Wednesday, October 14, 2009

“Breast Tenderness After Hormone Replacement Therapy May Increase ... - Med India” plus 4 more

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“Breast Tenderness After Hormone Replacement Therapy May Increase ... - Med India” plus 4 more

Breast Tenderness After Hormone Replacement Therapy May Increase ... - Med India

Posted: 14 Oct 2009 05:36 AM PDT

"Is it because the hormone therapy is causing breast-tissue cells to multiply more rapidly, which causes breast tenderness and at the same time indicates increased cancer risk? We need to figure out what makes certain women more susceptible to developing breast tenderness during hormone therapy than other women," said Dr. Carolyn J. Crandall, a clinical professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The researchers compared the daily use of oral conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (2.5 mg), or CEE+MPA, with the daily use of a placebo pill.

Among the women who did report breast tenderness at the beginning, the risk at one-year was about 1.26 times that of their counterparts on placebos.

Of the women who reported new-onset breast tenderness, 76.3 percent had been on the combination therapy.

Women in the combination therapy group who did not have breast tenderness at the outset but experienced new-onset tenderness at the first annual follow-up had a 48 percent higher risk of invasive breast cancer than their counterparts on combination therapy who did not have breast tenderness at the first-year follow-up.

The study is published in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Source-ANI
ARU

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Wife, husband both battling breast cancer - KIDK

Posted: 13 Oct 2009 09:12 AM PDT

MONROE, Ohio (AP) — A husband and wife are both undergoing treatment for breast cancer in a case that illustrates how the disease can strike both sexes. Mike and Barbara Welsh, of Monroe, in southwestern Ohio, each had surgery this year after separate discoveries that they had breast cancer.

Barbara Welsh, 63, had surgery in January, went through chemotherapy and is now starting radiation treatments.

After surgery in July, her 62-year-old husband is determining the next step in his recovery, which may include chemotherapy and radiation. He had a modified radical mastectomy on his right breast.

Mike Welsh says he is speaking up about his cancer to make other men aware that breast cancer is not just something that strikes women.

"If I could help 10 people or 100, that's a start," said Welsh, a retired AK Steel bricklayer.

Male breast cancer is still rare, with about 1,900 cases expected to be diagnosed this year, with about 440 men dying from the illness.

Mike Welsh first noticed something was wrong when he got into his car and felt discomfort as he strapped the seat belt across his chest.

After his wife began her treatments, he asked his doctor if men could get breast cancer. His doctor referred him to the Compton Center at Atrium Medical Center, in Middletown, where he got the diagnosis.

The couple, married 41 years, laugh about their experience to help stave off the depression that sunk in after their diagnoses.

"You've got to laugh at it," Mike Welsh said. "You have good days, bad days and better days. We're having fun with it."

He and his wife joke that she glows from radiation treatment that she has begun.

"I'm going to set her outside for Halloween," Mike Welsh said.

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The Lump that Changes Everything - Momlogic.com

Posted: 14 Oct 2009 12:32 PM PDT

Dr. Wendy Walsh: My doctor's voice was calm and direct: "You have a five-millimeter mass on your left breast. I'd like you to see a surgeon tomorrow."

After shakily scribbling down the surgeon's number, I placed the phone down in numb shock. I had always known this day was coming. My mother died of breast cancer when I was thirty. Since that day, I've always wondered if I have a ticking time bomb inside me as well. And here it was. That call. That practical, conservative, life-saving voice. My doctor swiftly handing me over to a guy with a knife.

The back story is this. I am 47 years old. I have annual mammograms that often show suspicious shadows. I think this is a backhanded gift of breastfeeding for six years. Old clogged milk ducts. Scar tissue from breast infections. Whatever. Mammograms always lead to follow-up ultrasounds for me. But a next-step MRI? Now this was something different.

The tube was hell. All you brave women who have endured it know that lying facedown in a small, loud, hot tube while your boobs hang into two holes and some crazy chemical called "contrast" is injected into your body isn't exactly fun. In fact, I'd rather endure a sweaty line in an amusement park or a three-year-old's tantrum, thank you very much. But with my dear old friend Maria literally holding my hand and tiny tears escaping out the corners of my eyes, I got through it. I am such a wimp. This I know.

Then the phone call. A mass so hidden near the chest wall that no one could feel it. It's called "early detection" in the lingo of breast cancer screening advocates. The best cure available. If I was even sick, that is.

Next came the rounds of first and second opinions, and let me tell you, ladies, one tiny little non-palatable mass can cause havoc with our mommy commitments. I am a single mom with two car pool schedules at two different schools with a dizzying flowchart that I even have trouble understanding. And now, there was to be a series of medical appointments that would turn my world upside down. Big thanks to all my friends (who I mostly notified via Facebook) and baby-daddy, who picked up kids and did pinch-hitting child care.

