Keep up with breast cancer information.

It's good to stay informed when it comes to breast cancer. These helpful articles have treatment facts, as well as tips for staying on track with your treatment plan.

By Lillie Shockney, RN, MAS

Hope and Power: Breast Cancer News You Should Know About
From quality of life issues to exercise to new meds, learn the good news from this year's premier research event.

Keep Up With the Latest Research

As a cancer nurse and administrator of a Breast Center, it's my job to keep up with the latest knowledge in my field. And as a two-time breast cancer survivor, I know it's just as important for patients and survivors to do the same.

I was first diagnosed 14 years ago, when I was only in my 30s. I've also journeyed with thousands of women at every stage of their breast cancer experience. This taught me that the only way to make informed choices is to stay on top of major advances in breast cancer prevention and treatment. Information helps us make choices that promote health for our bodies and our minds. And making healthy choices is a step that empowers each of us.

Keep that thought in mind as I share with you news from this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Each year, more than 20,000 cancer experts meet to discuss the latest research that may transform the lives of patients with cancer. The good news I heard there promises to extend hope and empower many more women—women who, like you, have battled breast cancer.

Improve Quality of Life

For decades, the mission of breast cancer treatment has been to help more women survive this disease. Thankfully, we're meeting this goal. More than 2.3 million women in the U.S. who've had breast cancer are living cancer-free or getting treatment. And the chance of dying from breast cancer has dropped every year since 1990. This is a trend we all hope will continue!

Good News: There's a plan to train doctors to better help survivors. Along with this success in keeping women alive, however, an interesting new problem has cropped up: not enough doctors who are trained to monitor long term the growing number of women who have finished treatment. Though more women now survive breast cancer, many need help dealing with long-term side effects of treatment. Some of these women live in the grip of anxiety and fear that their breast cancer will return. Help can't come too soon. These women are frustrated and often blame their doctors.

At the ASCO meeting, we heard about a new proposal to train a cadre of "survivorship" doctors and nurses. Their role would be to specialize in the long-term care of patients like you.

More good news: There's research being done to improve life after treatment. Women with breast cancer must deal with bothersome and unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy. At ASCO, we learned about research underway to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment and improve the quality of life for these women. There are studies dealing with side effects like peripheral neuropathy (nerve pain), sexual problems, joint pain, and even psychological issues such as fear of recurrence.

Today, patients and their doctors know that surviving breast cancer is not the only issue for women with a breast cancer diagnosis. Their voices have been heard loud and clear. That's good news.

Get Moving!

We already know that exercise can help lower the risk of getting breast cancer for the first time. But did you know that exercise also can lower your risk of getting it again?

Good News: Exercise can really help. Lots of medical studies on the benefits of exercise were reviewed at this year's ASCO meeting. Of the published studies, most have confirmed that physically active women can significantly lower their risk of developing breast cancer. Women who'd had estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer appeared to receive the most benefit.

Good News: Power-walking is a proven risk reducer. We don't know yet which forms of exercise reduce risk the most. But one proven risk reducer is power-walking at a moderate pace for 3 to 5 hours a week. What's a moderate pace? If you're able to talk—but not belt out a song—while exercising, your workout is moderate.

Learn About Better Ways to Lower Risk and Extend Survival

Over the past 30 years, different types of drugs have been developed to lower the risk of getting breast cancer again. Hormonal therapy drugs block the hormones that help tumors grow. Targeted therapy drugs attack abnormalities in cancer cells but don't harm normal cells. We heard good news on both fronts at ASCO.

Good News: Switching from one drug to another reduced recurrence more than taking just one. At ASCO, we heard an update of earlier studies of postmenopausal women treated for early-stage breast cancer treated with tamoxifen (pronounced ta-MOX-i-fen) followed by exemestane (pronounced ex-EM-es-tane), an aromatase inhibitor. The new study confirmed that taking tamoxifen for 2 to 3 years and then switching to exemestane until the 5-year mark helped these women live and stay cancer-free longer. This two-drug regimen also appears to lower the risk that cancer will come back in the breasts or elsewhere in the body. That's good news for women on this type of hormonal therapy. Click here for more information on the study.

Good news: A new experimental drug combination for women with metastatic cancer. Even when treatment is finished, many women fear they'll get breast cancer again. There's hope on this front, too. A study reported at ASCO showed that women with Her2neu-positive metastatic breast cancer who received an experimental targeted therapy drug along with chemotherapy lived an average of 5 months longer than women taking capecitabine alone. In fact, the trial was stopped early so that all women in the study could choose the combination treatment if they wished. At this time, this experimental treatment is only available as part of a clinical trial. Click here to learn more about this study.

Having more treatment options is always good news. But keep in mind that in addition to their benefits, medications may produce side effects that are specific to your situation. Always discuss the pros and cons of any treatment with your doctor.

Use the Good News from Research to Make Your Life Better

It was exciting for me to learn about these and other steps forward in the fight against breast cancer. Armed with this new information, you too can feel confident that important advances are being made to improve care and help all of us live fruitful, cancer-free lives.

Coping with Side Effects

Be patient. Realize that your body is under stress during cancer treatment. Give yourself time to recover. This may take months, not days.

Use pen and paper to battle "chemo brain." Figure out the specific problem you're having. Are you forgetting to pay the bills? Do you have trouble working with numbers? Write notes. Use a calendar. Or create your own system for reminding yourself of things.

Protect your skin. Avoid being out in the sun without sunblock. This can reduce your risk of skin cancer. It will also help your skin heal faster after radiation.

Stay away from smokers. It's a fact that being around secondhand smoke, not just one's own smoking, causes cancer. If your friends care about you, they won't smoke around you.

Commit to your therapy. You and your doctor are working as a team to keep the cancer from coming back. To reduce unpleasant symptoms of hormonal therapy: Wear layered clothing (cotton clothes are best). Avoid spicy foods that can trigger hot flashes. Use a lubricant if you are having problems with vaginal dryness.

Finding News You Can Use

Check out these online sources for breast cancer news and patient resources. The Web sites listed here are neither owned nor controlled by Pfizer. Pfizer is not responsible for the content or services of the Web site.

American Cancer Society (ACS)
800-ACS-2345 (800-227-2345)
http://www.cancer.org
This site provides information about clinical trials that ACS funds. It also lists free programs such as Reach to Recovery, I Can Cope and Look Good . . . Feel Better.

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
http://www.plwc.org/portal/site/PLWC
ASCO is an education resource for cancer care and research professionals. Visit its "People Living With Cancer" Web page to find links to patient resources.

CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service
http://www.centerwatch.com
This site offers information to doctors and patients about clinical trials available in their region. Patients can sign up for e-mail notices about new clinical trials near them.

Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center
410-955-4851
http://www.hopkinsbreastcenter.org
This site offers information about state-of-the-art breast cancer diagnosis and treatments. A special feature is Artemis, Johns Hopkins' free electronic breast cancer medical journal. It is published monthly.

National Cancer Institute Cancer Information Service
800-4-CANCER (800-422-6237)
http://www.cancer.gov
Information about all types of cancer, including breast cancer, is available at this Web site. Click on "Clinical Trials" to search for breast cancer clinical trials by area.

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
800-I'M-AWARE (800-462-9273)
http://www.komen.org
The Komen Foundation is the largest private nonprofit funder of breast cancer research in the United States. Its Web site has information about many things: 1) breast cancer programs for underserved patients, 2) how to get involved in breast cancer advocacy, and 3) a national calendar of events.

Next: Breast Cancer News Events