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The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 8 December 2011 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61746-7Cite or Link Using DOI The plight of nuns: hazards of nulliparity Original TextKara Britt a, Roger Short b Catholic nuns are committed to leading a celibate, spiritual life in a monastery or convent. In 1713, Italian physician Bernadino Ramazzini1 noted that nuns had an extremely high incidence of that "accursed pest", breast cancer. Today, the world's 94,790 nuns still pay a terrible price for their chastity because they have a greatly increased risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers: the hazards of their nulliparity. Fraumeni and colleagues2 compiled data for...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The story here is 2007. I've had a number of people tell me they didn't know --- they hadn't heard --- about this link between abortion and breast cancer. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. This is 2007. "The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons published a study yesterday entitled, 'The Breast Cancer Epidemic.' It showed that, among seven risk factors, abortion is the 'best predictor of breast cancer,' and fertility is also a useful predictor. The study by Patrick Carroll of PAPRI in London showed that countries with higher abortion rates, such as England & Wales,...

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation’s senior vice president for public policy, Karen Handel, resigned from her post Tuesday morning following the breast cancer group’s decision to de-fund, then re-fund, Planned Parenthood.Due to her outspoken pro-life views when she ran for Georgia governor in 2010, in the days and week following the decision to revoke funding from the abortion provider and the subsequent reversal of that decision, Handel became the name most closely associated with the policy changes that lead to Komen’s decision to pull funding.Noting the important role the breast cancer organization has been playing for more...

Karen Handel, a top Komen official who was said to be instrumental in putting in place the changes in Komen policy that essentially resulted in cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, has resigned her position. As LifeNews reported last week, Komen initially decided in December to revise its grant-making process to funds grants to agencies that provide direct health services for women — which would eliminate Planned Parenthood since it does not do mammograms. After Planned Parenthood, Democratic members of Congress and the media pounced on Komen for its decision, Komen clarified that Planned Parenthood would still be allowed to submit...

On Sunday’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Washington Post columnist George Will said that last week’s decision — and subsequent reversal — by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to take funding away from Planned Parenthood was strictly about abortion and less about women’s health, adding that the case illustrates how far liberals are willing to take the fight to defend abortion. “This is not about women’s health. This is about providing 300,000 abortions a year. Planned Parenthood cleverly cast this saying, ‘We are in the mammogram business.’ They’re not in the mammogram business — they are in the referral of...

Of course, it also doesn't mean they're not going to get anything. The Daily Caller reports that Komen's donations doubled in the two days after the Planned Parenthood assault began, presumably because lots of people wanted to support its apolitical work against breast cancer but did not want to give money to a group that was subsidizing a group that both performs and advocates for abortion. If that describes you, you might consider following the advice of our friend Susan Carusi: Give to a local breast cancer support group, "which provides counseling and assistance to women diagnosed with breast cancer....

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The Susan G. Komen bunch, the Race for the Cure, whatever? They have caved big time to the feminazis at Planned Parenthood. It is stunning! Yesterday everybody was holding firm, and today Nancy Brinker who runs the Susan Komen group (I think it was her sister) made a big time cave. Biiiig time. Abortion is the sacrament to the religion of liberalism. Nobody is gonna mess with that money's flow. Nobody is gonna mess with that pile of money. Nobody's gonna mess with that at all. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to talk about this Susan G....

The pressure on the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation to reverse its decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings for poor people — a decision which has caused an uproar among women’s groups and on social media — is about to get significantly more intense. Nearly two dozen Senators are set to enter the fray. I’m told that 22 Dem Senators have signed on to a toughly worded letter urging Komen to reverse its decision, which Komen has justified by citing a new rule prohibiting it from funding any group under investigation by the...

NEW YORK — The nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates — creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women. Planned Parenthood says the move results from Komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress — a probe launched by a conservative Republican who was urged to act by anti-abortion groups. (snip) “We’re kind of reeling,” said Patrick Hurd, who is CEO of Planned Parenthood...

Researchers from the University and the Mayo Clinic in Arizona have developed a vaccine that dramatically reduces tumors in a mouse model that mimics 90 percent of human breast and pancreatic cancer cases—including those resistant to common treatments. The vaccine, described this week in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals a promising new strategy for treating cancers that share the same distinct carbohydrate signature, including ovarian and colorectal cancers.

