The COVID-19 pandemic brought mRNA vaccines into the limelight. But the technology may also prove to be a powerful weapon against hard-to-treat cancers.

Can immunotherapy treat breast cancer? For certain patients, the answer is yes.

New research has revealed that a one-year course of a drug called a PARP inhibitor can help to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence, and progression to secondary breast cancer, in people with early breast cancer with a change in the BRCA gene.

Researchers say higher vitamin D levels may help improve a person’s odds of surviving breast cancer.

All people (regardless of their sex assigned at birth) have breast tissue and could potentially get breast cancer, but the risk is much higher in people who were AFAB (assigned female at birth).

It’s estimated that between 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers result from inherited gene variations. Genetic testing can help detect gene variations that raise your risk of developing breast cancer.

After you get a breast cancer diagnosis, it likely won’t be long before your doctor starts talking to you about lymph nodes. Lymph node involvement is an important part of staging and treatment with breast cancer.

Overweight and obese women — defined as having a BMI (body mass index) over 25 — have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared to women who maintain a healthy weight, especially after menopause.

For so many breast cancer patients, radiation therapy can bring extraordinary benefits—top among them improved survival rates and reduced recurrence. But there are also challenges and questions: Why do some people experience a recurrence after treatment? How can we reduce side effects? How can we ensure the right patients receive radiation therapy—and that the treatment works as well as possible?

Breast cancer treatment often causes women to enter menopause prematurely. The change in hormone levels and estrogen depletion caused by stopping hormone replacement therapy or undergoing chemotherapy or hormonal therapy can trigger side effects commonly associated with menopause.