Survivorship Care Planning: A single approach won't address the needs of all patients
September 29th 2014Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute noted that a number of survivorship care recommendations and templates for care plans exit but little is known about patients' preferences in survivorship care planning.
Exercise Reduces Risk, but Benefits Disappear if Women Stop Exercising
September 24th 2014Many studies have found a link between regular exercise and a lower risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer or breast cancer coming back (recurrence). As a result, the American Cancer Society and many doctors recommend that women who've been diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as those who haven't, exercise regularly – about 4 to 5 hours per week at a moderate intensity level. (Brisk walking is considered moderate intensity exercise.)
Axillary Dissection: No survival advantage seen for older women
September 22nd 2014To address the question of whether axillary dissection is necessary in older women, researchers in Milan, Italy recruited 238 women aged 65-80 years with cT1cN0 breast cancer and randomized them to receive conservative surgery with or without axillary node dissection.
A Spoonful of Honey? New Findings Shed Light on Its Role in Relieving Esophagitis Pain
September 19th 2014New patient-reported data presented at the 2014 ASTRO Annual Meeting has shown that Manuka honey is not more effective than standard medical care for the treatment of esophagitis pain during radiation therapy.
Analysis Provides Reassurance on Radiation's Impact on Lymphedema Risk
September 18th 2014A new analysis of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-32 trial presented at the ASTRO 56th Annual Meeting offers substantial evidence that treatment with radiation therapy does not increase the incidence of lymphedema in patients with node-negative breast cancer.
For Men With Prostate Cancer, Vessel-Sparing Radiation Can Preserve Sexual Function
September 17th 2014With the use of MRI imaging to restrict doses to erectile tissues, nearly half of men treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer were able to be sexually active without aids or medications 5 years later, and nearly 80% could be sexually active if such support was an option
Cancer Hope Network Offers Resources to Patients Seeking Advice on Clinical Trial Enrollment
September 16th 2014That support is provided by matching people diagnosed with cancer and/or family members with trained volunteers who have themselves undergone and recovered from a similar cancer experience.
Financial Toxicity: Time to start grading the financial burden of care?
September 15th 2014In an "Art of Oncology" column in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nandita Khera, MBBS, MPH from the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ, proposes that financial toxicity is an important effect of cancer treatment that can be as devastating as other adverse medical events.