|
|
|
| 30 Sep 2005 12:34:45 pm |
 Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis diagnosed with breast cancer |
|
|
It is sad to note that even educated and well informed people like congresswomen are missing their mammograms.
Fifty five year old Republican congresswoman has recently announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She represents Fredericksburg and surrounding localities in Virginia.
Davis said there was no history of any kind of cancer in her family, and she had not been getting regular mammograms.
"I'm healthy as a horse," Davis said. "I never get sick. I didn't go, and that was a mistake. "We're all so busy, and I stay so busy, I put myself on a back burner instead of the front. I encourage every woman to get checkups and take care of themselves. I'm thankful mine has been caught, and optimistic that I will be fine."
"I am convinced I will bounce back and get through this," Davis said "I'm going through something so many women go through. I think it might even make me a better member of Congress."
Davis said she rarely gets ill, and this will be an opportunity for her to gain first-hand insight into the nation's health-care system.
Davis said she discovered a lump in her left breast and had a mammogram last week. The mammogram was followed by an ultrasound examination, a breast MRI and biopsy.
Doctors at the George Washington University Medical Center are recommending chemotherapy, likely followed by surgery and possibly radiation, she said.
We are all busy with our life, but no one is busy enough to miss her mammogram, especially on the eve of the breast cancer awareness month.
More pictures |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin |  Comments[38] |  Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 29 Sep 2005 12:42:43 pm |
| Smoking Increases Risk of Breast Cancer |
|
|
Keep your cigarette pack aside. It would not only increase the risk for lung cancer, but also may increase the risk for breast cancer as well. If you use hormone replacement therapy (HRT), be aware that combination HRT with smoking may actually double your risk of developing breast cancer.
Older women who have smoked for 11 or more "pack years" face a 30 percent to 40 percent increased risk of developing breast cancer as compared to women who've never smoked, according to new findings from Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
" Pack years" is a term usually used to quantify the amount of smoking. One pack year is the amount of exposure you would get from smoking one pack of cigarette for one year. You may get the same one pack year by smoking 2 packs a day for six months or 4 packs a day for three months. So 11 pack years basically means the exposure to smoking obtained by smoking one pack a day for 11 years or 2 packs a day for 5.5 years or any other combination.
The researchers also found that if a long-term smoker also uses combination hormone replacement therapy their risk of developing breast cancer goes up by 110 percent.
"We found a 30 to 40 percent increased risk of breast cancer among women who were current or long-term smokers, women who started smoking at a younger age and also women who started smoking before their first full-term birth," Li said. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[64] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 28 Sep 2005 04:18:23 am |
| Confused About Breast Cancer? |
|
|
October is the breast cancer awareness month and at this time it is important for all of us to realize that women are not well informed about breast cancer. Women may have lot of misunderstanding and faulty believes when it comes to breast cancer. A recent Australian survey sheds light into the fact that there is lot work for all of us who are engaged in making awareness of breast cancer a major goal in life.
The Australian survey showed that, one in three Australian women mistakenly believe drinking alcohol poses no risk for developing breast cancer. Almost a quarter of those surveyed believed wrongly that being overweight posed no risk for developing the cancer and only half knew a woman's risk increased as she aged.
The research was conducted by Helen Zorbas from the National Breast Cancer Centre surveyed 3000 women aged 30 to 69 for the purpose of studying about breast cancer awareness.
"What is concerning is that, there are some basic facts that we probably all presumed that women do know and in fact, an alarming number don't know some of this information," Dr Zorbas said in an interview. "It's potentially putting lives at risk."
Dr. Zorbas emphasizes that women should know about the early symptoms of breast cancer. The most commonly detected symptom of breast cancer is a lump in the breast. Other symptoms can include nipple discharge, changes in the size or shape of the breast or nipple, changes in the skin of the breast such as puckering, redness or dimpling and unusual pains that fail to go away. I have found a website that is especially informative in this regard and this is located below:
Breast cancer symptoms |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[34] | Trackbacks [3] |
|
|
| 27 Sep 2005 11:43:35 pm |
| Important Information On Arimidex (Anastrazole) |
|
|
Arimidex is used for the adjuvant treatment of post-menopausal women with early stage hormone receptor positive breast cancer. This drug is FDA approved for this indication. The FDA approval is based on data from a clinical trial, which showed improved disease free survival in patients with early stage breast cancer who were treated with armidex for 31 months. Note that there is no evidence for improvement in survival associated with the use of arimidex in comparison to tamoxifen.
