Advanced breast cancerAdvanced breast cancer support
Life is different with advanced breast cancer. We hope these resources provide information and support to help you stay committed to your physical and emotional well-being during your treatment and beyond.
This list of breast cancer support resources is provided merely as a convenience. AstraZeneca takes no responsibility for the content of, or services provided by, these resources and makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any information provided.
Online breast cancer support and community
www.lbbc.org
Supports the mission of empowering women with breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life. Provides news and message boards for women in all stages of breast cancer, including those living with metastatic disease.
www.breastcancer.org
A clearinghouse of breast cancer education information on a spectrum of topics. Support resources include chat rooms, discussion boards, and online conferences.
www.bcmets.org
The largest online community of people living with advanced breast cancer, their families, and their friends. Enter search criteria for information and patient mailing list submissions.
www.bcsupport.org
Click on "Recurrence" for the HER2/Recurrence Board of Survivors — a message board for advanced breast cancer survivors.
www.breastcancerstories.com
An online community in which breast cancer patients can write and upload diary entries and photos whenever they feel the need to write. Friends and family members have the ability to follow the day-by-day, week-by-week stories of what their loved ones are going through.
www.cbhp.org
The Community Breast Health Project provides information and support to women living with breast cancer. Features news articles with both medical and practical information. Online newsletter offers information about treatment, clinical trials, and symposium highlights.
ww5.komen.org
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation provides useful breast cancer information, the latest research news, and message boards to help support breast cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers. You can also learn how to get involved with events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®.
www.thewellnesscommunity.org
Offers support and networking groups, lectures, workshops, and social events.
Breast cancer books and publications
- Advanced Breast Cancer: A Guide to Living with Metastatic Disease
By Musa Mayer. 2nd edition. O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1998.
Offers practical advice and emotional support to women and families dealing with the realities of metastatic breast cancer. It shares personal experiences of others living with the disease and how they have managed to cope day to day.
- Art.Rage.Us.: Art and Writing by Women with Breast Cancer
By Jill Eikenberry and Terry Tempest. Chronicle Books, 1998.
Inspiring artwork and writing by breast cancer survivors, and outgrowth of an exhibit at the San Francisco Main Library Gallery sponsored by the Breast Cancer Fund, the American Cancer Society (San Francisco Bay Area), and the San Francisco chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
- Betty Crocker's Living with Cancer Cookbook: Easy Recipes and Tips Through Treatment and Beyond
Betty Crocker, 2001.
Provides advice from cancer patients, from tips for coping with emotions to making recipes more appealing. Recipes are tagged to show which are helpful for common side effects of cancer treatment, and there are also special diet menus to help stimulate the appetite and mask unpleasant tastes from radiation and chemotherapy.
- The Breast Cancer Book of Strength & Courage: Inspiring Stories to See You Through Your Journey
By Ernie Bodai, MD, and Judie Fertig Panneton. 1st edition. Prima Lifestyles, 2002.
Uplifting stories of women who faced mastectomies, radiation, and chemotherapy with courage, humor, and grace. Testimonials offer support and common ground for women facing their own battles with cancer.
- The Cancer Monologue Project
By Tanya Taylor and Pamela Thompson. MacAdam/Cage Publishing, 2002.
In a series of workshops, people affected by cancer were invited to write and perform their stories about living, resulting in these 30 engaging monologues.
- Holding Tight, Letting Go: Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer
By Musa Mayer. 1st edition. Patient Center Guides, 1997.
A personalized and highly informed guide to life with metastatic breast cancer.
- Here for Now: Living Well with Cancer Through Mindfulness
By Elana Rosenbaum. Satya House Publications, 2005.
Provides mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques for those living with cancer.
- Live Longer, Live Larger: A Holistic Approach for Cancer Patients and Their Families
By Susan W. Buchholz, PhD, and William M. Buchholz, MD. 1st edition. Patient Center Guides, 2001.
A handbook for thriving with cancer, it contains stories and exercises to help conquer fear, find the right treatment, and increase the quality and meaning of life.
Audio CDs
- A Healing Meditation for Cancer Patients and Their Loved Ones
Elana Rosenbaum, 2002.
A gentle introduction to mindfulness and being well in the midst of difficulty.
- Tai Chi: Inspiration and Meditation
Various Artists, 2004.
Traditional music to support tai chi meditation.
Important Information About ARIMIDEX
ARIMIDEX is approved for adjuvant treatment (treatment following surgery with or without radiation) of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer.
ARIMIDEX is approved for the initial treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive or hormone receptor-unknown locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer and for the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer that has progressed following treatment with tamoxifen. Patients with hormone receptor-negative disease and patients who did not previously respond to tamoxifen therapy rarely responded to ARIMIDEX.
Important Safety Information About ARIMIDEX
- Prescription ARIMIDEX is only for postmenopausal women. ARIMIDEX should not be taken if you are pregnant because it may harm your unborn child
- Based on information from a study in patients with early breast cancer, women with a history of blockages in heart arteries (ischemic heart disease) who take ARIMIDEX may have a slight increase in this type of heart disease compared to similar patients who take tamoxifen
- ARIMIDEX can cause bone softening/weakening (osteoporosis) increasing the chance of fractures. In a clinical study in early breast cancer, there were more fractures (including fractures of the spine, hip, and wrist) with ARIMIDEX (10%) than with tamoxifen (7%)
- In a clinical study in early breast cancer, some patients taking ARIMIDEX had an increase in cholesterol. Skin reactions, allergic reactions, and changes in blood tests of liver function have also been reported
- In the early breast cancer clinical trial, the most common side effects seen with ARIMIDEX include hot flashes, joint symptoms (including arthritis and arthralgia), weakness, mood changes, pain, back pain, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, rash, depression, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, fractures, swelling of arms/legs, insomnia, and headache
- In advanced breast cancer trials, the most common side effects seen with ARIMIDEX versus tamoxifen include hot flashes, nausea, decreased energy and weakness, pain, back pain, headache, bone pain, increased cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, and swelling of arms and legs. Joint pain/stiffness has been reported in association with the use of ARIMIDEX
- ARIMIDEX should not be taken with tamoxifen or estrogen-containing therapies
Please click here for full Prescribing Information.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088).