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Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a good time to test your breast IQ. Find out how much you really know about what it takes to be on guard against this common disease.

Separate fact from fiction
Can you guess which of the statements below are true and which are false?

1. True or false? Breast cancer always comes in the form of a lump.

FALSE. Breast cancer in its earliest stages usually doesn't have any symptoms. When symptoms do appear, it's not always in the form of a lump. Be on the lookout for any of the signs below and report them to your doctor right away.

• Lump in your breast
• Swelling in or around your breast, collarbone or armpit
• Skin thickening or redness in or around your breast
• Breast warmth and itching
• Nipple changes or discharge
• Breast pain

Continue reading Take This Breast Test.

By Ian Lipski, M.D., and Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D.

You know that feeling of being so wrapped up in a good book or great movie that you lose track of time or self? That's very similar to what hypnosis is like; it's a state of highly focused attention that allows a patient to concentrate on a self-created image so that the awareness of his or her current environment becomes less important and less clear.

In the context of cancer treatment, it involves the use of imagery and relaxation to reduce anxiety or pain or overcome some other obstacles.   



Medical hypnosis
Hypnosis within a medical setting involves a shift in consciousness precipitated by a self-induced concentration exercise. Medical hypnosis empowers patients who are faced with a perceived loss of control and generally improves satisfaction with medical procedures and the hospital experience.  

Extensive research indicates medical hypnosis can decrease pain and anxiety and the amount of medications needed in the interventional radiology suite. It can also shorten procedure time.

For claustrophobic patients undergoing MRIs, it has been shown to decrease the non-completion rate for some scans. Relieving pre-operative anxiety has been shown to lower intraoperative anesthetic requirements for some surgeries. 

Continue reading Medical Hypnosis Demystified.

Mind Over Hot Flashes: Part 1
By Leslie Schover, Ph.D., and Andrea Bradford, Ph.D.

Menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness, affect many women who receive chemotherapy, radiation to the pelvis, or surgical removal of the ovaries. These symptoms also affect women who were already postmenopausal at the time of their diagnosis, since survivors of several types of cancer (e.g., breast cancer, endometrial and ovarian cancers) are often advised to stop taking hormone replacement therapies containing estrogen.

Hot flashes are the most common symptom prompting women to seek treatment. Although estrogen replacement is the most effective solution, many women don't want to take hormone replacement. Also, estrogen is usually not recommended for survivors of hormone-sensitive tumors. Fortunately, several non-hormonal medications may help, including antidepressants like venlafaxine [Effexor], and the blood pressure-lowering drugs like clonidine, and gabapentin, whichare commonly used to treat neuropathic pain. Although they aren't as effective as estrogen, these drugs offer relief too many women.

Mind over menopause
Two new studies suggest that a form of psychological treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) also can improve menopausal symptoms and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

Continue reading Managing Menopausal Symptoms without Hormones.

by Adelina Espat, MD Anderson Staff Writer

Your food choices can impact your chances for developing cancer.  And if you're being treated for cancer, what you eat can affect your treatment outcomes.

Every day, MD Anderson dietitians teach patients and survivors how to make healthier food choices. They do this to reduce the possibility of a cancer returning or to increase the chances for successful treatment.

So, what are MD Anderson dietitians eating to stay cancer-free?

To answer this question, we spoke with Rachel Murphy, senior clinical dietitian in MD Anderson's Department of Clinical Nutrition, and Clare McKindley, clinical dietitian in MD Anderson's Cancer Prevention Center.

Here's what they had to say.

How do you get your fill of fruits and vegetables each day?

"Dried fruits are my go to or 100% juice. Dried fruit I can easily add to cereal or just have it as is. Because I don't always tolerate milk well and I'm not as good with my fluid intake, despite my active schedule, I drink an 8 oz glass of calcium fortified orange juice (100% juice). This keeps me hydrated, meets my dietary calcium needs and supports my fruit intake.

"For vegetables, I pre-slice bell peppers to snack on during the day. For example, I'll take the sliced veggies with me to a Mexican restaurant I go to after climbing. I use the vegetables to dip in the salsa. Or, when I go to a pizza restaurant, I'll order lasagna and a salad (no dressing because I generally do not like the taste.) Then, I place a small square of the lasagna on top of my salad. These two techniques help me to maintain my vegetable intake goals." Clare McKindley

Continue reading What do MD Anderson Dietitians Eat?.

By Alejandro Chaoul, Ph.D., and Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D.

The belief that what we think and feel can influence our health and healing dates back thousands of years. The importance of the role of the mind, emotions and behaviors in health and well-being was part of many ancient cultures, from the Greeks to the Chinese. 

When people are in a state of stress, we enter what some Tibetan teachings call the "monkey-mind" mode; our minds go from thought to thought and emotion to emotion, like a monkey travels from branch to branch.  The monkey-mind pervasive even when people are not experiencing stress. 

When experiencing stressful life events -- situations that pose challenge, harm, loss, or lack of control -- the monkey-mind is our default and our fight-or-flight instinct takes over, and increases stress levels even further.

The fight-or-flight response is useful in managing acute stressors, but when the stressors become chronic the response becomes destructive to our health and overall functioning. 

Chronic stress literally has a negative effect on every physiological system in the body. It has been well documented that stress influences all cells in our body -- changing gene expression and the tumor microenvironment to create a more hospitable terrain for tumor growth.

Continue reading Meditation Reduces Stress and Cultivates Inner Peace and Well-being.

