FORCE's eXamining the Relevance of Articles for You (XRAY) program looks behind the headlines of cancer news to help you understand what the research means for you.
XRAY is a reliable source of hereditary cancer research-related news and information.
Learn more about the XRAY program
All XRAYs
Article : Promise of a cure for cancer is too good to be true
Most relevant for: People diagnosed with cancer
The Jerusalem Post published an article titled, “A cure for cancer? Israeli scientists may have found one.” The story profiled a small Israeli company called Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies that has been working on developing new cancer treatments since 2000. The article relied almost entirely on an interview with the company’s chairperson of the board who made a series of unsubstantiated claims that included that, in a year’s time, the company will offer a complete cure for cancer. (2/12/19)
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Article : The cost of cancer care and impact of financial hardship on treatment
Most relevant for: Anyone diagnosed with cancer
Several recent studies on the cost of cancer care show the negative effects on cancer patients. We review an article by Kaiser Health News and associated studies about the financial impact of breast cancer treatment and cost of precision medicine. (2/8/19)
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Relevance: High
Strength of Science: Medium-High
Research Timeline: Post Approval
Study : The impact of palbociclib (Ibrance) on overall survival for metastatic breast cancer patients in the PALOMA-3 trial
Relevance: High
Strength of Science: Medium-High
Research Timeline: Post Approval
Most relevant for: People with metastatic, hormone-positive breast cancer
The PALOMA-3 clinical trial showed that a new CDK4/6 inhibitor in combination therapy improved progression-free survival of women treated for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in women with prior disease progression after endocrine therapy. This XRAYS reviews a newly published study in the New England Journal of Medicine that looks at overall survival in the original PALOMA-3 study. (1/23/19)
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Relevance: Medium-High
Study : FORCE online survey: What breast cancer information do young women want and where do they look for it?
Relevance: Medium-High
Most relevant for: Young women and the health care providers who treat them
FORCE developed the CDC-funded Examining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors or XRAYS program to help young breast cancer survivors and those at high-risk better understand media coverage about new breast cancer research. To ensure that the program would be responsive to users’ needs, FORCE designed a web-based survey to assess where young women look for information about breast cancer and to learn their unmet information needs. The results of this survey were published in the journal Health Communications. (1/18/19)
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Relevance: Medium-High
Strength of Science: Medium-High
Research Timeline: Human Research
Study : Improving outcomes for young women with breast cancer: fertility and childbearing issues
Relevance: Medium-High
Strength of Science: Medium-High
Research Timeline: Human Research
Most relevant for: Women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age
Fertility issues and family planning decisions are prominent concerns for young women with breast cancer. This XRAYS looks at Dr. Ann Partridge’s presentation at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer symposium. Her talk, “Breast cancer in young women: Understanding differences to improve outcomes," focused on initial findings from the Young Women's Breast Cancer Study. Dr. Partridge’s research continues in the currently enrolling POSITIVE trial which tests whether women can safely interrupt adjuvant endocrine therapy in order to get pregnant. (1/7/19)
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Relevance: Medium-High
Strength of Science: Medium-High
Study : Breast cancer risk increases modestly after childbirth
Relevance: Medium-High
Strength of Science: Medium-High
Most relevant for: Women in their childbearing years
Does having children alter the risk of breast cancer? Women who give birth have a lower lifetime risk of breast cancer. However, newer data suggests that breast cancer risk increases immediately after childbirth. A study published in December 2018 examines data from the Premenopausal Breast Cancer Collective Group seeking to clarify this issue. (12/28/18)
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Relevance: Medium-High
Strength of Science: High
Research Timeline: Post Approval
Study : Inherited breast cancer in Nigerian women
Relevance: Medium-High
Strength of Science: High
Research Timeline: Post Approval
Most relevant for: Nigerian women or women of Nigerian descent who have breast cancer
A new study shows that among Nigerian women, one in eight cases of breast cancer is due to an inherited mutation in BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2 or TP53. (12/5/18)
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Personal Story : Pamela Munster's story of cancer in the family
Most relevant for: People with an inherited mutation linked to cancer
In her essay in The Washington Post, Dr. Pamela Munster recounts her family's history with cancer associated with a mutation in the BRCA2 gene. She details her father's extraordinary journey with pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive and deadly cancers. (11/27/18)
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Relevance: High
Strength of Science: High
Research Timeline: Post Approval
Study : Can population-based DNA sequencing find more people at risk for hereditary cancers?
Relevance: High
Strength of Science: High
Research Timeline: Post Approval
Most relevant for: Women over age 30
It is well documented that many BRCA mutation carriers are missed using current family history-based screening approaches. As a result, experts are beginning to call for population-based BRCA genetic testing—an organized effort to screen all women like we do for breast and cervical cancer. A recent study looked at whether a population-based genetic testing approach would better identify mutation carriers compared with current practice. (11/17/18)
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Article : The importance of racial diversity in clinical trials
Most relevant for: People who are a member of a racial or ethnic minority group
This article by journalists Caroline Chen and Riley Wong looks at racial disparities between participation in clinical trials and the population of people with cancer. (11/6/18)
Este artículo está disponible en español.
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