Single mother pays for effective cancer treatment in Sweden – rejected in Denmark
Danish Lena Rosenkilde had run out of good treatment options for breast cancer when she chose to pay for treatment herself in Sweden. The treatment worked, the cancer is in remission, but the medicines committee in the Capital Region of Denmark still rejects that she can receive the treatment at home, as it is under assessment.
Norway has approved treatment for HER2-low
From 1 November, all Norwegian women with HER2-low breast cancer can be treated with the breast cancer medicine Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan, T-DXd) at public hospitals in Norway.
Understand the background: That's why everyone is talking about HER2-low
The treatment with Enhertu in particular has made it relevant to distinguish between HER2-negative disease and HER2-low disease. Some of the very effective treatments, which have previously only been used for HER2-positive breast cancer patients, have been shown to be beneficial for HER2-low patients as well.
Swedish report: Lack of knowledge about mammography means non-attendance at screening
Every fourth woman in the Nordic countries misses a mammogram, on a European level it is every third. This appears from the Bröstcancerraporten 2023, from the Swedish Bröstcancerförbundet.
Patient Advocacy pays off: Drug approved in Norway after several rejections
In June 2023, there was not a dry eye in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Association. After two rejections, the drug Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) was finally approved for the treatment of women with incurable triple negative breast cancer.
The cancer was overlooked for four years and then the breasts were removed
Birgit Arentoft has had both her breasts removed because the mammogram did not show the lump in one breast. She is among the five percent of all screened women who have very dense breast tissue, and where the risk of breast cancer is more than double that of women who do not have dense breast tissue. Today, Birgit fights for differentiated breast screening, so that others do not end up like her.
Differentiated breast screening may be on the way
Five percent of all screened women have very dense breast tissue, and there is good reason to be aware of this. Because they have 2.5 times the risk of developing breast cancer, but the dense tissue means that mammography only detects about half of the cancer cases.
Artificial intelligence gives hope to women with dense breast tissue
The traditional mammography screening cannot always find the cancer, therefore the Breast Cancer Association suggests a differentiated screening for women with dense breast tissue. Artificial intelligence will hopefully improve the chances of finding breast cancer earlier, says cancer researcher Elsebeth Lynge.
More Articles …
- How artificial intelligence works in breast cancer screening
- Finland: Changing the screening age goes through women's political networks
- Breast cancer association: Danish women die earlier because they do not get access to new medicines
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