Jan 12, 2006

What's The Chance You Can Be A Mother Again?

My friend Cathy was diagnosed with breast cancer at an early age of 37. She had one of those breast cancer associated genes called BRCA1. Cathy had involvement of one of fifteen lymph nodes that were removed at the time of her lumpectomy. She had undergone chemotherapy that lasted for about 6 months and now she is on a hormonal drug to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer. Cathy was premneopausal prior to the chemotherapy, but the chemotherapy has stopped her menstrual periods. She wants to to have one more baby when all this breast cancer treatment is over, but her menstrual period has not restarted now four years after completion of chemotherapy.

Women like Cathy are not alone. Many young women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and many of them have not completed their families and would like to have children after the treatment is complete. This naturally raises the question of preserving fertility after breast cancer treatment.

A new research from Duke University Medical Center has shown a way to predict development of infertility after chemotherapy. Researchers say that ovarian hormone levels may predict which women are likely to become infertile after chemotherapy to treat breast cancer.

This is an important finding in the fact that this may enable the treating physician to identify those women who are high risk for development of ovarian failure after chemotherapy so that preventive measures may be implemented as per the lead author of the study Carey Anders, M.D.

These researchers have shown that women who developed premature ovarian failure had lower levels of the ovarian hormone called inhibin A prior to initiation of chemotherapy and six months after chemotherapy had ended. Another ovarian hormone called inhibin B was also showed similar low pattern in women who would develop ovarian failure.

Sherin      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Breast cancer
Every year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Breast cancer ranks second as the leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. Until recently breast cancer topped the list of leading causes of cancer deaths in women, but lately lung cancer has claimed the top position. If skin cancer is excluded, breast cancer is the commonest cancer among American women.