Important considerations:
- Arimidex is not indicated for pre-menopausal women
- Since arimidex may cause fetal damage, this drug should not be taken by women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant
- Arimidex may accelerate loss of bone mineral density leading to increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures
- Tamoxifen should not be taken with arimidex as it may diminish the efficiency of arimidex
- Most common side effects to arimidex include, hot flashes, joint pains, fatigue, mood disturbances, pain, nausea, vomiting, pharyngitis, and depression
|
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[41] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 26 Sep 2005 12:48:46 pm |
| Breast Cancer Risk Higher In Left-handed Women |
|
|
Are you a premneopausal woman who is left-handed? If the answer is "yes" then let me tell you not to miss your next mammogram appointment. As per research findings from University Medical Center in Utrecht in the Netherlands left-handed women are more than twice as likely as right-handers to suffer from breast cancer before reaching menopause. Their findings are published in the recent issue of British Medical Journal.
The researchers speculate that there is a shared origin early in life for both left-handedness and developing breast cancer, possibly exposure to hormones in the womb.
The research leader Cuno Uiterwaal and his colleagues studied 12,000 healthy, middle-aged women who were part of a breast-screening program. They found that the risk of breast cancer is increased by 40 percent if both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women are taken into consideration. On the other hand if only the pre-menopausal women are considered the increased risk was actually doubled.
About 8 percent to 9 percent of women are left-handed. But the scientists said the findings should not alarm them.
"Although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, our results support the hypothesis that left handedness is related to increased risk of breast cancer," the researchers added. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[45] | Trackbacks [1] |
|
|
| 25 Sep 2005 01:16:16 pm |
| Breast Reduction Surgery May Reveal Pre-malignant Lesions |
|
|
Breast reduction surgery may reveal unexpected findings that may increase women's risk of breast cancer. It is estimated that up to twelve percent of breast reduction patients may have abnormal pathologies that would indicate a higher risk of breast cancer development in future. These findings are from a study that was present at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in Chicago. In addition, the authors found that, it is cost effective to screen breast reduction specimens from patients of all ages, not just those over 40, the age when routine screening mammography is recommended.
Plastic surgeons who perform breast reductions routinely have the removed tissue tested for abnormalities. While the screening of each patient may detect breast cancer early, it also escalates the overall cost.
In this study, 12 percent of the 300 patients tested, ranging from 14 to 73 years old, had abnormal pathology reports indicating either a pre-malignant lesion or a lesion that puts the patient at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Of those with an abnormal outcome, 28 percent were deemed moderate or high risk, placing them at a significantly higher threat than the general population for developing breast cancer. Two of the 10 high-risk patients were less than 40 years old. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[12] | Trackbacks [3] |
|
|
| 23 Sep 2005 11:56:14 am |
| Melissa Etheridge Partners With Ford to Fight Breast Cancer |
|
|
The Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge has partnered with Ford to fight against breast cancer. She is releasing a new single through a Ford website to help raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness.
Melissa Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She wrote "I Run For Life" about her battle with the disease and continuing support of women who are afflicted.
For years, Melissa Etheridge has inspired and empowered with her musical sensibility and strong persona. Now she is using her talents to educate and support women in the fight against breast cancer, a disease she has struggled with for the past year. With the support of Ford Motor Company, Etheridge will release a new song to raise funds to support breast cancer charities.
The single, titled "I Run For Life," will be available for 99 cents through iTunes on http://www.fordcares.com/ The download price will be donated to breast cancer research and awareness. "I Run For Life" chronicles Etheridge's struggle with the disease and her courageous fight towards recovery. The song's title is a reference to the Komen Race for the Cure, a worldwide race series attended by more than 1 million breast cancer survivors and supporters to help raise funds for breast cancer awareness and research.
