Most women with early-stage breast cancer may be able to avoid chemotherapy, a new study finds.
Researchers found that patients with smaller-sized tumors that had not spread to the lymph nodes did just as well without chemo as those who got the treatment, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Experts added that the findings may not apply to those who have larger tumors or those with cancer that has started to spread, or metastasize. More studies are needed to look at those groups of women, they said.
“This is a really big deal,” said Dr. Adam Brufsky, a coauthor on the new study and a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. The bottom line, Brufsky said, is that doctors now have a test to determine which early-stage patients — and that’s most of them — can skip chemotherapy.
Of the more than 250,000 women in the U.S. expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer, the new findings could benefit more than 63,000 with non-invasive, or early stage, disease.
Mr. Divabetic Show podcast on Breast Cancer with guests Dr. April Speed, Award-winning Songwriter and Author Mary Sue Englund, Actress and Writer, E.P. McKnight, TeamWILD Founder, Mari Michelle Ruddy and Poet Lorraine Brooks CLICK HERE
Is There a Connection Between Diabetes and Breast Cancer?
The connection between having a high body mass index (a height-to-weight ratio that’s used as the standard measure to assess weight-associated health risks that you can calculate for yourself on the National Institutes of Health website) and breast cancer is well established and thought to be related to metabolism, inflammation and hormones.
A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2012 that found “the risk of breast cancer in women with Type 2 diabetes is increased by 27 percent, a figure that decreased to 16 percent after adjustment for BMI,” meaning the researchers had controlled for overweight and obesity. This elevated risk was seen in Type 2 diabetes and among post-menopausal women.
Additionally, breast cancer survivors, who are post-menopausal, have a higher chance of developing diabetes. Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of an association between diabetes and cancer.
Mr. Divabetic Show podcast on ‘Diabetes, Breast Cancer & You’ featuring guests Dr. April Speed MD, Dr. Andrea Chisholm OBGYN, Amy, who is a four time cancer survivor living with type 1 diabetes and Jana, who is a breast cancer survivor living with type 2 diabetes CLICK TO LISTEN
Tune in to Divabetic’s 8th Year Anniversary podcast, Diabetes Late Nite featuring music by Edith Piaf on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, 6 PM, EST. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Dr. Lori Shemek PhD, Dr. Andrea Chisholm OBGYN, Cindy Lou from the ‘Diabetes What To Know’ community, and Mama Rose Marie. Throughout this podcast we will be featuring music from ‘EDITH PIAF TOP 40’ album courtesy of SONY Music.