© 2005-2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). All rights reserved worldwide.
Research Summaries
Using the drop-down menu below, read about highlighted scientific news from ASCO's Annual Meetings since 2002. You can select a specific year and/or a specific topic, such as a type of cancer. Selecting "All" will take you to a complete list of articles that appear under all categories.
The 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting is set for May 31-June 4, with research news beginning to be released on May 15 at 6pm Eastern. Additional research will be released each day of the meeting.
To read these summaries categorized into a yearly newsletter, you can also review Cancer Advances: News for Patients from the ASCO Annual Meeting.
Don’t forget to check out audio podcasts and videos about this news, as well. And, in addition to the highlighted studies below, thousands of scientific abstracts are released each year at the ASCO Annual Meeting. To search the entire collection of meeting abstracts, visit ASCO's website.
May 14, 2005
A new study reports that black women are more likely to experience delays in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. These delays are significant because other studies have found that postponing treatment for three months or more can lower the five-year survival rate by 12%.
May 14, 2005
A new study from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) shows that higher rates of breast cancer deaths for black women are not due to lower doses of chemotherapy. Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, but the reasons are unknown.
May 14, 2005
A study of more than 40,000 female veterans in the United States shows that the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins help reduce the risk of breast cancer by more than half.
May 13, 2005
A phase III study led by the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) shows that letrozole (Femara) is more effective than tamoxifen (Nolvadex) in preventing breast cancer recurrence (return of the cancer).
June 6, 2004
A study of more than 5,000 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis shows that raloxifene (Evista), a drug used to treat bone loss, also lowers a woman's risk of estrogen receptor (ER) positive invasive breast cancer. These findings mark eight years of follow-up without any new safety concerns.
June 2, 2003
Many health organizations recommend that women 20 years and older perform a monthly self breast examâan easy-to-learn procedure for examining one's own breastsâand have a clinical breast examâa breast exam performed by a doctorâevery three years.
May 31, 2003
Women over the age of 75 are more likely to have breast cancer spread to their lymph nodes than younger postmenopausal women. However, fewer women in this higher age category are given intense therapy for breast cancer than are younger postmenopausal women, according to a study conducted at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy.
May 19, 2002
New improvements in breast cancer treatment were examined in studies discussed today at a press conference at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.