"When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, it was a devastating blow to me and my family, but I knew I had to fight," said Etheridge. "Ford approached me to help with their breast cancer awareness efforts, and I was ecstatic to lend my music as a weapon to fight the disease. Writing songs was part of my therapy, and I hope women everywhere will be inspired by the music and lyrics." |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[66] | Trackbacks [3] |
|
|
| 22 Sep 2005 12:11:27 pm |
| Breast Cancer Cases Level Off and Deaths Drop |
|
|
Finally we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer is not increasing any further in the United States. This number has been increasing steadily for the last 25 years and it has nearly leveled off. Another good news is that, the number of women dying of breast cancer was declining over the last several years and it continue to decline. These findings are from the latest breast cancer figures released by the American Cancer Society.
The steady decrease in breast cancer death rates since 1990 indicates that we are making progress in terms of early detection and timely treatment of breast cancer.
American Cancer Society estimates that a total of 211,240 cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed this year and another 58,490 women will develop non-invasive, or in situ, cancers. About 40,000 women are expected to die from breast cancer this year. Mortality rate is declining by more than 2 percent a year, or more than 25 percent since 1990. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[51] | Trackbacks [2] |
|
|
| 21 Sep 2005 12:09:58 pm |
| Strong Family History Doesn't Increase Ovarian Cancer Risk |
|
|
You may be having a strong family history of breast cancer, but that doesn"t mean that you have an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Women who have BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations have an increased risk of both breast cancer and ovarian cancer, but not women with strong family history of breast cancer, who do not possess BRCA mutations.
BRCA mutations are associated with increased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer and these women may have up to 45 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer in her lifetime. By comparison only about 1.8 percent of women without an inherited BRCA abnormality get ovarian cancer.
It's known that up to 50 percent of families with a strong history of breast cancer don't have mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2.
In the latest study, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City studied 199 families that experienced multiple cases of breast cancer, but whose members were not identified as BRCA mutation carriers. Their findings are reported in the recent issue of Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the researchers concluded that the women in the study group weren't at any increased risk of ovarian cancer compared to women without a family history of breast cancer. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[38] | Trackbacks [1] |
|
|
| 20 Sep 2005 02:36:19 am |
| New Molecular Pathways for Recurrent Breast Cancer |
|
|
Researchers at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia have discovered a genetic pathway that is involved in the recurrence of breast cancer and identifies a potential target for development of new anticancer therapeutics. In a study published in the September issue of Cancer the researchers have provided insight into the molecular and cellular events that lead not only to tumor development, but also to recurrence of the disease. A mouse model of breast cancer was used for the study and the findings are particularly significant as they are substantiated in human breast cancer samples.
The researchers show that recurrent mammary tumors in the mouse model display characteristics of a cellular transition that was previously linked with breast cancer and also exhibit increased levels of the transcriptional repressor called Snail. Snail was sufficient to induce this cellular transition in primary breast cancer cells and to promote mammary tumor recurrence in mice. Further, genetic screening of human breast cancer samples revealed that high levels of Snail expression strongly predicted decreased relapse-free survival in women with breast cancer.
This study suggests that Snail may play a role in the progression of human breast cancers. "While it is not possible to confirm a causal role for Snail in human breast cancer recurrence until drugs are available to inhibit this pathway, we believe that treatment of patients with pharmacologic agents that block Snail expression or function may be a promising approach to preventing breast cancer relapse. Snail may thereby represent an important target for a new generation of cancer therapeutics directed against specific molecules involved in breast cancer recurrence," explains Dr. Chodosh. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[45] | Trackbacks [2] |
|
|
| 18 Sep 2005 12:11:38 pm |
| Digital mammogram better for screening some women |
|
|
Digital mammography is the technique of doing mammography using the digital technology. Compared to conventional film mammography, digital mammography has an added advantage that the physician can zoom in suspicious areas of the picture. A new landmark breast cancer screening trial shows that digital mammography detected more cancers - up to 28 percent more - than screen film mammography in women 50 and younger, premenopausal and perimenopausal women, and women with dense breasts.