MD Anderson's Integrative Medicine Center, formerly known as Place ... of wellness, has moved back to its renovated space and reopened on Floor 1 of the Main Building, near The Aquarium.

Before the renovation, the center had only three treatment rooms. Now, there are six treatment rooms built for versatility of the different treatment options. Each room has wood laminate floors and beds with wheels, making the rooms easy to rearrange to serve multiple purposes.

"I'm very excited with our newly renovated clinic," says Richard Lee, M.D., medical director of the Integrative Medicine Center. "We can now better meet the needs of patients in a way that enhances the care of every person we touch -- physically, mind-spiritually and socially."

The addition of a vital signs room allows the center's workflow to be streamlined, enhancing patient care and the center's efficiency. The renovation includes a workroom for faculty and clinical employees that features six new workstations, updated fixtures and new furniture.

"Before the renovation, we became very creative in the art of workspace sharing," says Andrea Warren, program manager, Integrative Medicine Center. "In a space big enough for one person, you would often find two or more. Now, we have room and resources for all of our staff."

Continue reading Newly Renovated Integrative Medicine Center Reopens.

Torris Hornsby is a walking miracle.

Diagnosed with urachal cancer, an extremely rare bladder cancer, the Newton, Texas, resident has lived longer than anyone expected, even his oncologist, Arlene Siefker-Radtke, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at MD Anderson.

Hornsby's resolve to live outweighed his prognosis, but there would be other hills to climb in this journey.

A restful sleep
On one of his inpatient visits to the hospital last year, Hornsby forgot his sleep apnea machine at home about two hours from Houston. Feeling tired and what he called "washed out," he was referred to MD Anderson's Sleep Center. It had been six or more years since his last evaluation, so he participated in a sleep study and got a new machine.

From clinical care to clinical research
Started in 2006, the Sleep Center is a four-bed laboratory available to all cancer patients. Its director, Dave Balachandran, M.D., says the center was established because 80% of cancer patients experience fatigue.

Continue reading Sleep Center Offers Patient Good Night's Rest.

By Alex De Alvarado and Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D.

If you're a patient with cancer, most likely you've experienced fatigue -- and you're not alone. Fatigue is one of the most common cancer-related symptoms described by cancer survivors.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network defines cancer-related fatigue as "an unusual, persistent, subjective sense of tiredness related to cancer or cancer treatment that interferes with usual functioning." For people with cancer, chronic fatigue can be distressing and can dramatically interfere with quality of life.

Understanding the causes of fatigue and finding the right approach for managing it could help to improve your quality of life and daily functioning.

Continue reading Cancer-Related Fatigue: Integrative Therapies Can Help.

By Leslie Schover, Ph.D., and Andrea Bradford, Ph.D.

Women frequently ask physicians or sex therapists for a pill to increase sexual desire. Low sexual desire is the most common sexual problem in women and one of the top sexual complaints among cancer survivors.

So far, the promise of a quick fix for low desire remains unfulfilled. In this post we discuss some medications touted as "performance enhancers."

Viagra for women: why not?
Drugs to treat men's erection problems work by increasing blood flow to the penis. Sexual arousal in women also involves increased genital blood flow.

However, in clinical trials, erectile dysfunction drugs (e.g., Viagra and Cialis) offered no more relief than a placebo to women who lacked physical excitement during sex. Since most women in these studies also had little interest in sex, better blood flow would be unlikely to help.

Recently, drug developers have turned their attention to sexual desire problems.

Continue reading Modern Day Aphrodisiacs: Hype Versus Reality.

By Leslie Schover, Ph.D., and Andrea Bradford, Ph.D.

According to a recent report from the Livestrong Foundation, 46% of cancer survivors have experienced a problem with their sexual function. Sound familiar? A survey at M D Anderson also found that 49% of men filling out the questionnaire had developed erectile problems since their cancer treatment and 45% of women had a loss of desire for sex and/or pain with sex.

Unfortunately, sexual health is not always "on the radar" in oncology health care, even at MD Anderson. But times are changing. As the number of cancer survivors in the United States approaches 12 million, their long-term health concerns are being recognized.Two clinical psychologists at MD Anderson are launching a series of posts on Cancerwise to share news, tips and important information about sexual health for cancer survivors.

Continue reading Breaking the Silence: Talking to Your Doctor About Sexual Problems After Cancer .

By Alex De Alvarado, Michael Richardson, M.T.-B.C., Ingrid Sevy, M.A., M.T.-B.C., Richard Lee, M.D., and Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D.

For many people, music connects them to their emotions and is often a way to be socially connected. That is why music can be an effective form of therapy for people with cancer.

The use of music as a therapeutic tool in health and medicine dates back to ancient times.  In modern Western medicine, music therapy started being formally used in the 1950s and is now often incorporated into conventional medical care. Music therapy is a key therapeutic tool used within most integrative medicine programs at large cancer centers around the nation.

When used in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments, music therapy has been found to help reduce pain and discomfort; improve mood and diminish stress; increase quality of life; and allow patients to better communicate their fears, sadness or other feelings.

Continue reading Music Therapy Helps People With Cancer.

By Matthew T. Ballo, M.D., associate professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Regional Care Center in the Bay Area

"Medicine should be seen primarily as caring for people's health rather than as fighting a war against disease."
                - Virginia L. Warren, Ph.D
                From the 'Medicine is War' Metaphor*

I first read these words almost 20 years ago and the message has had a lasting effect. The idea that we should think of our clinics as environments for caring for patients, rather than arenas for fighting, would seem obvious but does require some effort.