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Many preventive mastectomies may be unnecessary
Research we’re watching Over the past decade, increasing numbers of women diagnosed with cancer in one breast have been opting to have the unaffected breast removed as well. The procedure is often recommended for women with a genetic mutation that puts them at high risk of developing a second cancer. But for women at average […]
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Breast implants linked to rare lymphoma
Research we’re watching The FDA’s medical device reporting program recently announced that as of February 1, it had received 359 reports of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in women who had received breast implants. Nine women had died of the disease. The FDA uses such reports to alert clinicians […]
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Cirrhosis
What Is It? No body organ performs a wider variety of essential jobs than the liver. It: Produces essential proteins that help blood to clot Removes or neutralizes poisons, drugs and alcohol Manufactures bile that helps the body to absorb fats and cholesterol Helps to maintain normal blood sugar levels Regulates several hormones Cirrhosis is […]
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The breast density-breast cancer connection
Women whose breasts appear dense on mammograms have a higher risk for some aggressive breast cancers. One of the strongest known risk factors for breast cancer is high breast density — that is, relatively little fat in the breast and more connective and glandular tissue, as seen on a mammogram. Now, a study has found […]
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Do you need mammograms?
Before you get your next mammogram, learn the pros and cons of this controversial screening test. Once a year, we subject our breasts to the ritual ordeal of poking, prodding, and viselike squeezing known as a mammogram. We willingly endure this process because we know—or at least hope—that if we do get breast cancer, a […]
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Real-time digital mammograms more accurate than computed radiography
Originally, mammograms were performed using film to capture the breast image. Increasingly, mammograms use one of two digital techniques: direct radiography (DR) or computed radiography (CR). Both techniques allow the digital image to be available for interpretation almost instantaneously, and to be transmitted electronically to any doctor or hospital, but a new study published in […]
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Increased mammography may find more breast cancers without lowering deaths
Ideally, screening mammography detects small breast cancers so that they can be removed before they grow, metastasize, and kill. To tell whether screening is succeeding, researchers from Harvard and Dartmouth looked at the rates of mammography, the diagnosis of small breast cancers, large breast cancers, and breast cancer deaths in 16 million women 40 or […]
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Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNA) of the breast
What is the test? A doctor can do fine needle aspiration in the office by inserting a slender needle into the area of concern and drawing out (aspirating) either fluid from a cyst or a small amount of tissue from a solid mass. Cells from a mass, and sometimes fluid from a cyst, is then […]
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Breast pain: Not just a premenopausal complaint
In most cases, breast pain goes along with reproductive life, and many women expect breast pain to go away after menopause. When it doesn’t, they may fear they have breast cancer. Fortunately, breast pain is rarely a symptom of cancer, regardless of age. Still, that possibility should be considered, along with a number of noncancerous […]
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Large Core Needle Biopsy of the Breast
What Is It? A biopsy is a tissue sample removed from the body and examined under a microscope. In a breast biopsy, a doctor removes tissue from a suspicious area so that a pathologist can determine whether the tissue contains cancerous cells. At one time, surgeons only performed biopsies by making an incision in the […]
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