http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Adding trastuzumab (trade name Herceptin) to the treatment offered to women who have HER2-positive breast cancer, significantly increases the chance of life being prolonged, and reduces the chance of tumours reappearing once therapy stops. This is important, because about one-fifth of women who develop early breast cancer have HER2-positive tumours that, if untreated, are associated with a worse outlook than HER2-negative tumours. At the same time, however, women given trastuzumab have a higher risk of experiencing problems with their heart. These findings are the key conclusions of a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-trastuzumab-survival-benefits-heart-women.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:00:01 EST news253891447 A new report by American Cancer Society scientists says new data showing aspirin's potential role in reducing the risk of cancer death bring us considerably closer to the time when cancer prevention can be included in clinical guidelines for the use of aspirin in preventative care. The report, published early online in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, says even a 10% reduction in overall cancer incidence beginning during the first 10 years of treatment could tip the balance of benefits and risks favorably in average-risk populations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-evidence-aspirin-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:10:22 EST news253206590 A Dutch study of the effectiveness of breast cancer screening shows that, even with improved treatments for the disease, population-based mammography programmes still save a significant number of lives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-breast-cancer-screening-treatment-significant.html Cancer Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:22:37 EST news251536947 Eating more red meat appears to be associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, but substituting other foods including fish and poultry for red meat is associated with a lower mortality risk, according to a study published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-red-meat-consumption-death.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:00:13 EST news250779632 Among postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, increasing age was associated with a higher risk of death from breast cancer, according to a study in the February 8 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-death-breast-cancer-higher-older.html Cancer Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:29:01 EST news247854530 More than 30 percent of cancers can be prevented by lifestyle changes, the World Health Organization said Friday, on the eve of World Cancer Day. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-lifestyle-cancers.html Cancer Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:50:02 EST news247480780 Brachytherapy for high-risk prostate cancers patients has historically been considered a less effective modality, but a new study from radiation oncologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests otherwise. A population-based analysis looking at almost 13,000 cases revealed that men who received brachytherapy alone or in combination with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) had significantly reduced mortality rates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-brachytherapy-death-high-risk-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:00:27 EST news246733218 Researchers in Family and Community Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University recently found that obesity was linked to higher rates of prostate cancer screening across all races/ethnic differences and lower rates of cervical cancer screening, most notably in white women. Their study on the role of obesity in cancer screening rates for prostate, cervical as well as breast and colorectal cancers across race/ethnicity and gender is examined in the current issue of the Journal of Obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-obesity-cancer-screening-gender-role.html Health Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:27:06 EST news245330814 A new study finds that while colorectal cancer mortality rates dropped in the most recent two decades for every stage in both African Americans and whites, the decreases were smaller for African Americans, particularly for distant stage disease. The authors say concerted efforts to prevent or detect colorectal cancer at earlier stages in blacks could improve worsening black-white disparities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-colorectal-cancer-mortality-slower-african.html Cancer Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:34:06 EST news243776004 Although men have higher cancer mortality rates than women, they are less willing to be screened for cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues at Sanoa Consulting LLC, Muscle Shoals, Ala., and the New York University College of Dentistry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-men-screened-cancer.html Health Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:31:40 EST news241191060 Since the National Cancer Institute developed the first guidelines on mammography screening over thirty years ago, advocacy and professional groups have developed guidelines focused on who should be screened, instead of communicating clearly the risks and benefits of screening, according to a commentary by Michael Edward Stefanek, Ph.D., the associate vice president of collaborative research in the office of the vice president at Indiana University, published online Nov. 21 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Stefanek writes that too much time has been spent debating guidelines, instead of ongoing debates about who should be screened. He advocates educating people about the potential harms and benefits of screening. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-cancer-screening-reform.html Cancer Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:00:02 EST news241102027 Alcohol consumption causes approximately four percent of all deaths worldwide and is responsible for roughly five percent of global diseases. A study of alcohol consumption in Tuscany, Italy has found that alcoholics have significantly higher rates of both general and cancer mortality when compared to the general population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-alcoholism-linked-higher-cancer-related-deaths.html Health Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:23:01 EST news240596559 Among men who were current or former heavy smokers, undergoing lung cancer screening with computed tomography (CT) scanning identified a substantial proportion who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting that this method may be helpful as an additional tool in detecting COPD, according to a study in the October 26 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ct-scans-lung-cancer-screening.