A new blood test shows promise in helping physicians better manage the treatment of women with advanced breast cancer. The CellSearch™ test measures the number of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in a sample of blood and can immediately inform physicians if a patient’s treatment is working or needs modification. Such information can be crucial for treating women with metastatic breast cancer, an advanced form of breast cancer that has potential to spread to other body organs.

Herceptin and Tykerb are two drugs that represent what many health care experts believe is the future of cancer treatment: targeted therapies. These two tailored drugs are used in women whose breast cancers have many copies of the HER2 gene. HER2 breast cancers may be more aggressive or treatment resistant compared to other types. Herceptin has been available for almost a decade to treat certain breast cancer patients while Tykerb is newly approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is typically used in patients who have already been treated with Herceptin. This article describes both treatments.

The early detection of ovarian cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment and survival. However, the symptoms of ovarian cancer are usually "silent," meaning that they are either subtle or do not present themselves until the disease has progressed to more advanced stages. However, recent research suggests that there may be common symptoms of ovarian cancer. Women should become familiar with the symptoms of ovarian cancer and see a physician if they experience a persistent symptom. Read this article to learn about ovarian cancer symptoms.

Many women are prescribed drugs as part of their breast cancer treatment. While the type of drug and dosage will vary from patient to patient depending on her medical situation, this article describes some of the drugs used to treat breast cancer. They include tamoxifen, Arimidex, Aromasin, Femara, Taxol, Herceptin, Adriamycin, and more.