London, Feb 7 - Girls born to mothers over 39 years and women who were taller and thinner than the average girl prior to puberty faced higher chances of developing breast cancer.

These findings were based on an analysis of a sample of 3,574 women aged between 45 and 68 years, assisted by the screening programmes of seven of Spain's autonomous communities.

New Delhi, Feb 3 - In India, almost 80 percent of breast cancer patients are in an advanced stage when they come to a hospital, say doctors. Among the prime factors fuelling the disease in the country, especially among urban women, are fast-paced lives and delayed reproductive activity, they add.

Melbourne, Jan 27 : An Australian company is developing a hair test to screen for breast cancer, and it says that the test could become a viable alternative to mammography.

SBC Research is conducting an 80-patient trial to test its hypothesis that women with breast cancer have higher levels of phospholipids in their bloodstream that can be detected in their hair.

London, Jan 24 : A mother of two has credited her kitten for saving her life - by detecting she had breast cancer.

Wendy Humphreys said that she became confused after the pet persistently leapt up and sat on her right breast while she lay watching television.

London, Jan 13 - A chemical used as a preservative in cosmetics like deodorants as well as in food products and pharmaceuticals has been found in samples from 40 women with breast cancer.

Parabens are a chemical compound found in everyday toiletry products including moisturisers, make-up, shaving foam, tanning lotions and toothpaste.

Washington, Jan 4 : A vital change in body's cellular defense system, which is usually involved in fighting bacterial and viral infection, triggers breast cancer spread to other parts of the body, a new study led by Indian origin author has revealed.

London, Nov 26 : Drug extracted from one of Britain’s most popular flowers ‘Foxgloves’ could soon be used as treatment to stop spread of breast cancer, a new study has suggested.

Scientists in the U. S. have revealed that digoxin, a long-established drug based on chemicals found in foxglove, can block the production of a protein called HIF-1, which has been held responsible for the spread of breast cancer.

London, Nov 21 : An Indian born scientist and his team has discovered two cancer-spurring gene rearrangements that may trigger 5 to 7 percent of all breast cancers.

London, Oct 24 : Researchers have now come up with a new method to detect which breast cancer will spread and to what extent, which may lead to new ways to test drugs that may stop its spread.

London, Oct 21 : According to a study, a new breast cancer drug that lowers oestrogen levels is far more effective than the most popular current therapy. US researchers compared letrozole with tamoxifen, using each on its own, reported the Daily Express.

Washington, Oct 21 : A new study has found that post-menopausal women with high levels of hormones such as estrogen or testosterone have a higher risk of breast cancer.

The study looked at eight different sex and growth hormones and found that the risk of breast cancer increased with the number of elevated hormones - each additional elevated hormone level increased risk by 16percent.

London, Oct 20 : A simple and cheap blood test that can predict which women with the most common type of breast cancer are at risk of the disease returning.

The test, developed by scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research and Queen Mary, University of London, has helped identify which of the 37,000 women diagnosed with ER positive breast cancer each year are at risk of the disease returning.

Washington, Oct 10 - An osteoporosis drug counteracts the bone damaging side-effects of some breast cancer medications.

The study indicates that some breast cancer patients could take zoledronic acid in addition to their anti-cancer medications to maintain bone health.

Washington, Oct 3 : A new research, led by an Indian-origin scientist, has claimed that genetically altering breast cancer cells to forcibly activate a heat-shock protein could break the resistance of the cells to drug treatment.

Washington, Sept 26 : A Swedish study has found that breast cancer tumours change their hormonal status throughout the course of disease.

The finding is worrying as the decision about the most effective treatment for the patient is usually based only on one biopsy of the primary tumour.

Washington, Sept 22 : A new study has suggested that some novel drugs that are being developed as remedies to other cancers will also be able in future to stop breast cancer from coming back.

Though hormone therapies, such as tamoxifen, that target a protein responsible for tumour growth, have dramatically improved the treatment of breast cancer, the therapies do not work in all patients.

Washington, Sept 8: A study, led by an Indian-origin scientist, has found that flaxseed does not provide any relief from hot flashes among breast cancer patients and postmenopausal women.

The randomised, placebo-controlled Mayo Clinic and North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) study was conducted on 188 women between October and December 2009.

London, Aug 28 : Israeli scientists have developed a scanner that can detect breast cancer more effectively than traditional X-ray mammograms without using radiation.

The new device finds tumours in the breast by using infrared beams and thermal energy.

London, July 18: Experts have earlier warned that alcohol consumption increases the risk of contracting breast cancer. Now for the first time, a new study has shown that it also raises the risk of a woman dying from it once she has.

London, July 15: A US study has found a gene that is responsible for 70 percent of hard-to-treat breast cancers, which are resistant to hormone therapies.

The study used a new technique, which tested hundreds of genes at once, rather than one at a time.

Hormones can force tumour growth, so drugs that interfere with that process, such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors, are used as treatments.

Washington, July 14 : A new study has suggested that the widely known PSA blood test for prostate cancer in men may get a second life as a much-needed new test for breast cancer in women.

According to Chien Chou and colleagues, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measured in the test is a potential biomarker of breast cancer in women.

Washington, July 9 : A new study has shown that a combination of the targeted therapies, which play different roles in breast cancer, can offer a personalized therapy approach to treat women with advanced stages of the disease.

Washington, June 25: A new study has revealed a breast cancer risk model related to lifestyle changes, that could lead to a reduction in the risk of developing the lethal disease.

The new model estimates the impact of losing weight, drinking less or exercising more on absolute breast cancer risk.

London, June 23 : Exemestane, a drug already used to treat breast cancer, can reduce the risk of tumors by 65 percent among post-menopausal women prone to develop breast cancer.

This conclusion has been drawn by a three-year study in 4560 women in the US and Europe.

Importantly, there were no reports of lethal side effects like those caused by breast cancer drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene.

London, June 18 : Researchers have found that a drug developed 40 years ago, which is used to treat high blood pressure, and costing less than 5p a day, could cut the risk of women dying from breast cancer.

The latest study at Trinity College, Dublin, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in the U. S., found the beta blocker propranolol cut the chances of dying by up to 81 per cent.