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:02:39 EST news238780840 A model used to estimate breast cancer survival rates found that the probability that a woman with screen-detected breast cancer will avoid a breast cancer death because of screening mammography may be lower than previously thought, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-probability-proportion-women-survive-breast.html Cancer Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:26:35 EST news238692387 Postmenopausal women who reported having used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for at least 10 years at the time of enrollment in the Women's Health Initiative study had a lower risk for death from colorectal cancer compared with women who reported no use of these drugs at enrollment, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-nsaid-colorectal-cancer-mortality-postmenopausal.html Cancer Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:27:49 EST news238649261 A paper from the National Institutes of Health in the United States has evaluated the separate and combined effects of the frequency of alcohol consumption and the average quantity of alcohol drunk per occasion and how that relates to mortality risk from individual cancers as well as all cancers. The analysis is based on repeated administrations of the National Health Interview Survey in the US, assessing more than 300,000 subjects who suffered over 8,000 deaths from cancer. The research reports on total cancer deaths and deaths from lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-association-quantity-alcohol-frequency-consumption.html Health Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:21:26 EST news238328477 (Medical Xpress) -- The University of Sydney, in partnership with BreastScreen NSW and Ziltron, has developed a pioneering web-based program to monitor the performance of radiologists in detecting and diagnosing abnormalities in breast X-rays. Currently commencing its nationwide rollout, the BREAST Project has the potential to improve the early detection of breast cancer through screening and in turn reduce breast cancer mortality and morbidity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-early-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:32:13 EST news237029519 Johns Hopkins researchers say data show aging alone, not hormonal impact of menopause, explains increasing number of deaths as women age http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-link-betweem-menopause-fatal-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 06 Sep 2011 01:00:01 EST news234449291 New research suggests that saffron provides a significant chemopreventive effect against liver cancer in animal models. When saffron was administered to rats with diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver cancer an inhibition of cell proliferation and stimulation of apoptosis was observed. Full findings appear in the September issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-saffron-liver-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:26:00 EST news233223943 A study published Online First by The Lancet shows that just 15 minutes of physical activity per day reduces a person's risk of death by 14% and increases life expectancy by 3 years compared with inactive people. The Article is by Dr Chi-Pang Wen, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan, and China Medical University Hospital, and Dr Jackson Pui Man Wai, National Taiwan Sport University, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-minutes-physical-day-death-percent.html Health Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:30:02 EST news232642417 The south and southwest sides of Chicago suffer the most in terms of residents' health and access to basic health resources, according to a new study of 77 Chicago neighborhoods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-chicago-south-side-unhealthy-neighborhoods.html Health Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:36:15 EST news232634161 The benefits of using tamoxifen to prevent recurrence of breast cancer after surgery continue to accrue long after women stop taking the drug, a study led by Oxford University has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-drug-benefits-breast-cancer-deaths.html Cancer Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:56:00 EST news231148543 Breast cancer screening has not played a direct part in the reductions of breast cancer mortality in recent years, says a new study published on bmj.com today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-breast-screening-falling-cancer-deaths.html Cancer Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:00:01 EST news231129969 Overall cancer mortality rates are higher for men than women in the United States, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-cancer-mortality-higher-men-women.html Cancer Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:44:28 EST news229697060 Improvements in colorectal cancer mortality rates are concentrated in the northern part of the United States, while southern states continue to fall behind, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-southern-states-lag-death-colorectal.html Cancer Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:41:55 EST news229228908 Older breast cancer patients with certain other health problems have higher mortality rates than patients without these problems according to a study published online June 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The other health problems, or 'comorbidities', include heart attack and other heart-related problems, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and others. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-worse-outcomes-older-breast-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:25:10 EST news228673491 Breast cancer screening with mammography results in a significant reduction in breast cancer mortality, according to long-term follow-up results of a large-scale Swedish trial. The results are published online in the journal Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-mammography-screening-breast-cancer-mortality.html Cancer Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:18:09 EST news228449852 A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and University of California, San Francisco, researchers suggests that men with prostate cancer who smoke increase their risk of prostate cancer recurrence and of dying from the disease. A link also was found between smoking at the time of prostate cancer diagnosis and aggressive prostate cancer, overall mortality (death) and cardiovascular disease mortality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-prostate-cancer-recurrence-death.html Cancer Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:26:17 EST news227892240 In a clinical trial that included nearly 80,000 women, those who received ovarian cancer screening did not have a reduced risk of death from ovarian cancer compared to women who received usual care, but did have an increase in invasive medical procedures and associated harms as a result of being screened, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-ovarian-cancer-screening-death.html Cancer Sun, 05 Jun 2011 03:00:04 EST news226459018 An analysis of data from previously published studies indicates that longer time to beginning adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for colorectal cancer is associated with worse survival, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-colorectal-cancer-surgery-longer-chemotherapy.html Cancer Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:50:01 EST news226458703