Women aged forty to forty-nine should not undergo routine mammography screening for breast cancer, according to new guidelines issued by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, which were published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The Task Force also recommends that the screening interval be extended to every two to three years for females aged 50 to 74, from every two years. Women should not carry out clinical breast exams and breast self-examinations if they have no symptoms pointing to breast cancer, the guidelines also recommend.

In May 1990,  my mother lost her 7 year battle with breast cancer at the age of 57.  It was an unspeakable loss for me.My father and I cared for her together at home until the end.  For many years following, I generously supported Susan G. Komen and Race for the Cure.  Each year, my family would walk in memory of my mother and to honor others who still struggled.A few years later, my eyes were opened to the irony of the Komen/Planned Parenthood Connection and I withdrew my support. First, I understood that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in...

In 1996, the Brind quantitative meta-analysis of the extant induced abortion and breast cancer studies showed that there were 23 studies, 10 of which were statistically significant. Since then, there has been no tabulation to include the studies after 1997. An unpublished review in 2003 showed that there were 40 studies which showed a positive association between induced abortion and breast cancer.In 2004, the Beral “re-analysis” was purported to review the literature regarding the induced abortion breast cancer studies. There were many articles in the popular press asserting that this study showed that “more accurate” prospective studies did not show...

With October as the month for breast cancer awareness and Komen for the Cure, which donates to the Planned Parenthood abortion business, holding events across the country, pro-life groups are taking a more active stance speaking out about the problems with the organization.Texas Right to Life has launched a new effort, “Pink Ribbon Scandal, A warning to Pro-Lifers about Susan G. Komen’s ‘race against Life.” “October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and men and women clad in pink will gather to mourn, celebrate victories of healing, and express solidarity in their goal to eradicate breast cancer by participating in Susan...

Watching football with about every player trimmed out in pink, from their shoe laces to their chin guards, I wonder, "Does prostate cancer have a month?" They do. It's September, but I don't recall any baby blue ribbons or TV adds with celebrities alerting me to that fact. Please don't misunderstand me, I do not mean to take anything away from the commendable efforts by the NFL, other organizations, and common people in their pursuit to rid the world of this devastating disease. However, I did some research and discovered that there didn't appear to be any statistical significance to...

Every October, sure as the leaves fall from the trees, pink ribbons and products blossom virtually everywhere you go. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has all the hallmarks of an effective public health campaign; people going about their regular routines can’t help but notice all the pink and — especially while shopping — be encouraged to contribute to the cause. During a friendly gathering last year, an acquaintance of mine wondered aloud why football players on the TV in the background were wearing pink on their uniforms. The answer soon came. Awareness had been raised. Everyone in the room voiced approval;...

Zipping right along on the Unplanned Journey, October brings a reminder of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Because my cancer was diagnosed with a mammogram, I'm on the soapbox and dedicated to every woman having that test. While some insist that it's painful, and for them it may be, it beats letting cancer get a head start. And it's quick. My advice: Think positive thoughts, breathe in, relax, exhale through the mouth. And repeat. ----------advertisement----------- As for the cost of a mammogram, if you are without insurance and unable to pay for it yourself, check with the county health nurse in...

Landra Reid, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has been diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer and is being treated in Washington, DC. Reid’s office confirmed the diagnosis this morning when I called. Landra Reid is receiving treatment, including chemotherapy. Reid’s folks emphasized that he is by her side but that his work as majority leader will not be compromised.

PITTSBURGH -- Thousands of bras stretch all the way across Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge that connects the South Side Flats and South Oakland. "Bras Across the Bridge" is hosted by American Eagle's Aerie, in connection with the Bright Pink nonprofit group that promotes early detection of breast and ovarian cancer in young women. "I think it's interesting that we're doing this project on the Hot Metal Bridge that was built in the 1800s and used to carry thousands of tons of molten steel back and forth," said Marcie Eberhart, of American Eagle Foundation.

HERSHEY, Pa. -- A nondisease-causing virus kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types that represent the multiple stages of breast cancer development. Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV2) is a virus that regularly infects humans but causes no disease. Past studies by the same researchers show that it promotes tumor cell death in cervical cancer cells infected with human papillomavirus. Researchers used an unaltered, naturally occurring version of AAV2 on human breast cancer cells. "Breast...

