Breast Health

Postmenopausal women who used to smoke or who currently smoke appear to be at a higher risk of invasive breast cancer than postmenopausal women who never smoked, according to a study published online March 1 in BMJ.

High body mass index (BMI) and low levels of physical activity are associated with increased risk of triple-negative and estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers in postmenopausal women, according to a study published online March 1 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Breast cancer incidence rates among non-Hispanic (NH) white women in the United States stabilized between 2003 and 2007 after a sharp decline between 2002 and 2003 that followed a drop in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy, according to a study published online Feb. 28 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Female childhood cancer survivors should be encouraged to breast-feed as a health behavior that is protective against many late effects of cancer treatment, according to a review published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

For women taking postmenopausal hormone therapy, breast cancer risk is greater among users of estrogen-progestin formulations, and those who begin treatment earlier, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The risk of false-positive results is lower with digital mammography compared to screen-film mammography, with no significant difference in the cancer detection rate between the two, according to a study published in the February issue of Radiology.

Premenopausal women who schedule regular mammograms may benefit by undergoing screening during the first week of their menstrual cycle, according to research published in the February issue of Radiology.

Adequate breast-feeding of a baby exposed to diabetes in utero may protect against childhood adiposity, according to a study published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.

In women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer, treatment with trastuzumab for one year after chemotherapy is associated with significant disease-free survival at a four-year follow-up, according to a study published online Feb. 25 in The Lancet Oncology.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology has issued updated guidelines for the use of bone-modifying agents (BMAs) in treating breast cancer patients with bone metastases to include a new drug, denosumab, and provide new advice regarding a potentially serious complication of treatment, osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ); an overview of the guideline update was published online Feb. 22 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Although mothers with type 1 diabetes are less likely to partially or exclusively breast-feed at two months, diabetes is not an independent risk factor for the initiation and maintenance of breast-feeding, according to a study published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.

Mammography screening for breast cancer may be less accurate among women with a personal history of breast cancer (PHBC), despite a higher underlying cancer rate, relative to women without PHBC, according to a study published in the Feb. 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The first three-dimensional mammography system has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A 46-year-old patient presented for a second opinion on a mass found within the right breast on a prior outside mammogram. The patient denies any lumps or pain within either breast.

Initiating mammography at a younger age and screening more frequently than the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends will likely result in more lives saved, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

A 54-year-old patient presented for evaluation of spontaneous left breast discharge. The patient is status post-right mastectomy with TRAM reconstruction in 1999. The patient states she has noted left breast discharge for quite some time

Women who experience menopausal symptoms and have increased intensity of hot flushes have a reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, according to a study published online Jan. 6 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Saline or silicone gel-filled breast implants my be associated with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today. The agency requested that health care professionals report any confirmed cases of the disease in women with implants.

Active smoking has a modest effect on the risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study published in the Jan. 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicince.

Women who receive false-positive results from routine breast cancer screenings may experience a low quality of life and feelings of anxiety for at least one year, according to a study published online Dec. 20 in the British Journal of Surgery.

Breast arterial calcification may have a role as a specific marker of medial vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease (CKD), and it is significantly increased in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), according to a study published online Jan. 21 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Basal-like breast cancer is not more aggressive among African-American individuals than whites; however, in patients with luminal A cancer, African-American women experience worse outcomes, according to a study published in the Dec. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

A Western diet high in fat and cholesterol may be linked to larger, faster-growing tumors that metastasize more easily in mice predisposed to breast cancer, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

Adjuvant breast cancer therapy with an aromatase inhibitor (exemestane) alone, or used following tamoxifen, offers similar disease-free survival rates but different side-effect profiles, according to a study published online Jan. 18 in The Lancet.

Coverage of the 37th Annual Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecology