Breast Cancer

Researchers hailed the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that bans the patenting of human DNA, saying it would expand access to genetic testing for disease at lower cost to patients. In a unanimous decision, the justices said Myriad Genetics did not have exclusive rights to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes that are linked to significantly greater risk for breast cancer and thus should not be the only company allowed to test for it. "Myriad did not create anything," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for his fellow justices.

Researchers hailed the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that bans the patenting of human DNA, saying it would expand access to genetic testing for disease at lower cost to patients. In a unanimous decision, the justices said Myriad Genetics did not have exclusive rights to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes that are linked to significantly greater risk for breast cancer and thus should not be the only company allowed to test for it. "Myriad did not create anything," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for his fellow justices.

Women under age 30 who are diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy are more than three times as likely to die from the disease as breast-cancer patients who have never been pregnant, Texas researchers report.The study of 407 women ages 20 to 29 also showed an adverse effect of recent pregnancy on breast-cancer survival.The shorter the time between a pregnancy and a cancer diagnosis, the greater the risk of dying from the disease, researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Can cer Center in Houston reported in this week's issue of the medical jour nal Lancet.

Ovarian cancer can be a death sentence for many women. It is difficult to treat and often goes undetected until the late stages when it has spread to other organs in the pelvis and abdomen. Actress Angelina Jolie has reportedly decided to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, a procedure known as a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, to fend off getting the disease. Jolie is a carrier of a BRCA gene mutation, putting her at a 60 percent to 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer and a 25 percent to 40 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer.

Some Maryland hospitals have shied away from a state program to make low-cost breast-cancer screening widely available, apparently fearing they could not afford to continue it when the program is over.The newly formed Governor's Cancer Control Council yesterday discussed ways of improving the participation in a state that leads the country in cancer death rates.The council has set a premium on extending the availability of mammography to more Maryland women, because the technique will detect many breast cancers at an early stage when they are more curable than after the cancer has spread.

Women who gain weight in adulthood -- particularly when they LTC are in their 30s -- face an increased risk of breast cancer, Florida researchers have found.Their study of 218 newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients found that more than 63 percent of the women had gained at least 15 pounds since they turned 30, compared to 50 percent of those in a control group of healthy women.More than 48 percent of the breast-cancer patients had gained 15 pounds or more since age 16, compared to 37 percent of the control group, according to the study, published in the current issue of the journal Cancer.

Late last year, an international team of researchers forged a breakthrough in the fight against breast cancer, with its discovery of two genes -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- that are linked to an inherited form of breast and ovarian cancer.Although for most cancer patients the news will have little direct significance, it is hoped that the discovery of the aberrant genes TC will lead scientists to genes that play a critical role in causing more common forms of the disease. Breast cancer kills 46,000 women each year in the United States alone.

Decades of government research on breast cancer have done nothing to improve women's odds of surviving or avoiding the disease.Although hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on research since the National Cancer Act declared war against malignancies in 1971, the breast-cancer death rate has increased slightly and prevalence has steadily climbed.A Newsday examination of federal research spending shows a number of factors converged to stymie progress against the disease. Women's health research was a low priority and women were routinely excluded from general health studies.

SEATTLE -- Women who don't have a strong family history of breast cancer should not worry about being tested for one of the major breast-cancer genes, University of Washington researchers reported yesterday.In the study, only 2.6 percent of women who already had the disease were found to have a defective BRCA1 gene, linked to breast and ovarian cancer.Statistically, one in eight women in the United States develops breast cancer; experts estimate the disease will kill more than 43,500 this year.

By now, most women are familiar with the benefits of regular exercise in preventing heart disease, strengthening bones, lessening back pain and warding off other chronic diseases. What isn't well-known is something researchers have suspected for years: that exercise plays a strong role in preventing certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.Recent research from the University of Southern California School of Medicine indicates that women who exercise regularly during childbearing years can significantly reduce their risk of developing malignant breast tumors.

Oh, no! Here we go again with another "awareness conversation" ("Breast cancer: Angelina Jolie starts the conversation," May 16). After the fortunes raised by Race for the Cure and the other breast cancer groups, must we consider having both our breasts removed? I'm beginning to think being a woman is a life-long death sentence. In "starting the conversation," why didn't Angelina Jolie mention how much her surgery, reconstruction and rehabilitation cost? If an initial exam is $3,000, what is the price of the entire procedure?

