from the Los Angeles Times
If you're still upset about last fall's recommendation by the u.S. Preventative Services Task Force that women begin getting mammograms to screen for breast cancer at age 50 instead of 40 — and to get them every other year instead of annually — a new study from Denmark may put you at ease.
Mammographic screening was introduced in the Danish capital of Copenhagen in 1991, and it began in Funen County (home of Hans Christian Andersen) in 1993.
Between 1997 and 2006, deaths due to breast cancer fell 5 percent per year among women age 35-54 in those areas. For women age 55-74 — who would benefit most from screening — the mortality rate dropped by 1 percent per year, and for older women there was little change.
Looks like a success for breast cancer screening right? Not so fast, the researchers said.
They also checked the corresponding mortality rates for the 80 percent of Danish women who didn't participate in screening programs. In those areas, breast cancer deaths in the same decade declined 6 percent per year for women age 35-54 and by 2 percent per year for women age 55-74. Again, there was little year-to- year change among older women.
Those findings led the researchers to conclude that improved treatments and changes in risk factors, not the mammograms, were responsible for the reduction in breast cancer mortality.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Less food, more exercise lower risk for breast cancer
Up to a third of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, said researchers at a conference held in Barcelona, Spain in March, renewing a sensitive debate about how lifestyle factors affect the disease.
Better treatments, early diagnosis and mammogram screenings have dramatically slowed breast cancer, but experts said the focus should now shift to changing behaviors like diet and physical activity.
"What can be achieved with screening has been achieved. We can't do much more," Carlo La Vecchia, head of epidemiology at the University of Milan, said in an interview. "It's time to move on to other things."
La Vecchia spoke on Thursday, March 25, at a European breast cancer conference in Barcelona. He cited figures from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which estimates that 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women were thinner and exercised more. The agency is part of the World Health Organization.
His comments are in line with recent health advice that lifestyle changes in areas such as smoking, diet, exercise and sun exposure can play a significant role in risk for several cancers.
Dr. Michelle Holmes of Harvard University, who has studied cancer and lifestyle factors, said people might wrongly think their chances of getting cancer depend more on their genes than their lifestyle.
"The genes have been there for thousands of years, but if cancer rates are changing in a lifetime, that doesn't have much to do with genes," she told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In Europe, there were about 421,000 new cases and nearly 90,000 deaths in 2008, the latest available figures. The United States last year saw more than 190,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths.
A woman's lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight. Obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women, according to a 2006 study by British researchers.
Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a woman is, the more estrogen she's likely to produce, which could in turn fuel breast cancer. Even in slim women, experts believe exercise can help reduce the cancer risk by converting more fat into muscle.
Better treatments, early diagnosis and mammogram screenings have dramatically slowed breast cancer, but experts said the focus should now shift to changing behaviors like diet and physical activity.
"What can be achieved with screening has been achieved. We can't do much more," Carlo La Vecchia, head of epidemiology at the University of Milan, said in an interview. "It's time to move on to other things."
La Vecchia spoke on Thursday, March 25, at a European breast cancer conference in Barcelona. He cited figures from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which estimates that 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women were thinner and exercised more. The agency is part of the World Health Organization.
His comments are in line with recent health advice that lifestyle changes in areas such as smoking, diet, exercise and sun exposure can play a significant role in risk for several cancers.
Dr. Michelle Holmes of Harvard University, who has studied cancer and lifestyle factors, said people might wrongly think their chances of getting cancer depend more on their genes than their lifestyle.
"The genes have been there for thousands of years, but if cancer rates are changing in a lifetime, that doesn't have much to do with genes," she told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In Europe, there were about 421,000 new cases and nearly 90,000 deaths in 2008, the latest available figures. The United States last year saw more than 190,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths.
A woman's lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight. Obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women, according to a 2006 study by British researchers.
Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a woman is, the more estrogen she's likely to produce, which could in turn fuel breast cancer. Even in slim women, experts believe exercise can help reduce the cancer risk by converting more fat into muscle.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Cancer Information and Counseling Line
The Cancer Information and Counceling Line (CICL) provides support and follow-up to cancer survivors is a resource available at UCCC. A toll-free call-in service the CICL, provides cancer-related information and brief counseling by telephone (1-800-525-3777) as a national service to cancer patients, cancer survivors, their families and friends and the general public. It is the only service of its kind offered at a NCI-CCC.
