On these pages you can check out the latest breast cancer news from BCAC and our member groups. We also provide up-to-date information and links to current breast cancer research and clinical trials. Read latest stories below, or use the filters or the pager below for other stories. Use the form to the right of this to subscribe to our e-News.
Researchers have reviewed the evidence on early menopause in breast cancer patients and have come up with a series of recommendations to safely manage this side-effect.
The recommendations are published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and are the result of a review of a number of clinical trials, observational studies and guidelines.
A breakthrough breast cancer drug can now be used in New Zealand, but the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) is calling for Ibrance (palbociclib) to be publicly funded immediately.
MedSafe NZ has just approved the use of Ibrance for those with advanced hormone receptor positive and HER2-negative breast cancer, but it’s only available to those who can pay for it.
A new study has found that annual mammograms beginning at age 40 prevent the greatest number of breast cancer deaths.
The research from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators was published in the journal Cancer and found that annual screening beginning at age 40 resulted in 40% fewer breast cancer deaths.
A new study has found that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can help to allay fatigue and “chemo brain” in breast cancer patients and survivors.
The University of Illinois research looked at the association between physical activity, fatigue and performance on cognitive tasks in nearly 300 breast cancer survivors.
Scientists have discovered a new stem cell-based cancer treatment that can target and kill breast cancer cells that have spread in mice.
The researchers at the University of California Irvine (UCI) also hope that the new treatment may prevent some of the toxic side-effects of chemotherapy by providing a more localised therapy.
New research has found that estrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients who have radiation therapy before surgery are less likely to develop a second primary tumour.
The Moffit Cancer Center research was published in the journal, Breast Cancer Research, and examined the impact of neoadjuvant radiation therapy (radiation before surgery) in early stage breast cancer.
A new study has estimated the ages at which women with BRCA 1 and 2 mutations are most at risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
The UK research found that the highest rates of breast cancer in women with the faulty BRCA1 gene were seen between the ages of 30 to 40. This peak occurred a decade later for those with a faulty BRCA2 gene.
BCAC is pushing for breakthrough breast cancer drug, Kadcyla, to be publicly funded in New Zealand after a “monumental u-turn” in the UK which has seen the drug funded there.
UK authorities had refused to fund the medicine, which is used to treat people with advanced HER2- positive breast cancer, because it was too expensive.
A new study has found that neuropathy or nerve pain brought on by chemotherapy can continue for many years after treatment has finished.
The US study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, followed more than 500 female cancer survivors (75% of whom had been treated for breast cancer).
A new study shows that the number of women living with advanced breast cancer in the USA is growing and BCAC believes the situation is likely to be the same in New Zealand.
The research, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, also looked at survival rates for women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
