:: June 2009

Welcome to our Monthly Online Newsletter!

View all Treatment articles in our Treatment Report . The most recent articles are listed on top (not in alphabetical order). Click on the Topic on our home page and then the subtopic - Treatment Report. Stay updated on drugs and their side effects, and various other treatments, including exercise, nutrition, and supplements.

Highlighted Article

Are everyday products from cosmetics to household cleaners causing the high rates of breast cancer? “Has the key to reducing breast cancer gotten lost in the race for a cure? A new book, No Family History, presents compelling evidence that exposure to everyday products such as cosmetics and toiletries, hormones in food, household cleaners and pesticides is behind the dramatic increase in breast cancer and argues that the solution is simple: prevention. … Breast cancer "hot spots" from Long Island, N.Y., to Northern California have two common threads—industrial pollution and agricultural pesticides. These "hot spots" are pockets of the United States where breast cancer has risen six times faster than the national rate. In Long Island, the incidence of breast cancer is 200 percent higher than the national average. "In our race for a cure for breast cancer, we have ignored the overwhelming body of evidence that demonstrates a link between products from cosmetics to pesticides and breast cancer," McCormick says. "We must focus on prevention by demanding safer products, reducing our exposure to chemicals and urging our policymakers to ban cancer-causing chemicals in everyday products." European governments responded to this scientific evidence by banning cosmetic products with certain chemicals from being sold in their countries. According to No Family History, one American cosmetics company known as much for its "pink ribbon" marketing campaigns as for its pink lipstick removed these chemicals from products sold in Europe, but these same chemicals remain in the products the company sells in the United States. "Women and girls should not have to check the ingredients in every stick of lipstick and each bottle of moisturizer. Better regulation to ensure that these products are safe would go a long way to reducing the incidence of breast cancer," McCormick says.”

Clinical Guidelines

AHRQ - Genetic Risk Assessment and BRCA Mutation Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility (2005)

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Guideline Recommendations for Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Guideline Summary (2006)

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Patient Guide: Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Early Stage Breast Cancer (2005)

ASCO Patient Guide: HER2 Testing for Breast Cancer (2006)

ESMO - Minimum Clinical Recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) (2005)

ESMO Minimum Clinical Recommendations for diagnosis, adjuvant treatment and follow-up of primary breast cancer (2005)

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Breast Cancer Guideline, Version 1.2007

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis (2008)

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast and Ovarian (2007)

NCCN - Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients ? Version VII, August 2005

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Breast Cancer Risk Reduction (2008)

NGC - AHRQ - Understanding Breast Cancer Treatment: A Guide for Patients (2005)

NGC - American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline recommendations for sentinel lymph node biopsy in early-stage breast cancer. (2005)

NGC - American Society of Clinical Oncology technology assessment on the use of aromatase inhibitors as adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor?positive breast cancer: status report 2004. (2004)

NGC - Breast cancer. (2004)

NGC - Breast cancer. (2005)

NGC - Breast cancer treatment. (2004)

NGC - Breast cancer treatment. (2005)

NGC - Breast masses. (2005)

NGC - Clinical guidelines for the classification and care of women at risk of familial breast cancer in primary, secondary and tertiary care. (2004)

NGC - Common breast problems. (2007)

NGC - Diagnosis of breast disease. (2005)

NGC - Diagnostic imaging in breast cancer. (2006)

NGC - GUIDELINE SYNTHESIS SCREENING FOR BREAST CANCER

NGC - Management of breast cancer in women. A national clinical guideline. (2005)

NGC - Palpable breast masses. (2006)

NGC - Procedure guideline for breast scintigraphy. (2004)

NGC - SCREENING FOR BREAST CANCER

NGC - Stage 1 breast carcinoma. (2006)

NGC - The role of taxanes in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for women with non-metastatic breast cancer. (2004)

NGC - The use of magnetic resonance imaging of the breast (MRIB) for screening of women at high risk of breast cancer. (2004)

NGC - Use of bisphosphonates in women with breast cancer. (2004)

NICE - Familial breast cancer (2004)

Internet Sites

Featured site

Breast Cancer

CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program: Program Contacts

Environment and Breast Cancer: Science Review

International Breast Cancer Screening Network

National Comprehensive Cancer Network

NCI - Antiperspirants/Deodorants and Breast Cancer: Questions and Answers

NCI - Breast Cancer

NCI - Breast Cancer Diagnosis

NCI - Breast Cancer (PDQ®): Prevention

NCI - Breast Cancer (PDQ®): Screening

NCI - Breast Cancer (PDQ ®): Treatment

NCI - Breast Cancer (PDQ ®): Treatment (Health Professional Version)

NCI - Estimating Breast Cancer Risk: Questions and Answers

NCI - General Information About Breast Cancer - Treatment

NCI - Progress in Addressing Breast Cancer Rates in Marin County (News 2003)

NCI - What is screening?

NCI - What you need to know about breast cancer: Background

NIH - Breast Cancer

NIH - Breast Cancer Resources

NIH - Breast Cancer Tutorial

NIH - Breast Diseases

NIH - Male Breast Cancer

NIH - Mammography

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Breast cancer

NIH - Paclitaxel

Related Topics - Highlighted Articles

Menopause

Postmenopausal breast cancer risk and cumulative number of menstrual cycles. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005) "CONCLUSION: Among women who underwent natural menopause, a higher number of menstrual cycles in lifetime, reflecting a longer exposure to endogenous estrogens, is associated with an increased breast cancer risk."

Environmental Health

Breast cancer risk and exposure in early life to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using total suspended particulates as a proxy measure. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005) "Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are ubiquitous in the environment. We hypothesized that early life exposure to PAHs may have particular importance in the etiology of breast cancer. ? Our study suggests that exposure in early life to high levels of PAHs may increase the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer; however, other confounders related to geography cannot be ruled out."

In this newsletter:

Diagnosis, Imaging, and Screening
General Information
Risk Factors
Risk Reduction

	Diagnosis, Imaging, and Screening
Study Challenges Routine Use Of MRI Scans To Evaluate Breast Cancer What Should A Teenage Girl Do If She Finds A Lump In Her Breast? “Among girls younger than 19, there are fewer than 25 cases of breast cancer per 100,000 per year, according to the National Cancer Institute. The vast majority of breast lumps in adolescents are benign and tend to wax and wane. Over time, many disappear. Many teenage girls undergo biopsy of breast lumps because of parental anxiety and surgeons' concerns, Vade said. Vade and colleagues wrote that for adolescents who present with solid masses that appear benign on ultrasound examination, "we conclude that excisional biopsy may not always be necessary." “

	General Information
Association between Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Breast Cancer Risk (Cancer Prevention Research 2009) “In summary, these results add to a growing body of evidence that adequate vitamin D stores may prevent breast cancer development. Whereas circulating 25-OHD levels of >32 ng/mL are associated with normal bone mineral metabolism, our data suggest that the optimal level for breast cancer prevention is 40 ng/mL.” Breast Cancer Gene Can Be Blocked By Blood Pressure Drug Longitudinal study of serum carotenoid, retinol, and tocopherol concentrations in relation to breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2009)

	Risk Factors

	Risk Reduction