Group Therapy Linked to Cancer Survival

Breast cancer, ovarian cancer, melanoma yield to new approaches

(NEWSER) - New treatments for cancer—breast, ovarian, and skin—raised hopes at this weekend's meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The findings aren't enough for Robert Langreth of Forbes , who sees "serious questions about whether big drug companies may be rushing too fast." Judge for yourself.

• A single dose of radiation administered at the site of tumor removal deterred recurrence of breast cancer as well as the standard grueling course of radiation on the entire breast, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Kicking the habit can double chances of surviving 5 years

(USER SUBMITTED) - Smokers diagnosed with lung cancer could double their chances of surviving for 5 years—if they quit smoking. The "dramatic" finding, based on analysis of 10 previous studies, applies only to early-stage cancer. "If you give up smoking, your body can still partially recover and your risk is reduced," the lead researcher tells the AP . More»

(NEWSER) - Finally, some good news for migraine sufferers: Those awful headaches come with a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a new study. The researchers aren’t sure why that would be the case, but they suspect a connection with estrogen and other hormones. “It’s pretty clear that migraine, like breast cancer, is a hormonally related disease,” said one. “Many triggers for migraine are also things that reduce estrogen levels.” More»

Researchers urge switch to save lives

(NEWSER) - MRIs significantly outperform mammograms in detecting pockets of abnormal cells that can lead to full-blown breast cancer, and the costly scans should be used routinely to save more women's lives, researchers say. A new study out today says MRIs detected 92% of the early lesions, called ductal carcinoma in situ, while mammograms found only 57%, the Guardian reports. More»

Breast cancer triggered by BRCA1 and BRCA2 no more lethal than other forms

(NEWSER) - Women who carry one of the two known breast-cancer-causing genes—BRCA1 and BRCA2—are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease before 50, but they're not more likely to die from it than other breast-cancer patients, a new study concludes. Tracking the 10-year survival rates of women in 22 hospitals in Israel, scientists found no significant difference between those with and without the gene. More»