Breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) occurs in 10-15% of patients yet accounts for almost half of all breast cancer deaths. TNBCs lack expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER-2 overexpression and cannot be treated with current targeted therapies. TNBCs often occur in African American and younger women. Although initially responsive to some chemotherapies, TNBCs tend to relapse and metastasize. Thus, it is critical to find new therapeutic targets. A second ER gene product, termed ERβ, in the absence of ERα may be such a target.

Background: Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) is a collective term used to describe genetic susceptibility to breast and/or ovarian cancer. Most HBOC cases are attributed to BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes (BRCA1/2). Once a case of HBOC is identified, the risk of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation and its implications extends to family members.

Purpose/Objectives: Although frameworks for understanding survivorship continue to evolve, most are abstract and do not address the complex context of survivors’ transition following treatment completion. The purpose of this theory adaptation was to examine and refine the Illness Trajectory Theory, which describes the work of managing chronic illness, to address transitional cancer survivorship.

Data Sources: CINAHL, PubMed, and relevant Institute of Medicine reports were searched for survivors’ experiences during the year following treatment.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe the development of a self-efficacy instrument that measures perceived ability to manage symptoms and quality-of-life problems resulting from the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

DESIGN: Items were developed and content validity assessed. A 14-item scale was psychometrically evaluated using internal consistency reliability and several types of construct validity.

SAMPLE: 1,127 female breast cancer survivors (BCSs).

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) occurs in 10–15% of patients yet accounts for almost half of all breast cancer deaths. TNBCs lack expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER-2 overexpression and cannot be treated with current targeted therapies. TNBCs often occur in African American and younger women. Although initially responsive to some chemotherapies, TNBCs tend to relapse and metastasize. Thus, it is critical to find new therapeutic targets. A second ER gene product, termed ERβ, in the absence of ERα may be such a target.

 Perceived risk to a health problem is formed by inferential rules called heuristics and by comparative judgments that assess how one's risk compares to the risk of others. The purpose of this cross-sectional, community-based survey was to examine how experiences with breast cancer, knowledge of risk factors, and specific heuristics inform risk judgments for oneself, for friends/peers, and comparative judgments for breast cancer (risk friends/peers - risk self).

 PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe perceived breast cancer risk, identify the percentage of women with inaccurate risk perceptions, and examine the influence of perceived and objective risk on screening behavior.
DESIGN: Descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional.
SETTING: Community settings in a metropolitan area on the western coast of the United States.
SAMPLE: Multicultural sample of 184 English-speaking women (57% non-Caucasian, X age = 47 +/- 12 years) who have never been diagnosed with cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe knowledge of hereditary, familial, and sporadic breast cancer risk factors among women in the community and to identify characteristics associated with this knowledge.
DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional.
SETTING: Community settings in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 Studies suggest that people construct their risk perceptions by using inferential rules called heuristics. The purpose of this study was to identify heuristics that influence perceived breast cancer risk. We examined 11 interviews from women of diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds who were recruited from community settings. Narratives in which women elaborated about their own breast cancer risk were analyzed with Argument and Heuristic Reasoning Analysis methodology, which is based on applied logic.