Posted in Breast Cancer

The nucleus of a cell fills a crucial function: to protect cell DNA and enable its proper use. But it can be deformed, or even temporarily fractured, if the cell itself is compressed and deformed, for example, in the case of migration or proliferation. This compression then leads to DNA damage. The consequences are accelerated ageing for healthy cells and the acquisition of invasive properties for breast tumour cells, as has just been shown by a research team from CNRS, Institut Curie and I...

Picture your lymphatic system as an interconnected series of streams that run throughout your body. When you’re healthy, the system flows smoothly, clearing fluid from the body while also transporting proteins and waste products. But if there’s a disruption, like with a blocked stream, it causes problems — in this case, lymphoedema. Breast lymphedema occurs because of damage to the lymphatic system. It often happens after cancer, surgery for cancer or radiation. It’s...

Many people gain weight when they are treated with chemotherapy and steroids. Your extra weight may hang around and increase after chemotherapy if you also take hormonal therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor). If your body shifts into menopause because of chemotherapy, there's a tendency to gain weight. This weight gain may be because of the enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which is controlled by insulin. LPL sits on the surface of cells and pulls fat out of the bloodstream...

How long is long enough or too long when it comes to adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy for postmenopausal women with early-stage hormone receptorpositive (HR+) breast cancer? That's a question that has been vexing oncologists for more than a decade, but final results from a large study now suggest that after an initial 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy with tamoxifen and/or an AI, an additional 5 years of AI therapy offer no clinical benefits compared with an additional 2 yea...

Also known as Qing Hao in Traditional Chinese Medicine, or Sweet Wormwood in Western Herbal Medicine. This herb has become notable recently because Dr Youyou Tu researched TCM's use of this herb and its significant effect on Malaria. She was able to identify the compound responsible, Artemisin, which dramatically changed the worldwide ability to combat Malaria reducing the international cases by 25%. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015.1
Sweet Wormwood has many other s...