Myths about breast cancer debunked: Family history often has nothing to do with diagnosis

If you have breast cancer, you'll have to get a mastectomy.
Mastectomies are not as commonly recommended as they were in the past. Even when a patient opts for a mastectomy, the surgery is likely not a radical mastectomy, where the entire breast is removed, but it's usually partial, skin-sparing, simple or modified, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Some researchers say 70% of mastectomies in women with breast cancer are unnecessary, because healthy breast tissue isn't proven to significantly lower risk of recurrence. Often, breast-conserving surgery such as radiation can be done to spare the breast.

"In the vast majority of cases, having a mastectomy does not change the overall survival of cancer they've been diagnosed with," Litton said. Having a mastectomy only lowers breast cancer risk in the removed breast, but doesn't lower cancer risk in other parts of the body, the American Cancer Society says.

Everyone with breast cancer needs chemotherapy.
While treatment can include chemotherapy (which causes hair loss), it might not. A lot depends on the size of the cancer and the patient's biology, Litton said. Surgery and radiation are among other treatment options available to patients. Only lumps that are painful are cancerous.

Cancerous lumps can be painful or painless.
Any lump that persists for two weeks should be evaluated by a medical professional, Litton said.


Breast cancer is a death sentence.
The majority of those diagnosed with stage III, stage II and stage I breast cancer survive at least 5 years after diagnosis, according to data from the American Cancer Society. Metastatic or stage IV breast cancers have a 5-year survival rate of about 22%.

A good diet can prevent and treat cancer.
Litton said many diagnosed with breast cancer look for a "magic diet," but the reality is "the patient is not in control of the cancer." With that being said, a low-sugar, plant-based diet can help overall health.

Men can't get breast cancer.
While breast cancer in men is rare (less than 1% of all breast cancers), it happens. This is because men have breast tissue. Old age, high estrogen levels, radiation exposure, alcohol consumption, a strong family history of breast cancer, or genetic mutations can all increase a man's risk of breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

There's one type of breast cancer.
There are more than a dozen types of breast cancer. Common kinds are carcinomas, tumors that grow in organs and tissues. Most breast cancers are a type of carcinoma called adenocarcinoma that starts in the milk ducts or milk-producing glands. But, there are other kinds of breast cancer that start in the cells of muscle, fat or connective tissue. Visit cancer.org for more information on types and treatments of breast cancer.

Egg freezing may not delay chemo for breast cancer patients

Women diagnosed with breast cancer who want to freeze their eggs and embryos before tumor treatment leads to infertility can do this without delaying the start of chemotherapy, a U.S. study suggests.

Researchers focused on 89 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer who received counseling at a fertility clinic about a relatively new technique known as random-start ovarian stimulation. This process doesn’t wait for a woman’s natural menstrual cycle to stimulate the ovaries to release eggs and can be done in about two weeks, compared with four to six weeks with older ovarian stimulation techniques timed to coincide with menstruation.

Overall, 67 of the women proceeded with random-start ovarian stimulation before beginning cancer treatment. With fertility treatment, women started chemotherapy an average of 38 days after their breast cancer diagnosis, compared with 39 days when patients decided against fertility preservation. “What this tells us is these women can still go on to build a family,” said senior study author Dr. Mitchell Rosen, a reproductive health researcher at the University of California San Francisco. “It only takes two weeks, and it isn’t going to cause any delay in their cancer treatment,” Rosen said in a telephone interview. When chemotherapy is needed soon after a breast cancer diagnosis, doctors generally advise that it begin within four to six weeks to avoid hurting women’s survival odds. Chemotherapy can cause infertility by damaging the ovaries and by triggering an early menopause in women of childbearing age.

For the study, researchers examined data from medical records for breast cancer patients between the ages of 18 and 45 who were referred to the UCSF Center for Reproductive Health between 2011 and 2017 before starting chemotherapy. Women started chemotherapy at roughly the same time whether or not they decided to first harvest eggs and freeze eggs or embryos, researchers report in Human Reproduction. One limitation of the study is that it didn’t look at other reasons beyond fertility preservation that might influence how long it takes for women to start chemotherapy, such as tests to pinpoint the type of tumors imaging to find out how far cancer has spread or patients making arrangements to take time off of work or prepare their lives for chemo.

