Breast Health & Disease Archive

Current guidelines for women under 65 with early-stage breast cancer recommend following lumpectomy with radiation therapy, but emerging research could expand the option of skipping radiation to some women as young as 55.

Mammograms are still the gold standard method for breast screening, but additional imaging tests can help detect cancers that might otherwise be missed in women with dense breasts or other breast cancer risk factors. Ultrasound is inexpensive but has a high false-positive rate if used alone. MRI is expensive but very accurate for tumor detection. Three-dimensional mammograms are highly accurate but have a 50% false-positive rate over a decade of yearly screening in women ages 40 to 79.

Postmenopausal women whose screening mammograms show signs of calcification in their breast arteries may have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

There are many reasons you might want or need to see a gynecologist or seek gyn care from your health care team. It helps to understand who will provide your care, what to expect during the visit, what to discuss, and how to have a positive experience during the visit.

Scary or misleading claims about things that may cause cancer are so plentiful that it’s hard to know which ones to take seriously. A new website developed by experts aims to provide reliable information about whether a particular cancer claim is true.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and treatment strategies vary by subtype, stage, and more. A new targeted therapy may help some women with early-stage breast cancer linked to BRCA gene mutations.