I see today that Andrea Mitchell has breast cancer. I read threads here and at other sources from time to time of others newly diagnosed or struggling with it. What you won't hear most of the medical community tell you is, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, other reproductive cancers, including prostate, are tied directly to iodine deficiency. Same applies for breast and uterine fibroids and enlarged prostate glands. As well as goiter or nodules on the thyroid. I felt compelled to start a thread on this as we ALL need iodine and we are almost ALL deficient in it. Iodine is...

Pink ribbons are cute. They have become very trendy. Everyone has caught on to them, too. A couple of airlines wear pink during October…some yogurt companies have pink ribbons on their merchandise…everyone is doing it. Well, not me.I hate breast cancer. I REALLY hate it. Breast cancer stole one of the most important people in my life from me…my father’s twin sister…my aunt. Both of my grandmothers had breast cancer. My cousin died of breast cancer. Breast cancer is like a terrible virus that keeps sweeping through my family. And like all viruses, you can’t get rid of them; they...

For Raymond Johnson it was bad enough being diagnosed with cancer when he was just 26 and with no health insurance, but his shock was only aggravated when he was denied Medicaid, because rules say men are not covered for breast cancer. Johnson, a construction worker from Charleston, S.C., is one of the roughly 2,000 men who develop breast cancer each year -- just 1 percent of all breast cancer cases. But doctors say even though the numbers of cases may be small compared to the number of women who get the disease, what male breast cancer patients suffer is...

Betty Fordhas died at the age of 93.

A Food and Drug Administration panel today voted 6-0 to halt the use of cancer drug Avastin for the treatment of breast cancer, saying studies have failed to show Avastin is effective for that purpose. The recommendation came after two days of testimony from patients, doctors, and advocacy groups. The panel faced several tearful accounts of women, young and old, who believed Avastin saved their lives.

A panel of cancer experts has ruled for a second time that Avastin, the best-selling cancer drug in the world, should no longer be used in breast cancer patients, clearing the way for the U.S. government to remove its endorsement from the drug. The unprecedented vote Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel comes less than a year after the same panel reached the same conclusion. In three unanimous votes, the six members of the FDA oncology drug panel voted that Avastin is ineffective, unsafe and should have its approval for breast cancer withdrawn. "I think we all...

CHICAGO — A drug now used to prevent recurrences of breast cancer can also reduce the risk of it occurring in the first place, providing a new option for women at high risk of getting the disease, researchers reported here on Saturday. Two drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, are already approved to prevent breast cancer but both are rarely used for that purpose, in part because they can have serious side effects like blood clots. The researchers said the new option, exemestane, does not have those side effects and might be more acceptable. “There’s a very safe therapy that looks highly...

COLUMBIA, Mo. ­— Parsley is usually used as a decorative accent to a scrumptious meal, but don’t set it aside just yet. In a new study, a University of Missouri researcher has found that a compound in parsley and other plant products, including fruits and nuts, can stop certain breast cancer tumor cells from multiplying and growing. The study was published recently in Cancer Prevention Research. In his study, Salman Hyder, the Zalk Endowed Professor in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, exposed rats with a certain...

OSU's Li disrupts cellular messages through fragment-based drug design IMAGE: A simulation created at the Ohio Supercomputer Center by Ohio State’s Chenglong Li, Ph.D., illustrates MDL-A (ball-and-stick) binding with a section of GP130 (yellow ribbon). Li is using fragment-based drug... Click here for more information. An Ohio State biophysicist used a supercomputer to search thousands of molecular combinations for the best configuration to block a protein that can cause breast or prostate cancer. Chenglong Li, Ph.D., an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at The Ohio State University (OSU), is leveraging a powerful computer cluster at the Ohio Supercomputer...

In 1898, German doctors fed fresh cow ovaries to a young woman suffering from severe hot flashes after having her ovaries removed. It was a milestone of sorts in women’s medicine, leading to crude hormone treatments and eventually commercially prepared drugs to relieve the symptoms of menopause. It was also the beginning of a seemingly endless controversy about the safety and necessity of drug treatments for women at the end of their reproductive years. By the 1960s, pharmaceutical companies and doctors were promoting hormones as a way for women to stay “feminine forever,” even as scientists and women’s health activists...

