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On this page you will find a listing of both Medical Websites as well as Patient -Friendly Websites. Each respective section has been categorized into two separate lists for your convenience.
Medical Web Sites:
Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer
Go to this site to read the National Institutes of Health consensus statement derived from a three-day conference on the use of adjuvant therapy for patient with breast cancer. The statement addresses the factors that should be considered when considering systemic adjuvant therapy, which patients should be prescribed adjuvant hormonal therapy and adjuvant chemotherapy, the proper agents and dosage schedule to use for chemo, side effects and quality-of-life issues associated with adjuvant therapy, new research directions, and a summary of the panel's conclusions. The entire consensus statement is available online or can be downloaded in PDF format.
BioMedCentral.com: Breast Cancer Research
Offering information about all aspects of the causes, diagnosis, and management of breast cancer, the current issue of this journal highlights three studies: one examines the effectiveness of nomegestrol against cancer, the second correlates heterogeneity with loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 18p11, while the third identifies a mechanism by which suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid inhibits cell growth by affecting histone acetylation and nuclear localization of protein complexes. Other articles study soy intake and mammographic characteristics in Hawaii and the rate of breast cancer mortality among Ashkenazi Jewish women in two Brazilian cities.
BioMedCentral: Women's Health
An online, peer-reviewed research journal, BMC Women's Health covers the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and management of gynecological, fertility, and breast disorders. Each article includes an abstract along with the full-text version in PDF format. Past issues are archived at this site.
BMJ.com: Breast Cancer
The British Medical Journal has compiled more than 100 articles, news items, scientific papers, clinical reviews, editorials, educational resources, primary care guidelines, and other material on breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Online
Access the current issue of Breast Cancer Online to read about the role of the oncology nurse in the assessment of pain in the patient with breast cancer, news about the sentinel node clinical trials, alternative therapies, ethnic differences in breast cancer characteristics, and aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer. Visitors will also find case studies, conferences summaries, and other news. Other available resources include expert opinion, journal reviews, a library of images, and a calendar of upcoming events.
Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool
The National Cancer Institute and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Biostatistics Canter have developed an online, interactive breast cancer risk assessment tool that allows a health professional "to project a woman's individualized estimate of risk for invasive breast cancer over a 5-year period and over her lifetime (to age 90)." The program calculates the risk of developing breast cancer based on the answers to series of questions regarding a patient's medical and family history. The program's authors point out that it does not take into account specific genetic predispositions.
Breast Cancer, the Pill, and Hormone Replacement Therapy
Another installment of their "Controversial Cancer Topics" series, this site offers "a review of the current literature on the use of exogenous hormones and risk of breast cancer" and discusses the difference between the relative risk of developing breast cancer and the estimated risk that extends over a woman's lifetime. Visit this site for discussion on "The Pill and Risk of Developing Breast Cancer" and "Pill Use in Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer," as well as the relationship between hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer risk and other methods of treating menopausal symptoms in women with breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Treatment
According to this site, prepared by the National Cancer Institute, "several well-established factors have been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. These include family history, nulliparity, early menarche, advanced age, and a personal history of breast cancer (in situ or invasive)." Visitors will findinformation on screening, commonly used treatment modalities (including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy), factors affecting prognosis and choice of therapy (age and menopausal status of the patient, stage of the disease, histologic and nuclear grade of the primary tumor, estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor status, measures of proliferative capacity, and HER2/neu gene amplification), and histological classification. Separate sections on patient evaluation, breast reconstruction, cellular classification, staging information, overviews of specific treatment options, and recurrent and metastatic breast cancer are also provided.
Cancer Research Portfolio: Breast Cancer Research Projects
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) offers this overview of the various breast cancer research projects currently underway. Information available for each clinical trial includes its official title, the type of cancer being investigated, the name and institutional affiliation of the principal investigator, the NCI project number assigned to the study, the funding period approved for the project, the NCI division and Program Director to which this project is assigned, and a detailed description of the goals and methods of the study. There are currently nearly 3,000 clinical trials highlighted on this site, divided into the following categories: Treatment, Prevention, Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis, Cancer Control, Survivorship, and Outcomes Research, Biology, Causes of Cancer/Etiology, Scientific Model Systems, and Uncoded Projects.
Doctors' Guide to Breast Cancer Information and Resources
This outstanding site offers the latest news and information for victims of breast cancer and for the physicians who treat them, all of which may be customized according to user specifications. Available resources include up-to-date news items, in-depth fact sheets on topics including "Warning Signs of Breast Cancer," "Factors That Increase Risk," and the Breast Cancer Dictionary, and a variety of webcasts and CME activities. Search options for the site, the entire Internet, MEDLINE, and the Congress Resource Centre are available as well. Discussion forums, newsgroups, and a listing of related links round out the site's content.
European Breast Cancer Coalition
The European Breast Cancer Coalition, known as Europa Donna, represents "the concerns and interests of European women to local and national authorities and governments, drawing attention to the need for improvement in or introduction of essential programs and services in the fight against breast cancer." Among its goals are promoting the "dissemination and exchange of factual, up-to-date information on breast cancer throughout Europe," emphasizing the "need for appropriate screening and early detection,ü ensuring "quality supportive care throughout and after treatment," ensuring "that all women fully understand any proposed treatment options, including entry into clinical trials, and their right to a second opinion," and promoting "the advancement of breast cancer research." This site offers information on breast cancer research and treatment in the 28 member countries, access to the Europa Donna newsletter, links to governmental agencies involved in cancer research, and information on upcoming major cancer-related conferences and events.
Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer Risk
Narrated by Cokie Roberts, ABC News Commentator, this video discusses new technology for detecting cancer susceptibility in women with a family history of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. RealPlayer is required; the running time of the presentation is just over 13 minutes.
Medscape Resource Center: Breast Cancer
Medscape's Breast Cancer Resource Center collects the most relevant medical news and information on breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, and therapy and presents it in an organized, easily accessible fashion. Find breast cancer-specific Information, breaking news, articles from respected medical journals such as the ew England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Clinical Pathology treatment updates and guidelines, summaries of important conferences and symposia, an "Ask the Expert" section, and MEDLINE access. The site also offers clinical management modules that provide overviews of standard adjuvant therapy and investigational therapies for primary breast cancer.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines - Version III
According to the website, "The Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients were developed by a diverse group of experts and were based on the NCCN clinical practice guidelines." Visitors will find an extensive introduction to the "decision tree" format of the guidelines, as well as discussions of breast cancer work up, benign breast lumps, choosing between lumpectomy and mastectomy, and more. Stages 0 through IV are presented with guidelines.
NYU Women's Health Study
Access information about this ongoing trial, a prospective cohort study that began in 1985. Since that year, the study has enrolled over 15,000 women–14,275 in the New York City metropolitan area, and 1,507 in Florida–in an effort to identify the role of endogenous hormones, diet, and other environmental exposures in the etiology of the most common cancers in women, especially breast cancer. This site offers abstracts of related research findings, a regular newsletter, and general breast cancer information.
Oncolink Breast Cancer Physician Update
As a tool to assist physicians in finding relevant material on the Internet, the "OncoLink Breast Cancer Physician Update provides the busy clinician with online access to the full text of a number of recently published key articles in breast cancer research and treatment." As an added bonus, access to the full-text version of each article is free for an initial trial period. Select articles from categories such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery, clinical trials, risk, prevention, psychosocial, screening, and side effects. Access is also available to MEDLINE and OncoServe.
Society for Women's Health Research
The Society "works to increase public and private funding for research on women's health, promote the inclusion of women in medical research studies, and encourage the scientific examination of the basic biological and physiological differences between men and women and how those differences affect both health and disease through the emerging field of sex-based biology." Their website offers information on clinical trials, sex-based biology, policy and advocacy issues, a report on the "facts and fallacies about women's and men's health," and updates from the General Accounting Office on the FDA's progress in monitoring medications for sex differences.
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Patient-Friendly Web Sites:
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society offers this site, packed with information and resources, for patients, family, friends, survivors, and supporters. Visitors can learn more about cancer types, treatment options, prevention, and early detection. Patients can join the Cancer Survivors Network and participate in a variety of support groups and services like "Man to Man," "I Can Cope," and "Look Good...Feel Better." Different involvement opportunities are offered as well, such as discussion boards, community activites, and Society-sponsored events.
Breast Cancer Lighthouse
Go to this site's "Women's Personal Stories Beach" to listen to personal interviews and stories with women who have survived breast cancer that "present common hopes and fears and show how being diagnosed with breast cancer has affected different women's lives." The site also offers the "Breast Cancer Information Garden," a section that provides facts on breast cancer, including a special section with information on ductal cancer in situ and an explanation of invasive cancer. Links to other sites and organizations concerned with breast cancer are also provided under the "Breast Cancer Footpath."
The Complete Guide for Breast Cancer Information
This excellent site contains a wealth of information on cancers of the breast. The "Medical Guide" discusses the "basics" of breast cancer, lifestyle changes women can make that can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer, the treatment options ava_lable after a diagnosis has been made, information on metastatic disease, and clinical trial updates. The "Personal Guide" offers advice on dealing with the emotional and physical effects of diagnosis and treatment, live chats, supportive e-mail cards, and more. The latest research news is also available.
FDA-Certified Mammography Facilities
This well-organized, extremely useful listing of mammography facilities throughout the United States is updated every week. Visitors may browse the index by state and zip code in order to find the certified provider nearest to them. The site also provides introductory materials elaborating on the process of FDA certification of the facilities while maintaining that the FDA does not recommend one facility over another.
Imaginis: The Breast Health Specialists
This site provides an extensive collection of news, articles, and other information on breast health. A special section for patients contains breast cancer screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment information. Details about specific medical procedures, support groups, and other women's health issues are also offered. Health care professionals will find practice guidelines, educational materials, a professional bookstore, and other resources. Visitors may also subscribe to the free Breast Health newsletter.
MEDLINEplus: Breast Cancer
Compilations of various resources can be an excellent option for those wishing to learn as much as possible about a disease from its clinical definition to its current status in the research sector to the statistical regions most likely to develop it. MEDLINEplus offers patients and family members an extensive series of links to news articles, research updates, prevention information, pictures, rehabilitation options, treatments, lists of publications, statistics, organizations, and much more.
Patient-Centered Guides: Breast Cancer Guide
This excellent site offers a great deal of useful information for women with breast cancer and serves as an ideal starting point for those looking for online information on the second-deadliest form of cancer in women. The site features a collection of articles that address various secondary topics in breast cancer, from dealing with loved ones to the travails of hospitalization. Visitors will also find summaries of presentations from the 24th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, a link to the NABCO Recurrence project that offers "a tool for making treatment decisions, links to community and support, information on clinical trials, and many other resources," information on new and experimental treatments, and more. Links to support groups, financial assistance organizations, hospice care, and extensive information on medications and clinical trials are also provided.
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