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Young Women and Breast Cancer

Welcome to the young women and breast cancer e-Bulletin page.  This page includes recent research summaries, abstracts and resources that may be of interest. To return to the main e-Bulletin page, please click here. To receive E-Bulletins via email, please click here to sign up. OCTOBER 2008 Ask the Expert – fertility and pregnancy in breast cancer During a recent ‘Ask the Expert’ online session, hosted by breastcancer.org, (as US-based breast cancer advocacy organisation) women were invited to email questions to experts about managing fertility and pregnancy with breast cancer. Women asked about a range of issues, including falling pregnant after treatment, breast reconstruction options and egg preservation. To view the transcript, please click here. Management of menopausal symptoms Researchers in the US have found that women with breast cancer have very different perceptions about the management of their menopausal symptoms, compared to the health professionals who manage their care. The research also provided an insight into the complexities of menopausal symptoms that are experienced by women with breast cancer. The researchers interviewed 14 women with breast cancer and 18 health professionals from a major cancer centre in the US. For more information, click here. Zometa shown to help prevent bone loss Zometa may help prevent bone density loss associated with hormone treatments for early breast cancer, according to research presented in the journal Lancet Oncology. A trial was conducted with 404 pre-menopausal women who were treated with Nolvadex plus Zoladex or Arimidex with Zoladex. Both therapies were delivered with without Zometa over a number of years. For women who received Zometa as part of this study, bone density remained stable at three years of this treatment and had increased at five years. For more information please click here. AUGUST 2008  Workshops for young survivors improves breast cancer knowledge Californian researchers developed and ran a series of workshops designed to improve young women survivors’ breast cancer knowledge, diet and exercise regimes and communication with family and medical professionals. A total of 404 women participated in the study and were randomly assigned to either a control group (who did not attend the workshops) or an intervention group, who did attend the workshops. The workshops included activities and information to promote social, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. The women who participated in the workshops showed improvements in knowledge of breast cancer and were more physically active than those in the control group. For more information on this study, please click here. Young women’s breast cancer tumours respond differently to treatment, according to new research US-based Duke University researchers have discovered that tumours in younger women respond differently to treatment and have different gene sets, compared to breast tumours of women over the age of 45. The researchers looked at 800 breast tumours from women of different ages and from different countries. They identified 350 sets of genes that were only active in the tumours from women under the age of 45. New treatments are being developed to specially target younger women’s breast cancer but they are still in the early stages of development. For more information please click here. UK Study looks at father-child communication after a partner’s diagnosis of breast cancer A recent UK study examined communication between men and their children, after a partner’s diagnosis of breast cancer. Twenty-six fathers were interviewed as part of this study, along with 31 children. According to the study’s authors, fathers wanted to protect and reassure their children, but sometimes didn’t realise the extent of their children’s distress. For more information click here Zoladex used to protect ovarian function A study, published recently in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment showed that Zoladex (goserelin) when used with chemotherapy, helped preserve ovarian function in some younger women. A number of premenopausal women were given Zoladex by injection for 28 days along with their usual chemotherapy treatments. Of the 51 women who were followed up after the treatment, 90% had recovered menstruation within the first year. Please note, in Australia Zoladex is not listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for this use. If you would like more information about the use of Zoladex in Australia you may like to speak to your oncologist.    For more information on this study please click here. French study looks at increasing breast cancer rates According to a study published recently in the journal The Breast, there has been a slight increase in the rate of younger women (aged under 40) being diagnosed with breast cancer in France from 1983-2002. However for women aged over 40, the increase was more significant. The authors note that even though the increase of breast cancer in young women was moderate, they recommended that a prevention policy targeting known risk factors was important in the long term for younger women. For more information, please click here .    JULY 2008   Young Survivors Conference (US) 2008 Some excellent MP3 sound files from the 2008 Young Survivors Conference (US) are now available from the conference website. Topics covered include medical advice for young women with breast cancer, managing side effects, dating after breast cancer and much more. Click here to view the Young Survivors Conference website. Online Fertility resource for women with breast cancer  A US-based website A Fertile Hope provides some good resources for women with breast cancer wanting more information on fertility issues. Included on the site is a message board, stories from women who face fertility issues, a glossary section and research papers. Please click here for more information. Chemotherapy may affect ovarian function in women with breast cancer According to a recent study of women with breast cancer, chemotherapy treatment after surgery may affect the capacity of the ovaries to produce eggs, compared to women without breast cancer. The study was led by researchers in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US). Study leader, Ann Partridge, MD, noted that these findings may have important implications for women who are interested in having children after receiving chemotherapy. Please click here to see the full article. Links to other e-Bulletin Research Sections Rural and Remote Secondary Breast Cancer Family History and Hereditary Breast Cancer The information contained in this e-Bulletin has been gathered from various sources to keep subscribers up-to-date with the latest relevant news and information. The contents of the listings are not necessarily endorsed by BCNA.