Newsblog
During 2011 our free and confidential Helpline answered 13,399 calls; 2.5% more calls were answered than in 2010.
Nearly 56% of our callers were aged between 40 and 69 years old, with 52% of email enquiries coming from that age group.
The top five reasons why callers phone the Helpline:
- Caller's emotions
- Side effects/symptoms of treatment
- Breast awareness
- Hormone therapy
- Diagnostic procedure
Here are the top five of how people heard about the Helpline service:
- Called previously
- BCC publication
- BCC website
- Breast care nurse
- Other organisation
If you have any questions regarding breast cancer or breast health during 2012 phone our free confidential Helpline or send us an email query through our Ask the Nurse service.
We have a limited number of guaranteed places for the 2012 Brighton Marathon on 15 April. To join Team Breast Cancer Care sign up before Monday 27 February. And if you quote BCCFEB, you'll have a chance of winning a pair of Oakley Sunglasses worth £80!
Grab your trainers, head to the south coast and raise funds to help us support the 50,000 men and women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year. You will join 18,000 runners along the marathon course following some of the fabulous stretches of Brighton’s coastal roads and be part of an event with an amazing atmosphere of support and fun!
There’s still time to train and we will support you every step of the way – including help to achieve your minimum sponsorship with lots of quick and easy fundraising ideas.
Running the marathon is one of the most rewarding challenges you can take in your lifetime; it requires dedication and hard work, yet the feeling when you touch that finish line is unparalleled. All your hard work and fundraising will be helping us to continue to support people living with breast cancer by providing essential information and support services including the Helpline, discussion forums, and One-to-One Support sessions.
To find out more contact sporting@breastcancercare.org.uk or visit the fundraising pages of the website.
Responding to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) draft guidance which proposes to advise the NHS that lapatinib or trastuzumab with aromatase inhibitors should not be prescribed for a particular type and stage of breast cancer, Carolyn Rogers, Clinical Nurse Specialist at Breast Cancer Care said:
'This draft guidance by NICE proposes to advise the NHS that two targeted therapies, lapatinib or trastuzumab, given alongside aromatase inhibitors should not be given as a first treatment option to those with secondary breast cancer.* However, if women are already receiving either option when the final guidance is published, they should be able to continue treatment until their doctor considers it appropriate to stop.
'Whilst evidence suggests that the clinical benefit of this drug combination may be very small, even a minor clinical benefit can be extremely important for the patient, and this is especially the case for people living with secondary (advanced) breast cancer, whose treatment options are limited.
'At Breast Cancer Care we support many people living with secondary breast cancer. For more information on treatment options available to women with secondary breast cancer you can call Breast Cancer Care’s free, confidential helpline on 0808 800 6000 or visit www.breastcancercare.org.uk'
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Notes to editors:
For further media information, please contact Laura Ellis laura.ellis@breastcancercare.org.uk or 0207 960 3505
* A diagnosis of secondary breast cancer means that cells from the primary breast cancer have spread to other parts of the body (often the lungs, liver or bones) and the cancer has become incurable. For some people, the symptoms can be managed relatively well and they may live with the disease for a number of years. However, many people with secondary breast cancer experience a real sense of isolation. They often have ongoing symptoms such as pain and fatigue while living with uncertainty day to day, thinking about their family’s future, and making difficult decisions about end-of-life care.
Breast Cancer Care is here for anyone affected by breast cancer. We bring people together, provide information and support, and campaign for improved standards of care. We use our understanding of people's experience of breast cancer and our clinical expertise in everything we do.
For many a romantic, 14 February brings a day of spoiling your loved ones with flowers, chocolate and affection.
A breast cancer diagnosis can bring some couples closer emotionally and physically. But for many a diagnosis will have a detrimental impact on aspects of their relationship.
Even the strongest relationships can be affected by the stress and strain of cancer diagnosis and treatment. People can become preoccupied with the diagnosis, which means many aspects of your relationship can suffer. It can be difficult to talk with your partner about how you’re feeling, and you may find it hard to ask for things.
An altered body image because of surgery and treatment can make you feel self-conscious and vulnerable, and sex may be the last thing on your mind.
But there are lots of ways to be intimate and affectionate with your partner without having intercourse. You may want to have a bath together or take turns massaging. Or you can be physical by holding hands, kissing or caressing.
If you and your partner stop having sex (it may not be the right time or may be difficult due to treatments), it often means that other types of intimacy suffer. You may avoid hugging and kissing because you worry that it will arouse your partner and then upset them because you don’t want to go further. But increasing physical affection and intimacy shows that you care for and love them.
If you’re having difficulty starting your sex life again, or if the side effects of treatment are making it physically impossible, then you may want to read our publication Sexuality, Intimacy and Breast Cancer. Our online Discussion Forums are a great way to get support from others in a similar situation and to realise you are not alone, and we have some useful information about sex and breast cancer here on our website.
Our One-to-One Support service is for people who have or have had primary breast cancer and is also open to partners, family and friends of those affected. Our volunteers give you a chance to talk openly away from family and friends with someone who understands what you’re going through. To see if this service is right for you, please contact our team directly on ukpeersupportteam@breastcancercare.org.uk or call 0845 0771893.
You can also call our free, confidential Helpline with any questions about breast cancer on 0808 800 6000.
We get a number of calls on the helpline from people taking aromatase inhibitors (AIs) such as letrozole, arimidex or exemestane as part of their treatment for breast cancer who are worried about their risk of osteoporosis asking what they can do about it.
Osteoporosis means ‘porous bones’ when the usually strong structure of the bones becomes thin and weakened. Natural bone loss tends to happen as we get older anyway, but during our lives the hormone oestrogen has a protective effect on bones helping them to stay strong. Taking an AI, which reduces the amount of oestrogen circulating in the body, therefore reduces this protective effect and in turn may lead to an increased possibility of the bones becoming so fragile that they may break. The risk does depend on how healthy the bones were before having breast cancer, so those with good bone density levels before starting an AI are far less likely to develop osteoporosis whilst they are on it.
Guidance recommends that women taking an AI for the treatment of primary breast cancer should have their bone density checked around the time they start taking it as well as possibly having additional scans during treatment. This tells the specialist whether any other treatment may be needed to help keep the bones strong.
But when you want the benefit of the treatment being offered for your breast cancer yet are worried about the risk of osteoporosis, what can you do to look after your bones? And what do we talk through with our callers if they ask about this subject? Well, making some simple lifestyle choices can help keep your bones strong and healthy. Eating a healthy balanced diet will give you the vitamins and minerals important for strong healthy bones. If you eat little or no dairy produce though, ensuring you get enough calcium, which is vital for strengthening bones, is particularly important. Vitamin D is also important so that your body can absorb the calcium. The best source of vitamin D is sunlight, so spending even a short period of time each day outside during the summer months whether you are walking, gardening etc, should provide you with enough of this vitamin which is stored by the body to be used throughout the year. Our Breast cancer treatment and the risk of osteoporosis factsheet tells you much more about the risk of osteoporosis and has information on typical foods that are good sources of calcium and vitamin D.
Besides other health benefits to the body, regularly doing some weight bearing exercise like skipping, aerobics, tennis, dancing or even a brisk walk have also been shown to increase bone strength in those who are at risk of osteoporosis due to treatment for breast cancer. Our DVD Getting fitter, feeling stronger includes an exercise class suitable for people of all levels of fitness that may also be useful as well as helping to improve your overall health and wellbeing of course!
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