Active clinical trials for "Breast Neoplasms"

The purpose of the study is to determine whether MR of the breast is a better screening tool than mammography combined with ultrasound of the breast in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.

RATIONALE: New diagnostic procedures, such as vibro-acoustography imaging, may be an effective method of finding microcalcifications and lesions in the breast. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well vibro-acoustography imaging works in finding breast microcalcifications and lesions in women.

RATIONALE: Studying samples of urine in the laboratory from women with breast cancer may help doctors learn whether tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors alter the metabolism of estrogens. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying the effect of tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor on estrogen metabolism in women undergoing treatment for newly diagnosed breast cancer.

RATIONALE: Collecting samples of fluid using ductal lavage and nipple aspiration from participants at high risk for breast cancer to study in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that may occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is using ductal lavage to collect fluid from women at high risk for breast cancer.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how chemotherapy affects an individual's thinking abilities (cognition). Some research has shown that chemotherapy can cause changes in cognition in breast cancer survivors. However, it is not clear why this change occurs. In this study, the investigators will look to see if damage to DNA is related to these changes in cognition. Specifically, the investigators want to see 1) if women who have been treated with chemotherapy have more DNA damage than healthy women; and 2) if DNA damage is related to cognitive problems in breast cancer survivors and healthy women.

The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can show the effects of pre-surgical chemotherapy in breast cancer patients who are eligible to receive preoperative chemotherapy.

To examine nipple aspirate fluid for secretions that may be identified as a high risk indicator for development of breast cancer, and compare those to serum analysis.

This study is evaluating the long-term outcomes of women in a randomized trial that compared accelerated whole breast irradiation (42.5 Gy in 16 fractions over 22 days) to a longer conventional schedule of whole breast irradiation (50 Gy in 25 fractions over 35 days) following breast-conserving surgery. The outcomes evaluated will include cosmetic outcome and cardiac disease as a measure of late radiation morbidity and local breast recurrence as a measure of effectiveness.

This research trial studies quality of life, employment, and informal care cost analysis in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. This trial assesses how quality of life has been affected by cancer, if cancer and its treatment have caused in changes in the patient's or their spouse's employment and how they have affected the patient and their extended family, and the impact of peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy on quality of life. Learning about quality of life and informal care costs may help doctors better understand how patients feel during treatment, what effects the medicines are having, and in the future may help both patients and doctors as they decide which medicines to use to treat cancer.

Objective: To explore the hypothesis that different methods of selecting and printing information for cancer patients could improve emotional support by affecting interaction with others, and so lead to improved psychological wellbeing. Design: Randomised trial with 8 groups (three factors, 2X2X2). Data collected at recruitment and three month follow-up. Participants: 400 patients starting radiotherapy and their 'confidant' (the person in who they confide). Interventions: Printed booklets. Half had 'general' CancerBACUP information for that cancer; half had 'personal' information from the medical record plus selected general information; Half chose information by 'interacting' with the computer; half had a larger volume of material in booklets that were produced 'automatically'. Half had additional 'anxiety management advice'. Outcomes: Patients' views; use of booklet with others; change in reported social support; change in anxiety and depression.