It occurs most often in women aged 32 to 38 years…
Breast Cancer Hair Loss
Some types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause the hair on your head and other parts of your body to fall out. There are a few things you can do…
Breast Cancer Prevention
Studies have shown that your risk for breast cancer is due to a combination of factors. The main factors include being a woman and getting older.
Page updated September 2024