If you haven’t heard of palliative care or aren’t quite sure what it is, you’re not alone. Surveys find that most people and even some doctors, don’t have a full understanding of palliative care and all it has to offer those with cancer or other major illnesses.1   What is palliative care? Palliative care is a […]

For many years, breast density (a measure that compares the amount of fat and tissue in the breast) was one of the most important breast cancer risk factors that few people had ever heard of. While it was well known among researchers, the term wasn’t used much in routine health care. That is now changing. […]

After a breast cancer diagnosis, women (and men) have to weigh many, often complex treatment options. Then, along with the help of their medical team and family members, they must make important choices about their care. Key to making these decisions is reliable information about breast cancer. Unfortunately, not all the information people have access […]

Walk the grocery stores aisles these days and you can’t go too many steps before coming across a food with soy as a main ingredient. Yet, despite such popularity – and in part because of it – soy remains an important and somewhat controversial health topic, particularly when it comes to breast cancer. Many women […]

For a medication that’s been around in one form or another for over 2,000 years, aspirin still has a surprising way of grabbing headlines. Once used mainly for pain relief, fever and heart attacks, aspirin has now broken into the realm of cancer prevention. A string of scientific papers have recently been published focusing on […]

It can seem like health writers are obsessed with numbers. Pull up any news article or blog post on breast cancer, and you’ll likely wade into a sea of percentages, decimals, odds and fractions. Often, these numbers describe “risk.” It’s a familiar term but also one that can have some specific meanings when it comes […]

Over the past 30 years, breast cancer rates have increased by nearly 20 percent in the United States (though more recent years have begun to see small declines). During this time, the number of synthetic chemicals in the environment has also increased. These trends have caused many to question whether the increasingly polluted environment is […]

Female breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among nearly every racial and ethnic group in the U.S. However, the past 25 years have seen much improvement in treatment and overall breast cancer care, which have greatly increased survival rates over the years. During this time, overall breast cancer rates have decreased, but have […]

Angelina Jolie can make headlines when she goes to buy milk.  So it was no surprise that last May she was yet again front-page news.  This time, though, it was not for her latest blockbuster movie or her relief work.  It was much more personal – her choice to have preventive surgery to remove both of her breasts. […]

It’s a health mantra almost every woman could say in her sleep: “Exercise regularly and watch your weight.”  In fact, it’s heard so often that it’s very easy to tune out. But, this is an important message that everyone should take to heart, especially breast cancer survivors.  There’s very good evidence that exercising and maintaining a […]

The goal of treating early stage and locally advanced breast cancer is to remove the cancer and keep it from coming back (called recurrence or relapse). With modern treatment, rates of survival without recurrence continue to improve. Unfortunately, there is always a chance that breast cancer may return. However most people diagnosed with breast cancer will never have a […]

It’s well established that hormones play a key role in breast cancer risk.  So, it’s not surprising that factors related to fertility and pregnancy have been actively studied to better understand their relationship with breast cancer. These include, age at menopause, age at first period, childbearing (number of children and age at first childbirth) and use […]