What “Comprehensive Cancer Center” should really mean
by: Dr. Andrew Thorburn, Interim Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center*
So, what should “comprehensive” actually mean?
For us it means tackling the full gamut of areas that are important if we are to succeed in solving the cancer problem.
•For a truly comprehensive approach, we need to understand as much as possible about all aspects of cancer so that we can eventually prevent the approximately 50 percent or so of tumors that current data suggest could be prevented.
•We need to detect tumors early enough that they are easily dealt with.
•For those tumors that we can’t prevent or detect early, we need to develop better treatment strategies while delivering the highest quality of clinical care to our patients.
We don’t stop there. For us “comprehensive” extends to better understanding how to improve the lives of cancer survivors and their families and friends. It also means providing high-quality education at all levels from training the next generation of researchers, physicians and other health care providers to ensuring that the general public has accurate information about all aspects of cancer.
Previously, I wrote about our ability to determine molecular structures—research at the atomic level that is just about as basic as one can get. This week, in keeping with the idea that for UCCC, comprehensive means what it says, I thought we would consider the other end of the spectrum: cancer survivorship.
There are 12 million cancer survivors in the United States today.
That fact is both a call for celebration and the reason why we need survivorship programs. People who just a few years ago might not have survived their disease are now being successfully treated. So, since we expect to continue to improve the numbers of people who survive cancer, we’d better work on improving how we deal with survivorship.
UCCC is well-known for its cancer survivorship work through our AMC Cancer Prevention and Control Program and for the leadership of program co-leader Dr. Al Marcus (SOM/Cancer Center), and UCCC deputy director and AD for Prevention and Control, Dr. Tim Byers (CSPH). One measure of this success: UCCC is one of just eight Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG™ Centers of Survivorship Excellence. This grant supports our cancer survivorship clinics.
*for the complete article and more information on cancer survivorship clinics, please contact Frieda Sands at sandsf@amc.org
So, what should “comprehensive” actually mean?
For us it means tackling the full gamut of areas that are important if we are to succeed in solving the cancer problem.
•For a truly comprehensive approach, we need to understand as much as possible about all aspects of cancer so that we can eventually prevent the approximately 50 percent or so of tumors that current data suggest could be prevented.
•We need to detect tumors early enough that they are easily dealt with.
•For those tumors that we can’t prevent or detect early, we need to develop better treatment strategies while delivering the highest quality of clinical care to our patients.
We don’t stop there. For us “comprehensive” extends to better understanding how to improve the lives of cancer survivors and their families and friends. It also means providing high-quality education at all levels from training the next generation of researchers, physicians and other health care providers to ensuring that the general public has accurate information about all aspects of cancer.
Previously, I wrote about our ability to determine molecular structures—research at the atomic level that is just about as basic as one can get. This week, in keeping with the idea that for UCCC, comprehensive means what it says, I thought we would consider the other end of the spectrum: cancer survivorship.
There are 12 million cancer survivors in the United States today.
That fact is both a call for celebration and the reason why we need survivorship programs. People who just a few years ago might not have survived their disease are now being successfully treated. So, since we expect to continue to improve the numbers of people who survive cancer, we’d better work on improving how we deal with survivorship.
UCCC is well-known for its cancer survivorship work through our AMC Cancer Prevention and Control Program and for the leadership of program co-leader Dr. Al Marcus (SOM/Cancer Center), and UCCC deputy director and AD for Prevention and Control, Dr. Tim Byers (CSPH). One measure of this success: UCCC is one of just eight Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG™ Centers of Survivorship Excellence. This grant supports our cancer survivorship clinics.
*for the complete article and more information on cancer survivorship clinics, please contact Frieda Sands at sandsf@amc.org
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
SIP to your Hearts' Delight
SIP Fine Wines invites you to join them on Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 2 pm to 7 pm for a wine tasting event benefitting the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Featuring Infinite Theorem Monkey wines and serving gourmet appetizers from Truffles
SIP Fine Wine and Spirits
1920 Market Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-298-9463 (WINE)
www.sipwinedenver.com
SIP Fine Wine and Spirits
1920 Market Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-298-9463 (WINE)
www.sipwinedenver.com
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