Actress Angelina Jolie, who got a double mastectomy to lower her chances of breast cancer, will also have her ovaries removed, according to People magazine. Jolie said in a New York Times editorial Tuesday that she had her breasts removed and reconstructed because she has a gene mutation that makes her risk of breast cancer high. Women with the BRCA1 gene mutation also have a high chance of developing ovarian cancer. There is no test to detect ovarian cancer and women often die from the disease because it is diagnosed in the late stages.

"Mom. Do you have that gene? Do I? Have you been tested? I thought Grandma had breast cancer . Why weren't you ever tested?" The questions from my 27-year-old daughter were coming fast. Angelina Jolie published an essay in The New York Times on Tuesday, saying that she had had both breasts removed, and then reconstructed, after learning that she carried the mutated gene that can predispose women to breast and ovarian cancer. And Jessie was on the phone to me. Family history had moved the actress to get tested.

Actress Angelina Jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy rather than risk developing breast cancer hit close to home for Melissa DeSantis, a Bel Air mother of three children. As DeSantis read about Jolie's experience, she began to feel a sense of kinship to the Hollywood star. DeSantis also made the tough decision to have her breasts removed in a February surgery. Like Jolie, she had one of the inherited gene mutations that leaves many women more likely to develop cancer.

MINNEAPOLIS - An annual Major League Baseball undertaking to provide exposure and money to cancer-awareness charities became embroiled in a bit of a controversy Friday, with an Oriole being one of the players inadvertently involved. On Sunday, as part of its Mother's Day celebration, participating players will wear and use pink equipment - to bring more awareness to breast cancer issues - as they have since 2006. The items will then be auctioned off with proceeds going to charities including Susan G. Komen For The Cure, which has championed breast cancer research for decades.

The successful relationship between WWE and Susan G. Komen will continue, as a special Mother's Day campaign has been launched. “Make Mom Proud” is an awareness campaign to support the fight against breast cancer. The TV and digital campaign, which coincides with Mother's Day, calls on supporters to do something meaningful for their moms and the other important women in their lives. As part of the campaign, WWE will urge fans to support moms by taking steps to educate themselves about the disease, participate in local Susan G. Komen Races in their communities, and donate to Komen, the world's largest nonprofit funder of breast cancer research and community outreach programs.

The Ward Center at St. Paul's School was in the pink for the American Cancer Society's "With One Voice" celebration to fight breast cancer. There were bunches of pink balloons, pink tablecloths, pink centerpieces and pink roses on the lapels of breast-cancer survivors.Some 125 people gathered for a buffet dinner, including Barbara Little and Jeanne Tsakalos, event committee members; Sam Miller, ACS Mid-Atlantic board president; Dr. Mark J. Brenner and Jacqueline Chambers, board members; Harriet Legum, 1998 One Voice honoree; Charlie Leiss, chief operating officer of ACS Mid-Atlantic division; Dr. William Dooley, director of the Johns Hopkins Breast Center; Ellen McCallum, breast-cancer survivor; and A. Michael Jackson, partner in Greenspring Ventures.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month -- a time when many companies paint their products pink and donate a portion of sales to breast-cancer causes. Every year, it seems the list of pink products grows. This year there are pink Hershey's Kisses and pink Tic-Tacs. Red Envelope has pink wine openers and pink purses. Cross has pink pens, and equestrians can find pink cowboy hats and riding gloves. Here are some other pink products to help a worthy cause: 1. Dyson DC07 Vacuum Price: $399 Where to get it: Target Why we like it: The vacuum comes with a lifetime Hepa filter and a quick-empty system that means you don't have to touch the dust.

Bridget Ellen Mooney Spence, who raised funds for the Susan Komen Foundation, died of complications from breast cancer Thursday at her home in Sudbury, Mass. The former Baltimore resident was 29. Born in Baltimore, she was the daughter of William J. Mooney, an accountant, and Dorothy Hermann Mooney, a retired Gilman School teacher. Raised in Pinehurst, she was a 2001 Roland Park Country School graduate. She earned a cum laude degree in international relations from Boston University.

Harford Gymnastics, along with 2,600 other athletes from across the country, competed at the Pink Invitational in Philadelphia, Pa.., Feb. 22 to 24 to support Unite for Her and breast cancer awareness. Harford's Level 7 team shined, taking first place in a field of tough competitors. Additionally, Harford took second at Levels 6 and 8, third at Level 5 and fourth at Level 9. The entire Harford team (Levels 4 to 9) had 22 athletes score above 36 in all-around and four gymnasts tallied all-around scores above 37. A new club beam record was set at Level 7 and one of Harford's Level 9 athletes was recognized with the Strength of Character Award.