Two top-notch surgeons gave the exact same recommendation. Since it can't be felt, they said, we need to do an MRI-guided biopsy. That means they go in with some kind of needle-vacuum thingy while you are inside that awful tube. Great. Let's just add one more nasty piece to an MRI. They also both recommended that I do a BRCA test. That's the breast cancer gene blood test. If I carry the gene, I have an 85% chance of getting breast cancer. If not, then 12% like everybody else.

The doctor I settled on is Dr. Kristi Funk, who runs the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills. Nice, chick-friendly place that specializes in breasts. All breasts, all the time. A smart gal named Courtney helped me plead a case to my insurance company to cover the expensive blood test. This is an important thing. There's currently a movement in America to try to force all insurance companies to provide the BRCA test to everybody. At this point, only people with a strong family history get the BRCA. I mean, wouldn't you like to know if you're carrying a time bomb?

I moved my medical care to Cedars-Sinai hospital because, well, heck, if Cedars is good enough for Britney Spears' meltdowns and Michael Jackson's body, then it was good enough for me. The next MRI was scheduled for September 8th, the first day of school for my new middle-schooler. This was a tough decision for me. You mothers can relate. If I did the test on that day, my middle-schooler would start a new school with new kids, all alone. I wasn't even sure who could drive her there. If I didn't do the test on September 8th, I would have to wait an entire month, because it has to be done on a certain day of one's cycle. Yippee for me. I still cycle. So, I did some woo-woo meditation (I live in California, after all) and my stomach told me it was okay to delay this thing. While I was waiting, the BRCA test came back negative, confirming what my stomach had already told me. Things were going to be okay.

Last week, I rolled into Cedars with my friend Stevie as my hand-holder. Stevie is a chick, but I must thank all those male friends who so selflessly posted on Facebook that they would gladly sit beside me while my boobs hung down in front of them. So kind of you, boys.

I was told that the Cedars protocol is to do a plain MRI before the MRI-guided biopsy. A caring and funny technician named Jane helped get me into that stupid tube. Whoever invented claustrophobia should be shot. This time, the tube was narrower, hotter, louder, and clearly more precise. Because the next day, Courtney from Dr. Funk's office called me with a chipper tone and excellent news. The mass has disappeared! As in, gone. Not there. Doesn't exist anymore. Vanished.

The scientific explanation is that it was probably hormonally related, and as my hormones changed, so did my insides. I prefer to think it was all my real-world friends on Facebook and in real life who prayed, meditated, and whispered my name to the universe. This group included three preachers, so whole congregations put their heads together for this. Get ready for next year, people. My mother may have left me early, but I am not leaving my kids.

These days, I'm walking on air. A six-week weight has been lifted, and the world is looking soooo beautiful. But as my screen-writing teacher Peter Russell posted on my Facebook wall, "It won't last, Wendy. I had a similar reprieve and it wasn't a week before I was screaming, WHO LEFT THE LID OFF THE MAYONNAISE!"

For now, nothing bugs me.

Click here to give a free mammogram, and click here to sign a petition to help all women get the BRCA gene test.

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BioSante completes Cell Genesys buyout - CNBC

Posted: 14 Oct 2009 12:24 PM PDT

NEW YORK - BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday that it completed an all-stock buyout of Cell Genesys Inc. and the combined company will focus on developing a topical testosterone gel intended to treat sexual dysfunction in women.

In June, BioSante said it would buy Cell Genesys in a deal valued at $38 million. BioSante will focus primarily on LibiGel, a topical testosterone gel intended to treat sexual dysfunction in women. The company said it plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval on LibiGel in the first half of 2011.

The company also plans to develop Cell Genesys' cancer treatment GVAX. Cell Genesys, based in South San Francisco, Calif., was developing GVAX, as an immune treatment for prostate cancer, but discontinued testing last year after one trial was likely to fail and another had an unexpectedly high rate of patient deaths.

The company said GVAX is now being tested as a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer, leukemia and breast cancer.

BioSante said it also now owns a stake in Ceregene Inc., a former subsidiary of Cell Genesys, which is developing gene therapies for neurodegenerative disorders.

Shares of Lincolnshire, Ill.-based BioSante fell 1 cent to $1.81 in afternoon trading.

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Fight Breast Cancer, Set World Record, Eat Free Gelato Tomorrow - Gothamist.com

Posted: 14 Oct 2009 12:32 PM PDT

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Just a heads up that tomorrow the new Manhattan location of gelato and crepe chain Melt will be trying to set the world record for the most cups of gelato served in a single day. If you'd like to help the company achieve its goal, head over to Melt at 1053 2nd Avenue, between 55th and 56th Streets, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow. The lines for these kinds of giveaways can sometimes make one question whether its worth the time investment, but since Melt is going for the world record, maybe they'll be cranking out the gelato fast enough to keep things moving briskly?

Also, this is for a good cause: The outlet is encouraging customers to spend some (or more) of the money they would have invested in gelato with a donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. That's an organization dedicated to education and research about breast cancer causes, treatment, and the search for a cure. The free gelato is just one small event occurring during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month; Friday is also National Mammography Day!

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