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New drug. Femara, available on prescription, is said to cut the
chance of breast cancer returning by half. Designed for
post-menopausal women after surgery, it is an alternative to Tamoxifen
which can be taken for only five years. Femara, like Tamoxifen, blocks
oestrogen production, and can be taken for a further three years. It
may, however, lead to an increase in osteoporosis.
 Genetic inheritence? The disease does run in families, and if
there is a family history doctors advise regular screening from
adulthood. But only two genes for breast cancer have been identified,
and others may be involved. Many specialists think that the trigger is
environmental combined with a genetic factor. But the critical
environment factors are not known. Professor Anthony Swerdlow of the
Institute of Cancer Research in Oxford is seeking 100,000 women over
18 and living in the UK for long term research into breast cancer. See
www.breakthroughgenerations.org.uk
False alarms. One woman in five has false-positive mammogram
result over 20 years of screening say Norwegian researchers, in Cancer
journal. Though this can lead to great anxiety while waiting for
confirmation, it doesn’t appear to stop women from continuing going
for tests.
Unique support system: Cancerkin, the hospital-based
breast cancer charity
Recognising that diagnosis of breast cancer is a disturbing experience
and that treatment can be long drawn out, Cancerkin has pioneered
services to meet the emotional and practical needs of patients and
their families. Sited in the Royal Free Hospital in North London, it
cares for patients from twenty-three different hospitals and offers
self-help services which are complementary to medical and nursing
care. Lymphatic treatment for painful limbs is provided in a
lymphoedema clinic staffed by specialist therapists. Reiki, yoga,
reflexology and beauty workshops aim to relieve anxiety and improve
well-being.
Cancerkin volunteer: Jennie Sandler, now approaching 70, had a
mastectomy at 53. She is a firm believer in the relationship between
mind and body. She developed techniques which she is certain helped
her to avoid the side-effects of chemotherapy, using music which she
visualised washing her body clean of the cancer cells. A former
ballet-dancer and now a movement and dance therapy teacher, she works
with Cancerkin.
Cancerkin is a voluntary funded organisation and all its services are
free of charge. It also supports many research programmes and hopes
that more hospitals around the country will be able to set up similar
schemes.
Websites:
www.cancerkin.org.uk
www.bclist.org
www.breastcancercare.org.uk
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