The study also wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove how fertility preservation directly influences the time it takes to start chemotherapy, and the results from one fertility center might not represent what all women would experience. Even so, the findings suggest that random-start ovarian stimulation may be a viable option for women with breast cancer or other types of malignancies who don’t want to lose their ability to have children after tumors are in remission, said Dr. Kutluk Oktay, director of the Innovation Institute for Fertility Preservation and IVF in New York and a researcher at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.

“With this approach, a patient can be started on ovarian stimulation even on the day of the initial consultation and can be done with embryo or egg freezing in two weeks,” Oktay, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “And if she has more time, she can even do multiple cycles of freezing without risking a delay in chemotherapy,” Oktay said. “Random start extends all women who are considering embryo or egg freezing before chemotherapy for any type of cancer more flexibility and ability to preserve fertility with the least delay before initiating ovary damaging cancer treatments.”

Why does chemotherapy cause hair loss?

Because many chemotherapy drugs are designed to effectively kill all rapidly dividing cells, hair is the unfortunate bystander that takes the fall along with the cancer cells. While some find the thought of losing their hair so distressing that they refuse chemotherapy, most people will see their locks grow back after the treatment has finished.

The level of hair loss, or chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA), depends on the type of cancer, the specific drug, and the dose and pattern of the treatment. Many patients experience the first wave of CIA within 1 to 2 weeks of starting their treatment. Areas that experience high friction during sleep, such as the top of the head and the sides above the ears, are often the first to see hair loss. Yet the precise pattern depends on the individual's hair. Those hairs that are actively growing will be most affected, but because growing hair follicles can be arranged in patches or evenly distributed all over the scalp, it is unfortunately impossible to predict the pattern of hair loss for any given individual.

Hair regrowth after chemotherapy usually starts within 1 to 3 months after the therapy has finished. Up to 60 percent of patients report a change in hair color or structure during the first wave of hair regrowth, with many experiencing curlier hair. However, these changes are mostly temporary, and hair returns to normal eventually.

Hair has important functions in culture and communication, and so CIA is consistently ranked top of the list of traumatic events for many patients that undergo chemotherapy. Some patients even consider refusing chemotherapy as a result of the impending threat of CIA. Treatments for CIA are, at best, experimental. Cooling the scalp with ice packs or special caps was first introduced in the 1970s. The theory underlying this treatment is that cooling will narrow the blood vessels leading to the hair follicles. Some studies have reported success rates of up to 50 percent with this technique, but there is clearly a need for more effective therapies.

Very little is known about how chemotherapy drugs cause CIA. Most information stems from studies using mouse models. Here, research has shown that programmed cell suicide, or apoptosis, is the most likely cause of cell death in the hair follicle, causing the hair to fall out. Researchers in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago, IL, used genome-wide association studies to compare the genetic signature of breast cancer patients who had experienced CIA with that of those who had not. They found several candidate genes that might be implicated in the loss of functional hair follicles. One of these, CACNB4, is part of a calcium channel that plays an important role in cell growth and apoptosis. Another gene, BCL9, was active in a subset of CIA patients and is known to play a role in hair follicle development. Armed with this knowledge, scientists are continuing their quest to develop effective inhibitors of chemotherapy-induced hair loss, hoping to reduce the burden that this unwanted side effect has on cancer patients.

Look Good, Feel Better!

Our world-renowned hair stylist and cosmetologist, Ricky Knowles, will be teaching women undergoing cancer treatment tips and beauty techniques to manage the effects of chemotherapy and radiation on October 14th at MD Anderson - Clear Lake and on October 16th at Memorial Hermann - The Medical Center.

The Look Good...Feel Better program is offered in partnership with the American Cancer Society and is free of charge.

Ricky will teach attendees make up enhancement techniques, educate women about wigs, hairpieces and skin care and show them how to wear head scarves and turbans.  The presentation will be hands-on with plenty of time for questions.  Each woman gets a free makeup kit to use during and after the workshop.

If you or a loved one is undergoing cancer treatment, register for the free seminar and get an opportunity to visit one-on-one with Ricky and learn his secrets to Looking Good, and Feeling Better! For more information, or to register for one of these events, call the American Cancer Society Houston Office at (713) 266-2877.

Cooling Cap Shows Promise to Prevent Hair Loss During Chemo

- as published in The National Hair & Skin Journal

A new scalp-cooling system called DigniCap has just been FDA cleared for final clinical trials and may soon become available in the U.S. to help prevent Chemo related hair loss.