However, there is disagreement with these finding. A previous trial, conducted by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network showed no difference between digital and film mammography in detecting breast cancer for the general population of women. The results are reported in the recent issue of New England Journal of Medicine.
A total of 49,528 women enrolled at 33 clinical sites were included in this analysis and is one of the largest breast cancer screening studies ever performed. Even though a previous study showed no advantage for digital mammogram over conventional film mammogram, the current study demonstrated that in a subgroup of women digital mammogram performs better. Because of its size and rigor, the study provides some of the best data gathered on the diagnostic accuracy of mammograms. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[36] | Trackbacks [9] |
|
|
| 16 Sep 2005 12:27:40 pm |
| Researchers Cure Breast Tumors in Mice Using Vaccine |
|
|
(Credit for the photograph: Paul Neeson, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.)
Researchers from Pennsylvania School of Medicine were able to cure breast tumors in mice using an experimental cancer vaccine. Using a cancer vaccine based on the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, they were able to eradicate completely, breast tumors that were present in mice. This vaccine works by boosting an immune response against tumor-associated antigens. In this exciting research led by Yvonne Paterson, PhD, delivered the tumor-associated antigen HER-2/Neu to immune cells. HER-2/Neu is over-expressed in about 20 to 30 percent of all breast cancers. These cells eventually enlist killer T cells to seek out and destroy the tumor cells that display the HER-2/Neu molecule.
"We found that we can stop the tumor from growing out to 100 days, at which time we stopped measuring since this is a long time for experiments of this type," says Paterson. "The tumors stopped growing or went completely away." Researchers have published their findings in the latest issue of The Journal of Immunology.
"The problem that we encounter is that often by the time a patient presents with cancer, they've developed immune tolerance to the tumor antigen, particularly when the antigen is expressed at low levels on normal tissue as with Her2/Neu," explains Paterson. "So how is the body to mount a strong enough immune reaction?"
In general, bacteria are good at inducing both innate and adaptive immune responses, activating such immune cells as macrophages, dendritic cells, and T cells. This helps jump-start the immune response to break tolerance. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[50] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 15 Sep 2005 12:07:48 pm |
| Does breast cancer surgery activate sleeping cancer cells? |
|
|
The theory of angiogenesis originated from Judah Folkman, who in 1971 proposed that, once a nest of cancer cells reaches a certain size (1-2 mm in diameter), it must develop its own blood supply in order to grow larger. Diffusion is no longer adequate to supply the cells with oxygen and nutrients and to take away wastes.
A recent analysis of breast-cancer relapse patterns from two independent databases provides give reasons to believe that surgery to remove the primary tumor in fact initiate angiogenesis in previously sleeping metastases cancer cells. This may, as per this theory, account for a pattern of early relapse in younger women.
This provoking study was published in the online issue of International Journal of Surgery. The study comes from analysis 1,173 women who were included in three separate clinical trials and who had surgery for breast cancer, but no further treatment. The researchers have found two relapse peaks in these women: one at 18 months from surgery, and another at 5 years. Closer analysis showed that 20 percent of pre-menopausal, node-positive patients (whose cancer had spread to the lymph nodes) relapsed within the first 10 months after removal of the primary tumor.
The researchers, led by Michael Retsky, PhD, think that the early peak in recurrence is due to stimulation of dormant cells, by angiogenesis. The study did not look at biological mechanisms of relapse, but this argument is based on the fact that primary tumors have been shown to secrete angiogenesis inhibitors, which naturally inhibit the growth of metastases, so surgery to remove the primary tumor might eliminate this inhibition. Alternatively, surgery might spur release of angiogenesis promoters through a wound-healing mechanis. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[50] | Trackbacks [4] |
|
|
| 14 Sep 2005 10:39:07 am |
| What About Three Weeks of Radiation After Lumpectomy? |
|
|
Radiation therapy after lumpectomy is typically given for about six weeks. It is needless to say that this long duration of radiation therapy causes a lot of disruption in women's life. Everyday treatment (Monday through Friday) for six weeks is more than what many women can take.
