7 research updates during Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness of the second leading cause of cancer death in women, according to a press release issued by the American Cancer Society.

Early detection, screening and better treatments have led to a 38% reduction in mortality risk between the late 1980s and 2014, resulting in 297,300 less deaths from breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Although progress has been made, in the United States, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and approximately 230,000 women will develop the disease in 2017, according to a press release issued by Mount Sinai.

In its release, Mount Sinai offered tips for breast cancer prevention, indicating that clinicians should advise patients to limit alcohol intake and quit smoking, control weight gain, be physically active and know their genes and family history. Mount Sinai also indicated that clinicians should limit the dose and duration of hormone therapy.

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Healio Internal Medicine has compiled seven popular news articles from recent advancements in breast cancer research.

Women lack education on harms, benefits of breast cancer screening

Women are more likely to know of the benefits of mammography screening, but are not aware of the potential harms, indicating that they lack balanced information from physicians and public health officials that often only emphasize the benefits of breast cancer screening, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Read more.

Mammography associated with overdiagnosis of breast cancer

Breast cancer screening resulted in a substantial overdiagnosis in Denmark, with approximately one in three women being treated unnecessarily, according to recent findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Read more.

Hormonal contraceptives do not increase recurrence of breast cancer, mortality

Breast cancer survivors who used hormonal contraception did not have an increased risk for recurrence or mortality compared with those who did not, according to data presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting in San Diego. Read more.

Opioid use in breast cancer patients linked to treatment nonadherence

Breast cancer patients who use opioids to manage their pain are significantly less likely to adhere to vital adjuvant endocrine therapies and are at a significantly increased risk for death, according to findings published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Read more.

Low-dose aspirin may reduce breast cancer risk

Women with type 2 diabetes who are taking low-dose aspirin had a lower occurrence of breast cancer than those not taking aspirin, according to research recently published in the Journal of Women’s Health. Read more.

Point of care screening model outperforms conventional breast cancer screening methods

PHILADELPHIA — Health care providers who followed a point of care integrated breast cancer screening model referred more patients, and had more patients get mammograms, than providers who referred only at preventive care visits, according to a presenter here at the annual meeting of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Read more.

PCPs can help navigate screening guidelines, prevent breast cancer

CDC data show that breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, affecting approximately 123 out of every 100,000 women, and is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. That agency’s data also show that in 2013, the last year such data are available, the disease claimed 40,860 female lives. Read more.