Clinical trials done in Europe and Asia show that eight out of ten women who used the DigniCap System during chemotherapy retained their hair. Cooling the scalp during chemo sessions can narrow blood vessels around hair follicles and slow the uptake of the poison in the area.

With DigniCap, patients wear a special cap that fits snuggly on the head and contains sensors and channels through which a cooling fluid is pumped. The system continuously keeps a check on the temperature to ensure consistent application of the cooling treatment. DigniCap is made by Swedish company Dignitana.

A recent story about DigniCap was published by the Associated Press in the United States about the product and its results. You can read the story here.

Although DigniCap is not currently available for U.S. cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment, our team here at Ricky Knowles Hair & Wellness will assist you or a loved one during chemotherapy hair loss and create a personalized hair loss solution to help you feel confident during your treatment. For more information about how we can help, call us at 713-623-4247.

Great Tool for Cancer Patients and Caregivers

Have you or a loved one experienced a health crisis? If so, you know how difficult it is to manage your doctor's appointments, treatment and communicate with family and friends.

CaringBridge is a non-profit organization which offers free personalized websites to people facing a serious medical condition or hospitalization, undergoing medical treatment and/or recovering from a significant accident, illness, injury or procedure.

It functions similar to a blog and allows family members and friends to receive consistent information via a single website, and eliminates the need to place and receive numerous telephone calls or individual emails.

Visitors are invited to view each individual website and can read updates on a patient's condition or post their own messages of support and encouragement.

The site also offers a Support Planner which is a calendar that helps family and friends coordinate care and organize helpful tasks, like bringing a meal, offering rides to appointments or taking care of pets and other needs.

Each website is password protected to ensure a space for personal and private conversations and the service is free of charge.

As part of our goal to educate our clients in their mastectomy, hair loss or lymphedema needs, our team will help you set up convenient appointments that meet your busy schedule. That's why we are open 6 days a week, and can even arrange home or on-site visits.

To schedule an appointment, call 713-623-4247 today!

I was just diagnosed with breast cancer and am terrified about losing my hair during chemotherapy treatment! How can Ricky Knowles Hair and Wellness help me?

When a woman is diagnosed with cancer her world is rocked off its axis.  And frequently treatment involves surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, which can result in hair loss.  Often women find hair loss from chemotherapy treatment more emotionally devastating than the diagnosis of cancer itself.

At Ricky Knowles Hair and Wellness, we set ourselves apart from other traditional wig shops because we are in the hair duplication business.  We provide a supportive and discreet environment for all of our clients; hair loss, mastectomy or lymphedema clients.  Our dedicated team will help guide you through your hair loss by:

• educating you about the effects of chemotherapy and when to expect hair loss to occur
  
• verifying and billing your insurance
  
• assisting you in choosing the right cranial prosthesis for your lifestyle
  
• prepping your new hair for delivery
  
• serving as your extended support system throughout the whole process

When a client is faced chemotherapy hair loss, we ask them to immediately come in with their cranial prosthesis prescription before chemotherapy treatment begins, for a complimentary consultation.  During this consultation we will discuss all of your options to help you stay confident during your temporary hair loss.

We will then educate you about the different types of wigs (human hair wigs and synthetic hair wigs) and help you decide what hair loss solution will work best for you to give you the most realistic duplication of your natural hair.

All of our consultation rooms are private and are equipped with the best salon hair styling equipment available.  A team member will explain the process of when hair loss will begin and most importantly when your natural hair will regrow.

If you choose a human hair wig, Ricky Knowles, our internationally-renowned wig stylist will color, and hi-light the hair.  Synthetic hair wigs, cannot be colored or hi-lighted, but there are many shades and hues available.

Since we assist many women and men during their chemotherapy treatment, we've become personal cheerleaders, empowering our clients in their individual fight against cancer.

Many clients will request to have us shave or cut their hair short, so that they are in charge of their hair loss. At this point, a RNHW team member will teach you how to care for your scalp and fit you with your new hair and cut and style the new hair.  After the finishing touches are completed, we will even demonstrate scarf tying methods and show you our selection of stylish turbans and hats.

We stand by our methods and will deliver a final product that will make you feel confident in your new hair.  Since our goal is to duplicate your natural hair and style, our clients look good and feel good with Ricky Knowles Hair & Wellness by their side!

For more information about our line of natural and synthetic wigs, or to schedule a free consultation, call us at 713-623-4247.