CHI - Winter 2007 - (Page 72) TIME FOR YOU breast cancer breakthroughs The news is positive for treatment and prevention. WHILE RECENT PROGRESS has raised breast cancer survival rates, diagnosis in the United States remains at one in every eight women. Each year in this country, roughly 200,000 women are diagnosed with the disease. Efforts to eradicate breast cancer are ongoing, with research tending to target one of three goals: ■ Prevent the disease in high-risk patients. ■ Diagnose the disease as early as possible. ■ Make patients more comfortable during treatment. Here are some recent developments: patient comfort Conventional radiation therapy that follows breast tumor surgery requires patients to receive a total of 25 to 30 doses of radiation administered, typically, five days a week for five to six weeks. This lengthy routine interferes with patients’ work and family schedules to the degree that some women simply opt out—a risky decision considering that radiation has been shown to prevent recurrence of the cancer. A study presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society of Clinical Oncology, however, concluded that survival rates did not suffer when patients were treated in only 13 to 15 sessions of higher radiation doses. Also, the oncology community is beginning to recommend that cancer patients exercise throughout their chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatment unless the treatment debilitates them beyond that possibility. A simple walk for 15 to 20 minutes will fight the fatigue that typically results from cancer treatment. prevention Taking a daily adult aspirin for at least five years lowered women’s risk of breast cancer by 17 percent in the recently reported Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort. When all cancers were considered, aspirin lowered women’s risk by 14 percent and men’s risk by 16 percent. To shed light on the genes vs. environment discussion subject, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is launching its “Sister Study,” which will compare the histories of women who have had breast cancer with those of their blood-related, cancer-free sisters. The hope is that identifying the variables that put women at risk will ultimately lead to preventing the disease altogether. early diagnosis Researchers have been exploring MRI, which captures images through the use of radio waves and magnets, as an additional tool in diagnosing breast cancer. The latest study, presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society of Clinical Oncology, found that MRI was highly successful in detecting “in situ” breast cancer, a noninvasive form considered to be Stage 0 but still typically requiring some treatment. MRI had a 92 percent success rate of detecting this type of cancer, compared with a 56 percent success rate for mammography. In addition, the mammograms found only low-grade tumors, whereas MRI detected both low-grade and high-grade tumors. CHI® PINK RIBBON Farouk Systems Group values the millions of women who have made the company’s success possible. That’s why they’re once again offering the CHI® Pink Ribbon Iron and Dryer, and donating a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer research. It’s available at fine salons nationwide. Check www.farouk.com for details. 72 Volume IV, Issue 13 http://www.farouk.com
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