Heat created by radio waves - ultrasound-guided RF ablation - has been found to destroy breast tumors safely and effectively. Earlier studies found success in treating large breast tumors; this study focused on tumors 2 centimeters and under. Surgical removal of the ablated tissues from twenty women found active cancer cells in only one of the margins.
"Radiofrequency (RF) ablation may safely destroy small breast tumors," Cornell University Women's Health Advisor, 2004. (see April, 2004 Radiology)
Ruth Helmann, an oncologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center wants to stop administering chemotherapy to "the many patients who would do just as well without it." She's found that 90% of women whose tumors have few blood vessels, but high amounts of two cellular proteins, are alive 14 years after their mastectomy; while only 44% of those lacking the markers survived. Those without the markers benefit more from chemotherapy.
"Cutting Back on Chemotherapy," Josie Glausiusz, Discover, April 2000
There is some evidence that removing breast cancer masses at certain times of the menstrual cycle can increase survival rates. Of pre-menopausal women who had surgery between days 0-2 or after day 12 of their cycle, 75% were alive ten years later, while only 45% of those who had surgery between days 3 and 12 reached the ten year anniversary. This held true irrespective of whether the cancers were hormone positive or not.
"Timing Breast Cancer Surgery," HealthNews, January 2000, reporting on a study in Cancer, November 15, 1999.
Women taking tamoxifen are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with endometrial/uterine cancer and have nearly three times the rates of blood clots in their lungs (embolisms). In rats, long-term use has triggered liver cancer.
"Tamoxifen as a Breast Cancer Preventive - Many Questions Remain," HealthFacts, 5/1998.
Ductal lavage, a new technique that "washes" cells from the duct, was heralded as a "noninvasive" test for very early breast cancer, but has failed to prove viable in clinical settings.
"Wishing for Change in 2005," Lauren John, Breast Cancer Action News, Jan. 2005
"Epidemiologists and other scientists increasingly believe many cases [of breast cancer] are linked to environmental factors." State of the Evidence, What is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer may be downloaded at www.bcaction.org/PDF/Stateof Evidence.pdf or by calling (in the USA) 877-278-6722.
