TUESDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Racial and ethnic variations in how women perceive their cancer risk may influence how likely they are to get screened for cancer, particularly colon cancer, says a University of California, San Francisco study.

The researchers interviewed 1,160 women, ages 50 to 80, about breast, cervical and colon cancer. The women's perceived personal risk for each type of cancer was measured on a word scale ("no risk" to "very high risk") and compared with self-reported cancer screening behavior.

There were 338 white women (29 percent), 167 black women (14 percent), 239 Hispanic women (21 percent) and 416 Asian women (36 percent) in the study. The researchers found that perceived risk for each cancer varied by ethnicity.

Asian women had the lowest perceived risk for breast, cervical and colon cancers and Hispanic women had the highest perceived risk.

"This perceived risk was associated with obtaining self-reported cancer screening tests after other factors were accounted for," the study authors wrote.

Almost half the women (572) reported either a personal or family history of cancer, and this type of history was associated with higher perceived risk for breast and colon cancer. Compared to those with no history of cancer, women with a family history of the disease were almost twice as likely to have had a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer.

"Evaluation of perceived risk of cancer may be useful to clinicians who are recommending screening tests and incorporating an intervention to help diverse populations understand risk and interpret medical data," the researchers concluded.

The study was published in the April 14 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

According to background information in the study, a woman's risk of developing and dying from cancer varies by race and ethnicity. For example, black women are most likely to develop colon cancer and to die from breast or cervical cancer, while Hispanic women are at increased risk to develop and die from cervical cancer but less likely to develop breast or colon cancer.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about women and cancer.

MONDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Testosterone spray slightly improved sexual satisfaction in premenopausal women, but a placebo had the same effect, a new study reports.

Researchers look at 261 women, aged 35 to 46, who were treated at six medical centers in Australia. The women, with self-reported low libido and low serum-free testosterone levels, were randomly assigned to receive one of three different doses of a testosterone spray or a placebo daily for 16 weeks.

At the end of that time, all the women reported increased frequency of sexually satisfying events. The difference between the testosterone spray and the placebo was statistically significant only for women who received the middle dose of testosterone.

The researchers found that 81 percent to 86 percent of women in the testosterone groups and 70 percent of the women in the placebo group reported adverse side effects. The most common was hair growth on the abdomen, where the testosterone was sprayed.

The study was published in the April 15 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Rosemary Bassone, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, wrote that women's testosterone levels and libidos may decline as they age, but that doesn't mean the lack of testosterone is linked with sexual dissatisfaction.

"We do not have a fully satisfactory rationale for testosterone therapy," and there is a "lack of long-term safety data," Bassone wrote.

Instead of prescribing testosterone for women with sexual dissatisfaction, doctors should examine health and relationship issues, sexual dysfunction in the partner, and treat problems using conventional methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy, sex therapy and psychotherapy, Bassone recommended.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physician has more about female sexual dysfunction  .

FRIDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- A lack of patient-doctor discussion may contribute to socioeconomic, age and race-related disparities in the use of breast reconstruction after mastectomy, says a study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

The study also found that breast reconstruction was more likely to occur after a surgeon discussed options with a patient, which suggests the need to increase and improve these conversations, the researchers said.

They analyzed data on 626 patients who underwent mastectomy for breast cancer. Of those patients, 253 (40.4 percent) received breast reconstruction, and 249 (39.8 percent) had a documented discussion about the option with a doctor.

About 70 percent of those who had a discussion about breast reconstruction had the procedure. But the researchers found that increasing age and lower levels of education were associated with lower rates of a documented discussion. Hispanic patients, those born outside of the United States, and those whose primary language wasn't English were less likely to undergo reconstruction after discussing it with a doctor.

The study was published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

The decision to have breast reconstruction is a complex one that's influenced by access to care, patient preference and a doctor's interaction with the patient, the researchers noted.

"Patient preferences should be respected, but an informative discussion of reconstruction is required to help patients understand and weigh the risks and benefits of this procedure," Dr. Caprice C. Greenberg, Instructor of Surgery in the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and the Center for Outcomes and Policy Research at Dana Farber, said in a prepared statement. "We learned that physicians need to improve communications with all women undergoing a mastectomy, regardless of age, race or socioeconomic status."

She and her colleagues said doctors should systematically address the issue of breast reconstruction with all patients undergoing mastectomy. Doctor-patient discussions could include interpreters and educational materials to ensure an informative discussion regardless of a patient's primary language, ethnicity or education level.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about breast reconstruction after mastectomy  .

MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Babies born to women who use cocaine, alcohol or tobacco during pregnancy may have brain structure changes that persist into early adolescence, a new U.S. study says.

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Boston Medical Center used MRI scans to study the brains of 35 children, average age 12, who were exposed to the substances while in the womb.

"We found that reductions in cortical gray matter and total brain volumes were associated with prenatal exposure to cocaine, alcohol or cigarettes," study first author Dr. Michael Rivkin, a neurologist at Children's Hospital Boston, said in a prepared statement.

The more substances a child was exposed to, the greater the reduction in brain volume.

The study, published in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, is the first to document joint long-term effects of prenatal cocaine, alcohol and tobacco exposure on brain structure, Rivkin said.

Previous studies that documented brain effects of prenatal alcohol exposure were mostly limited to children with fetal alcohol syndrome. Children with that condition were excluded from this new study.

Rivkin noted that his study was too small to find statistically significant effects of single substances after factoring in exposure to other substances, and was also too small to document the effects of different levels of prenatal exposure.

However, Rivkin said the overall findings are highly suggestive, and he and his colleagues would like to continue their research into this important public health matter. It's estimated that more than one million babies born each year in the United States have been exposed to at least one of these substance while in the womb.

Health-care providers should offer pregnant women comprehensive care to help them reduce the use of all harmful substances. And public health campaigns shouldn't ignore the risks of some substances while focusing on others, since the greater the number of total prenatal exposures, the more likely there will be harmful and lasting effects on a baby's developing brain, the study authors said.

More information

The American Pregnancy Association has more about pregnancy wellness  .