Month: October 2013

Women pregnant with twins may not need to have a cesarean section, a new study suggests. Many can have a safe vaginal delivery, the study found. The study included nearly 2,800 women who were scheduled to deliver full-term twins. The babies were at a healthy weight, and the first twin was in the usual head-down position. Women were randomly assigned to have either a planned C-section or a planned vaginal delivery. But doctors could make a different decision based on their judgment at the time of delivery. About 91% of women in the planned-cesarean group had C-sections. About 56% of those in the other group did have vaginal deliveries. The others had C-sections or a combination delivery. Researchers kept track of mothers and babies for a month after the births. Problem rates were similar for both groups.

Results of a new, longer-term study confirm that women should not take hormone replacement therapy to reduce any disease risk after menopause. But short-term treatment for menopause symptoms seems to be safe. The new results are consistent with advice doctors have been giving for about a decade. The new study is a follow-up to the Women’s Health Initiative. That study changed medical practice when it was published in 2002. The study was stopped early when it found that women who were randomly assigned to take estrogen and progestin had higher risks of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots. They were compared with women taking placebo (fake) pills. A study of women taking estrogen alone found a slightly higher risk of blood clots and stroke. The new study looked at the women’s health after 13 years.

Women with one type of breast cancer now will be able to get drug treatment before surgery. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved uses for the drug Perjeta (pertuzumab). It now is approved for early-stage as well as advanced HER2-positve breast cancers. HER2 receptors are proteins found on the surface of most breast cancers. They provide docking stations for a hormone that can increase breast cancer growth. Cancers with an excess number of HER2 receptors are called HER2-positive. Pertuzumab blocks the receptors so the hormone can’t attach to the cells and spur them to grow. The drug already was approved for treatment of HER2-positive cancers that had spread. Now women with early-stage cancers can receive it as their first treatment. This is the first breast-cancer drug approved for use before surgery.