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This clinical trial compares the order of treatments for women who have oestrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive breast cancer and need radiation treatment and hormone medication to control the breast cancer following surgery.
Some women with breast cancer need radiation therapy after surgery to help prevent the cancer recurring. Often hormone medication is also given to help control the cancer and lower the chance of it returning. The hormone medication may also help the radiotherapy prevent the cancer recurring in the breast area or nearby lymph nodes.
July 2013
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) welcomes recent news that 50 cancer nurses are now in place in DHBs throughout the country working as dedicated nurse coordinators guiding cancer patients through their treatment and follow up care.
Attending the inaugural Cancer Nurse Coordinator Forum in Wellington, Natalie James, National Nurse Lead of the Cancer Nurse Coordinator Initiative, says the aim is to have dedicated cancer nurses acting as a single point of contact and assisting patients and their families across different parts of the health service.
Some breast cancer sufferers could be treated with radiotherapy instead of more invasive surgery according to results from a Europe-wide study.
UK researchers, who studied 5,000 women found less invasive methods can be as effective as surgery for some patients.
It also means radiotherapy could be used instead to remove lymph nodes.
Consultant breast surgeon Prof Robert Mansel said it could mean fewer women requiring additional surgery.
The trial studied nearly 5,000 women to see if radiotherapy was equivalent to surgical removal of lymph nodes in the armpit.
New research shows that a lack of clinical trials aimed specifically at younger breast cancer patients leaves knowledge gaps that could be partly to blame for their poorer survival rates.
The study, by Cancer Research UK study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, analysed almost 3000 British women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40.
It looked at the survival for younger patients with oestrogen-receptor positive breast cancer; that is women whose cancers are fuelled by the female hormone oestrogen.
The findings showed that there was a steep increase in the rate of breast cancer recurrence after five years in younger women with this type of disease, who received chemotherapy followed by the drug tamoxifen.
A Missouri University of Science and Technology researcher has developed a new screening method that uses urinalysis to diagnose breast cancer – and determine its severity – before it could be detected with a mammogram.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition is thrilled with the success of its annual Show Your Heart for Women Living with Breast Cancer campaign, which has netted an impressive $71,000.
That money will help fund the revision, printing and distribution of BCAC’s support and information resource Step by Step which is offered free-of-charge to New Zealand women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
BCAC want to say a huge thank you to Arnott’s Tim Tam, Woman’s Day magazine, and Countdown supermarkets for their involvement and support in the Show Your Heart campaign.
BCAC chair, Libby Burgess, says all three companies have made a real difference in the lives of women with breast cancer.
The debate over breast screening has been re-ignited with the publication of a new study which suggests that screening has not yet reduced the number of deaths from the breast cancer in the UK.
This is in direct contrast to another UK study published in the Lancet last year, which showed that patients invited for mammogram screening had a 20 per cent lower relative risk of breast cancer death than those who were not invited. It also contradicts recent US and Danish studies which report significant survival benefits from breast screening programmes.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) welcomes the launch of a new website designed to make it easier to find out about clinical trials available in New Zealand.
The Clinical Trials Portal offers a quick and accessible way for the public, healthcare providers, clinicians and those in the pharmaceutical industry to gather information about clinical trials online.
The site explains what each trial aims to do, who is eligible and how the recruitment process works.
BCAC Chair Libby Burgess welcomes the new initiative.
Sarah shares her personal breast cancer journey and some of the things that journey has taught her. Read her story below.
For the first time, standards have been developed detailing the best practice treatments for all types of breast cancer to ensure that every New Zealander gets the best possible care.
You now have the opportunity to comment on these standards and BCAC is urging you to do so. Your input could play a part in improving breast cancer care for women yet to be treated.
