Breast Cancer is the most feared disease that women face. However, long terms studies have recently show that it is no longer the number one killer of women that it once was.
“Heart disease was responsible for 28.6 percent of all deaths in U.S. women in 2002, the last year for which complete data is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” This is much higher then the 21 % of deaths by all cancers and only 4% by Breast Cancer in this study.
Advances in early detection and treatment options have made definite improvements over the past 10 years which have lead to better prognosis for women faced with breast cancer. By following the lives of over 60, 000 women over the age of 66 diagnosed with breast cancer over a twelve year period Researchers from the University of Colorado show that most have long lives and died of non cancer related illnesses.
“Almost half of the women were still alive at the end of the study. Of those who died, living on average to a respectable 83, more than two thirds died from causes other than breast cancer.” The biggest cause of death being cardiovascular disease.
This is partly because heart disease is am major problem for Americans due to unhealthy lifestyle choices. However it is also because a breast cancer diagnosis also can put women at a higher risk for heart disease.
“Cardiovascular disease is of particular concern to breast cancer patients because of its prevalence and the reality that many therapies for breast cancer can cause cardiac dysfunction,” writes editorial staff Sharon Giordano, M.D., and Gabriel Hortobagyi, M.D., of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Since 2007 the medical establishment has been aware that several treatments that have increased survival rates of women diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Conventional chemotherapeutic agents silently injure the heart muscle in as many as half of patients, diminishing the heart’s pumping ability and increasing the risk of heart failure years later. Radiation therapy can cause scarring and tissue damage in the heart and lungs. Herceptin, a monoclonal antibody used in treating women with high-risk genetic profiles, is also associated with cardiac toxicity and heart failure.”
Women should not feel defeated by this information. Instead women and their doctors can take this information and turn it into strategies to protect breast cancer survivors from heart disease and improve the over all quality if their second chance. “Keeping heart health in mind during breast cancer therapy can be as simple as performing a baseline evaluation of standard cardiovascular risk factors including age, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking history and body weight. Depending on the results, the patient may need a prescription or a referral to a cardiologist.” according to Lee W. Jones, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Dr Jones also recommends other normal approaches to reducing cardiovascular risk such as improving diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting regular exercise. Of course all these recommendations must be done under the consultation of and conjunction with treatments recommended by you physician.
I am Heather MacGibbon, Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from NYC and author of Screening Choice: The Abortion Issue in American Film 1900-2000 (VDM Verlang 2009). I have been a counselor for women’s health clinics in the New York area for the past 12 years and a critic and scholar on the abortion issue in the US media for even longer. In this blog I will be keeping you updated on the current state of reproductive rights and advances in womens healthcare.
Posts tagged ‘Studies’
The reason why cancer clinical trials are carried out is so that cancer treatments can be found which will cure, or at the very least treat the condition. Since a lot of resources and lives are involved during these studies, it is important that they be carried out in such a way that the most helpful information can be found with the highest accuracy. It would be irresponsible for companies or institutions to carry out case studies that end up to be a waste of time simply because best practices were not adhered to in the trial.
Recruitment Companies should make a point of starting the preparation for clinical trials well beforehand. This will ensure that the best investigators are recruited for the process. Further, recruitment should be done for each and every trial that is carried out, depending on the goals of the trial. As the trials are being planned for, recruitment strategies should be developed and goals should fully leverage internal resources to speed the process.
Drug development There should also be a upgrading in oncology drug development. For instance, studies should be able to establish accurate and optimal dosages before the same are introduced into humans. The design of the studies should also pay adequate attention to the biological expectations of the drugs that are tested during the trials. In addition, phase III studies should only be initiated after sufficient positive activity has been realized in phase II studies.
Work system Efficient work flow should be designed before the trial begins and adhered to every step of the way. Failure to do this will compromise the study as a whole. This is because the results will not be those of the trial that was intended to be carried out in the first place. In addition, to ensure that the work flow is efficiently applied, accountability is paramount. Investigators should be held accountable for their responsibilities and at any activity that may jeopardize the study must not be tolerated.
Best practices It is also important that full disclosure be practiced, except in circumstances where it is not availed, such as the division of patients for the active agent as well as the placebo. Best practices must be applied during the study, and must be made known to all the participants of the trial, be they patients or otherwise. Such assurances will guarantee the best results during oncology case studies.
