AP - Some advanced lung cancer patients already treated with chemotherapy might be able to skip some of the bad side effects of another series of chemo by taking a pill instead, a study suggests. An international study showed patients on Iressa, an expensive, newer targeted treatment, survived about as long as those on another course of chemotherapy.

Reuters - The lung cancer pill Iressa has shown surprising results for patients with advanced disease where it has been at least as effective as a standard chemotherapy treatment, researchers reported on Thursday.

AFP - The European Patent Office on Wednesday restored on appeal a controversial patent for a breast cancer gene that had been withdrawn from a US biotech firm, but granting it in a more restricted form than before.

HealthDay - TUESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists believe they have found out why diet and exercise affect a women's chance of breast cancer after she's past menopause, a new study says.

HealthDay - TUESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Women whose mothers consumed canola oil during pregnancy and breast-feeding may be less likely to develop breast cancer than those whose mothers consumed corn oil, a new study suggests.

HealthDay - MONDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- After a mastectomy, wealthier women are more likely to have immediate breast reconstruction than their poorer counterparts, Johns Hopkins University researchers report.

Reuters - Women with a family history of breast cancer but who test negative for two genetic mutations commonly linked to it still have a very high risk of developing the disease, Canadian researchers said on Monday.

HealthDay - MONDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The risk of breast cancer for a woman with a strong family history is four times higher than that of the general population -- even if she does not carry one of the breast cancer-linked mutations of the BRCA gene, a new study finds.

Reuters - Women with a particular gene mutation linked to breast cancer may further raise their risk of the disease if they smoke, a study has found.

AP - If breast cancer runs in the family, women can be at high risk even if they test free of the disease's most common gene mutations, sobering new research shows.

HealthDay - MONDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Psychological counseling may improve the chances of survival for breast cancer patients, a new study says.

Reuters - Freezing embryos before undergoing cancer treatment that may cause infertility is as successful for women with cancer as it is for women without cancer, new study findings indicate.

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) -- As many as 35 percent of women who take tamoxifen to prevent the return of breast cancer do not respond to the drug -- and now scientists think they know why.

Reuters - British scientists have figured out why some women develop resistance to the most commonly used breast cancer drug, something that raises the risk their tumors will return, according to a study published on Wednesday.

AFP - Scientists said on Wednesday they found the reason why some women develop resistance to tamoxifen, the key frontline drug against breast cancer.

AP - Scientists have pinpointed the molecular on-off switch that the powerful drug tamoxifen uses to attack breast cancer and which prevents it from working in some women.

Reuters - Calcium or vitamin D supplements do not reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

HealthDay - TUESDAY, Nov. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Although calcium and vitamin D may keep your bones strong, these vital nutrients don't appear to help postmenopausal women lower their risk of breast cancer.

AFP - Migraine sufferers who likely have no kind words about the condition may take comfort in news that women who get the extra-strength headaches have a 30-percent lower breast cancer risk, according to a new US study.

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Women who experience migraines may actually have a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer, say researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.