Breast Cancer - Original Articles

Cancer scientists are slowly but surely making potentially promising discoveries in stem cell research and the breakthroughs could be significant.

Although advancing age and being a woman are the two most significant risk factors for breast cancer, a family history also raises your risk of developing breast cancer and developing it at a younger age.

One chemo side effect is the potential to increase patients' risk for heart failure, particularly in those who already have heart disease. Here's what you should know and what you can do.

What could be the downsides of potentially detecting cancer or another serious disease before it advances to a more-difficult-to-treat stage? Well, 150 times more radiation than a chest x-ray, for one thing.

Here, answers to your most pressing questions about dense breasts.

The new technique of 3-D mammograms, or digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), overlays 3-D optical mammogram images with x-ray images.

Researchers have found that women are 11 times more likely to develop this serious condition if they are missing teeth or have gum disease. What's the connection?

Could it be the smell of relief? Here's how to use essential oils to address pain and anxiety associated with cancer treatment and recovery.

The Web offers many options for staying connected and keeping loved ones updated on your or your family member's health issues. These methods are fast, easy, and efficient, and you'll know your support network is right there with you as a part of your journey.

New advances may make lymph node removal more targeted and less the norm.

Many people only discover they have cancer when something turns up on an x-ray, ultrasound, or other routine test. Unfortunately, the disease may then be in its later (and more difficult-to-treat) stages.

Why are self-breast exams less in favor, and what options do you have now for detecting breast cancer?

No cancer treatment is risk free and sometimes the side effects don't manifest until many years after treatment.

If you're wondering whether cancer rates are going up or down, here are a few highlights from the most recent update from the National Cancer Institute.

While cancer researchers have often come to conflicting conclusions in their studies, to date the results are encouraging.

It's important to take control and define the type of medical care we want, or don't want, at the end of our life.

What are your options following the removal of a breast?

Aches and pains in breasts are common and usually no cause for alarm. For some women, however, sore breasts are a sign that something more serious is going on.

After extensive studies to determine whether this concern is founded, the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society have come to a conclusion.

From the moment you are diagnosed with cancer, you become a survivor. And you are in good company. In 2010, the number of people in the U.S. living with cancer exceeded 11 million.

As difficult as a cancer diagnosis is, you can cope with it. Here are a few of the things you should do first after learning you have cancer.

Preliminary studies using breath tests to identify patients with cancer may provide another option for doctors. So far, results show promise for detecting at least two types of cancers.

You may be familiar with hospice, which supports people with life-limiting illnesses. However, you may not be as familiar with palliative care, a related concept that is invaluable to people with cancer or other serious illnesses.

Is it possible that certain widely-used pain relievers may have a role in cancer prevention and treatment?

Produced naturally by our bodies, the hormone DHEA has been touted as the key to longevity. And some people have begun to supplement their bodies' own DHEA with a synthetic version of the hormone. But are they effective?

This supplement has a big reputation, but what do the studies show when it comes to cancer prevention?

If you've been diagnosed with cancer, you probably want to start -and complete -treatment as soon as possible. However, there are times when physicians will postpone chemotherapy.

One study stated that women with the highest self-reported use of household cleaning products had twice the risk of developing breast cancer. What should you do?

The oft-cited but confusing statistic that one out of eight women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime creates a lot of understandable anxiety among women. The fear of finding a lump, even if it's not cancerous, just adds to the stress. Here are a few of the common myths about breast lumps.

In late 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) created a brouhaha among cancer organizations, physicians, women's advocacy groups, and patients when it released its updated mammography screening recommendations. Here are the highlights from these guidelines.