Women who have a high risk of breast or ovarian cancer face a number of looming decisions; from whether or not to undergo prophylactic surgery, to electing increased surveillance, to taking risk-lowering medication.  Interwoven with these decisions is the implication each will have on fertility.  The next chapter in Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines delves into the topics discussed during a high-risk consultation and provides case examples to illustrate the role of effective communication of fertility preservation options.

More than 72,000 adolescents and young adults (AYA) between 15 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the U.S. While survival rates for pediatric and older cancer patients have increased over the past two decades, AYA survival rates have seen little or no improvement. Fortunately, clinical care can help to improve these rates. The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern was just designated a Center of Excellence, indicating its superior care for AYA oncology patients .

The next time you see your primary care doctor, he or she will have access to updated guidelines and a new electronic tool that can better predict your chances of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke.

The guidelines — released today from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association — were developed by a work group co-chaired by Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, M.D., senior associate dean, chair and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Today, the Women’s Health Protection Act was introduced in both the U.S Senate and the House of Representatives. It is the first federal legislative response to the flood of state laws designed to restrict women’s access to reproductive health services.

The Women’s Health Protection Act would help ensure that women can make personal health care decisions unhindered by callous, unnecessary regulations designed to make it harder to access abortion care, birth control and other reproductive health services.