Influenced by the president’s mandate to “bend the health care cost curve,” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to deny late-stage breast cancer patients access to the critical, but expensive, life-extending drug Avastin. The FDA wants to “de-label” the drug, a move that would force patients with insurance or Medicare coverage to pay for the drug out of their own pocket in order to survive. Now patients groups are speaking out. Led by the Susan B. Komen Foundation for a Cure, 15 patient advocacy groups have petitioned the FDA to reverse their effort to ration the drug. In...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A University of Missouri researcher believes there could be a new drug compound that could kill breast cancer cells. The compound might also help with controlling cholesterol. Salman Hyder, the Zalk Endowed Professor in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, and his research team discovered that a small molecule, Ro 48-8071, initially developed for controlling cholesterol synthesis “dramatically destroys” human breast cancer cells. This development was discovered as Hyder’s research team was investigating PRIMA-1, a drug that targets a common mutated gene in human...

The Pill Turns 50: Medicine That Makes You SickROBERT F. CONKLING, M.D.Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect. Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect.First, the Potomac Conservancy made headlines about the contamination of rivers and drinking water in major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC. Contaminants include not only bacteria, industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides but also potentially endocrine-active pharmaceuticals, such anti-depressants, contraceptive sex hormones, antibiotics and...

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have brought cancer cells back under normal control — by reactivating their cancer suppressor genes. The discovery could form a powerful new technology platform for the treatment of cancer of the breast and other cancers. Breast cancer is diagnosed in about 1.4 million women throughout the world every year, with half a million dying from the disease. A common cause of cancer is when cells are altered or mutated and the body’s tumour suppressor genes are switched off. Research, published today in the Journal Molecular Cancer, reveals how Dr Cinzia Allegrucci from the School...

Abortion Has Caused 300K Breast Cancer Deaths Since Roe Washington, DC -- A leading breast cancer researcher says abortion has caused at least 300,000 cases of breast cancer causing a woman's death since the Supreme Court allowed virtually unlimited abortion in its 1973 case. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/01/17/abortion-has-caused-300k-breast-cancer-deaths-since-roe

ronically, the exact same day the FDA revoked Avastin's approval, its counterpart across the Atlantic did the opposite. The European Union's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use had conducted a similar investigation into Avastin in breast cancer treatment... Genentech, Avastin's developer, spent some $2.3 billion creating this treatment. In reaction to this decision, other drug firms will be less likely to make the investments required for research into advanced drugs.

Medicine: The FDA has reversed its approval of a widely used cancer drug approved in Europe to treat breast cancer on the grounds it doesn't provide a "sufficient" benefit. Let the terminally ill and their doctors decide. One of the blessings of blocking the omnibus spending bill was that it included $1 billion for the implementation of ObamaCare. Yet the first effects are still being felt, the latest being the Food and Drug Administration's revoking of regulatory approval of Avastin to treat late-stage breast cancer. The reason given by the FDA was that the drug does not provide "a sufficient...

WRAL News has learned that Elizabeth Edwards passed away late Tuesday afternoon.

[0003] The present inventors discovered that Xenotropic murine leukemia-related retrovirus (XMRV) has a strong link with human cancer, including prostate cancer and breast cancer. XMRV may also be associated with cervical cancer, hematologic malignancies, including lymphomas and leukemias, and non-cancerous conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome and other neuroimmune diseases. This disclosure describes a series of methods to detect XMRV infection, and for use of that information in the diagnosis [0109] Additionally, 178 cases of breast cancer were examined for the presence of XMRV using the described methods. Approximately 25% of breast cancers contained either XMRV proviral DNA sequences or...

After having been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, I am encouraged to open this thread by others who would like to share information with others who have joined our sisterhood. There's so much to learn and so much to take in all at once. Lots of decisions to make, too. Please feel free to share your experiences and hope that we may save lives in the process, and lift each other up. -- Jane Reinheimer

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October was all about the color pink, even in sports. MLB players wore pink wristbands. NFL teams wore pink wristbands and pink-edged hats, and in some cases, pink cleats. Everywhere you looked, pink was in vogue. Evidently Mendenhall (Miss.) High School football coach Chris Peterson missed the memo. According to the Associated Press, WLBT.com and USA Today, among other outlets, Peterson kicked 17-year-old placekicker Coy Sheppard, above, off the Mendenhall football team when Sheppard attempted to wear pink cleats in a practice following a game in October. As Sheppard explains in the video...

