better than milk!

there is a drug that is used to reduce the effects of cancer treatment by helping to slow or arrest bone loss. the drug, called zometa, has recently been found to have additional benefits for women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, and who are premenopausal. this is precisely jane's situation, so it's very interesting and exciting news - when she goes for her next oncological follow up in a couple of weeks, she will ask her physician about the applicability of this to her own setup.

the previously unknown benefit of taking this drug is it's ability to lower the risk of recurrence in this group of cancer patients by 35% - a huge and welcome margin. the study that unveiled this connection indicates that women who are on tamoxifen (which is what jane takes daily - it is a hormone suppression drug) can potentially reap this added boost when it is taken in combination with their current daily regimen. although the control group does not include women who have had chemotherapy also, as jane has had, it seems as if the other factors do indeed match where she's at.

it really is fantastic how research, and sometimes pure serendipity, yield such good news. packed together with another benefit - staving off bone loss, with no known side effects - the addition of zometa to cancer treatment means that there are increased chances for a healthy, long life - bravo!