Breast Cancer

Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, Washington, D.C. and progress on many legislative issues came to a halt. The country is beginning to open back up and non-emergent surgeries are taking place again. Because of COVID-19, now more than ever women will be looking for lower risk and non-surgical options after a mastectomy. It is incredibly important that breast cancer survivors have all the reconstruction options available to them after mastectomy surgery, whether that be surgical reconstruction,

Cure Today recently published an article that highlighted the results of a nationwide study presented during a 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program press briefing.These results revealed that the death rate from cancer dropped more in states that expanded Medicaid coverage than those that didn’t following the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. According to Cure Today, authors of this study say it was the first of its kind to examine cancer mortality in the wake of

The House of Representatives and Senate are both in session on April 15, 2020. Let’s make our voices heard and call our senators and representatives asking them to sign on to support S. 562/H.R. 1370, the Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act. The breast is one of the only body parts not covered by Medicare as a custom prosthetic replacement! Women deserve to make the choice for themselves. Please note, the call-in day that was scheduled on April 1, 2020 will now take place April 15, 2020 due

Update 3/31/20: Due to Coronavirus, the scheduled LHD Call-In has been postponed.  This was the activity highlighted in the recent Essential Advantage newsletter asking people to call their legislators to ask for support of The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act, H.R. 1370/S. 562.  The original date referenced in the newsletter and our Facebook page was April 1st.  In the past week, we rescheduled for April 15th due to most Capitol buildings

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental new drug application for Nerlynx (neratinib) in combination with Xeloda (capecitabine) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received two or more anti-HER2 based therapies in the metastatic setting.  According to Cure Today, the approval comes off the heels of the phase 3 NALA trial that looked at the efficacy of Nerlynx in combination with Xeloda, which

A recent study from Medscape has found that alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (BC), but it is unclear whether these associations vary by a woman's familial BC risk.  The conclusion found was that moderate alcohol intake was associated with increased BC risk, particularly for women with ER-positive BC, but only for those at lower predicted familial BC risk (5-year BOADICEA < 1.25). For women with a high FRP (5-year BOADICEA

A study led by doctors from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) could make way for a medical breakthrough for patients with reoccuring breast cancer and who want to save their breast. Until now, the standard treatment when breast cancer comes back has been a mastectomy.  Doctors found that if the patient has a second lumpectomy and then treated a small portion of the breast with external beams of radiation they could target the tumor and avoid exposing surrounding tissue and

AnaOno is hosting their 4th annual New York Fashion Week show benefiting METAvivor.org. This year’s show is focused on bridging the gap throughout our community, from early-stage breast cancer patients and survivors to Stage IV breast cancer patients. We experience division in our lives so often these days, but the one separation we cannot afford is the fear that early-stage patients encounter when diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and

Cure Today recently shared an article about the findings of a phase 3 clinical trial presented during the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). These findings showed that accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) may be as effective as whole breast irradiation (WBI) in preventing recurrence in patients with low risk early breast cancer. Survival and recurrence rates were similar among patients with breast cancer who either received accelerated partial breast irradiation

According to a recent article in Reuters Health, a new study suggests that patients with breast cancer who use supplements during chemotherapy may be at an increased risk of recurrence and death. Researchers report in the Journal of Oncology that the use of dietary supplements that boost levels of antioxidants, iron, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids appeared to lower the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Although doctors have advised patients not to take antioxidants during