Breast Cancer

A new study finds many breast cancer patients are concerned about the financial impact of their diagnosis and treatment, and that they feel their doctor’s offices are not helping with these concerns.

Many cancer patients use alternative medicine, including supplements, massage therapy, yoga, and acupuncture, while undergoing conventional cancer care. Such therapies are usually acceptable, but patients must discuss such therapies with their oncologist, because interactions may occur.

Researchers at the U-M Rogel Cancer Center have discovered the process that allows immune suppressor cells to develop, suggesting a potential new way to bolster immunotherapy treatment.

As many as one in three women treated for breast cancer undergo unnecessary procedures, which is why it's important to find new ways to diagnose the disease. Research in mice finds a special kind of pill could do a better job distinguishing between benign and aggressive tumors.

As new genes are linked to breast cancer occurring in families, and as genetic testing becomes more important in directing treatment for newly diagnosed patients, a substantial number of those at the highest risk are not getting tested.

In an article in U.S. News and World Report, Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., describes recent advances in radiation therapy to treat breast cancer.

The Wall Street Journal looks at efforts to improve how oncologists determine which patients need chemotherapy. What once was a crucial part of cancer treatment might now be best avoided for some patients at low risk. The article cites research from U-M Rogel Cancer Center member Steven Katz, M.D., MPH.

Even 20 years after a diagnosis, women with a type of breast cancer fueled by estrogen still face a substantial risk of cancer returning or spreading, according to a new analysis from an international team of investigators published in the New England Journal of Medicine.