The UK has the fifth highest cancer death rate for women among the 27 European Union countries but spending on health is lower in Britain than other leading economies. Only Poland, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Hungary had worse records for deaths from cancer among women.[Snip] The ONS report said: “Breast cancer is the most common form of female cancer in England and Wales. It is also the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women, after lung cancer.” Death rates from breast cancer fell in the UK and the rest of Europe between 2000 and 2007.

Late last year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force changed their book of evidence-based guidelines for mammography screening in a way that caused significant disagreement in the medical community. The task force recommended against routine mammography screening for women before age 50 years and suggested that this breast cancer screening end at age 74 years. The guidelines also recommended changing the screening interval from one year to two years. Now, new data from a large Swedish study show that mammography screening in women aged 40 to 49 years results in a much greater reduction in mortality from breast cancer than...

October is "Breast Cancer Awareness Month," and thanks to a huge promotional campaign by the Susan Komen Foundation, pink is showing up on everything from women's lapel pins to socks on football teams. But look beyond the "pink treat"! According to Caroline May, political reporter at The Daily Caller, some of the money that Komen raises actually goes to Planned Parenthood, the world's largest abortion provider. In FY 2009, Komen affiliates contributed about $7.5 million to programs sponsored by Planned Parenthood. Perhaps the reason for Komen's support of Planned Parenthood is the fact that Komen's founder, Nancy Brinker, is a...

California GOP Senate challenger Carly Fiorina is in the hospital to be treated for an infection associated with her reconstructive surgery after breast cancer. Deborah Bowker, the campaign's chief of staff, says in a statement issued Tuesday that Fiorina was admitted to a hospital and is being treated with antibiotics. The campaign will not say when or where she was admitted.

Hormone treatment after menopause, already known to increase the risk of breast cancer, also makes it more likely that the cancer will be advanced and deadly, a study finds. Women who took hormones and developed breast cancer were more likely to have cancerous lymph nodes, a sign of more advanced disease, and were more likely to die from the disease than were breast cancer patients who had never taken hormones. The increased risks were relatively small and are not fully understood. But previous research has found that hormone treatment can cause delays in diagnosis by increasing breast density, making tumors...

Hollow silica nanoparticles filled with gas behave as efficient contrast agents for use in ultrasound imaging. This could improve detection of tumours in breast cancer patients, claim US scientists.Ultrasound imaging is a safe, fast and non-invasive technique used for medical diagnosis. However, one shortcoming is the inferior image contrast compared to more sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To improve this, radiologists use microbubble contrast agents to enhance the reflection of ultrasonic waves and therefore improve the quality of the ultrasound image, or radioactive seeds that are injected into the patient before surgery to visualise the entire tumour. However, the contrast...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Pink ribbons abound at department stores, grocery stores, gas stations, shopping malls and many other places. But the big "awareness" push may be misplaced. After all, lung cancer kills twice as many women each year as breast cancer -- more women every year in the U.S. die from lung cancer than from breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers combined. In 2009 alone, 31,000 more women died of lung cancer than breast cancer. But there aren't any ribbons, theme-colored products, corporate promotions, colored car magnets, festivals or fundraisers to make people aware of lung cancer's devastating...

WASHINGTON — The White House is becoming the "Pink House" in recognition of October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. President Barack Obama announced Thursday via Twitter that the building will be bathed in pink light. It will be for just one night.

Wednesday October 6, 2010 Harding U. Drops Komen over Planned Parenthood Funding By Kathleen GilbertSEARCY, Arkansas, October 6, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The campus bookstore at an Arkansas Christian university has stopped selling Susan G. Komen for the Cure items because of the organization's funding of several affiliates that fund Planned Parenthood.The Daily Citizen of Searcy and White County reported that, according to Harding spokesman David Crouch, university vice president Mel Sansom decided to pull the items because of the Planned Parenthood connection.Komen has come under fire from pro-life advocates for maintaining ties with about 21 affiliates that support Planned...