Now there is good news coming out of Mayo Clinic. They are investigating on a new technique of giving radiation therapy starting at the time of surgery, what is called as Intra-operative Electron Radiation Therapy (IOERT). By using IOERT Mayo Clinic physicians are planning to ultimately cut down the duration of radiation therapy to three weeks. Researchers are able to do this with decreased side effects since IOERT maximizes the dose of radiation given to the tumor while minimizing the amount of damage to surrounding tissue.
In the IOERT research study for breast cancer at Mayo Clinic physicians give IOERT during surgery followed by a course of external radiation. In an earlier IOERT study published from Mayo, the researchers were able to shorten the duration of radiation treatment to four weeks plus four days. In a second study, they are planning to take it further to complete the course of treatment within three weeks plus one day.
"The use of IOERT as a boost in the trial would reduce the overall treatment time from six weeks to just over three weeks, which is more convenient for patients and would decrease the overall cost of treatment," says William W. Wong, M.D., radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic who is leading the study. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[34] | Trackbacks [2] |
|
|
| 13 Sep 2005 12:07:48 pm |
| Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy In Large Breast Cancer Tumors |
|
|
Sentinel lymph node biopsy involves injection of a blue dye and or some form of radioactive material into the tumor. The surgeon will then determine the pattern of lymphatic flow from the tumor by following the course of the blue dye and the radioactive material. This would lead to identification of the first lymph node into which a tumor drains, and the one that may most likely to contain cancer cells if a lymphatic spread has occurred. This is called the sentinel lymph node, and the surgeon will remove this lymph node to study under the microscope. If this lymph node is involved with breast cancer, surgeon will do a full exploration of the armpit area and will remove as many possible lymph nodes.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy has now become standard of care in the surgical treatment of patients with earlier stages of breast cancer. This procedure works out fine for those women who have smaller tumors. Problem arises when the tumor is bigger and the physician is considering giving chemotherapy to shrink the tumor prior to surgery (so called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy). Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy can make false negative results in as much as one third of patients who received treatment.
A new study led by David W. Ollila MD from University of North Carolina showed that in women who had large breast tumors, a sentinel lymph node biopsy prior to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy is a very effective in predicting lymph node involvement. The researchers enrolled 21 patients, who had large breast cancer tumors and performed, sentinel lymph node biopsy prior to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. At the end of 36 months follow up none of these patients had progression of breast cancer in the lymph nodes.
These results show that performing sentinel lymph node biopsy prior to chemotherapy is reliable in women who have larger breast cancer tumors similar to women who have small breast cancer tumors. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[36] | Trackbacks [3] |
|
|
| 12 Sep 2005 12:06:23 pm |
| Breast Cancer Patients Get Better Care With Oncologsts |
|
|
After diagnosis of breast cancer, surgeon may elect to sent patients to an oncologist or have them followed up by the surgeon himself. A new study finds that breast cancer patients actually get better care if they are sent to an oncologist after surgery.
These results come from a study conducted by Dr. Rebecca A. Silliman of the Boston University School of Public Health, who showed that elderly women with breast cancer who are referred by their surgeons to cancer specialists are twice as likely to be prescribed tamoxifen. The author suggests that all elderly women should be given an opportunity to have a meeting with medical oncologists after their breast cancer surgery.
559 patients who were 65 years of age or older with initial stage breast cancer who were treated by 191 surgeons were included in this study. After 3,6 and 15 months of surgery, such women were interviewed by telephone.
Silliman also said that it is really important to offer older women with the same kind of opportunity for treatment decision-making because there is substantial future life expectancy for many of these women.
No matter if it is breast cancer or any other kind of cancer, the treatment decision-making in cancer is difficult and clearly charged emotionally. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[39] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 10 Sep 2005 11:47:19 am |
| Tamoxifen: benefits and risks similar in African Americans |
|
|
African American women and Caucasian women, who take tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer recurrence, derive the same benefits and share the similar risks of blood clots, as per a new study that was published in the recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Depending on various factors between 2 and 15 percent of women, who were diagnosed with breast cancer will develop a second breast cancer in the opposite breast. Tamoxifen has shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer on the opposite breast by 47 percent. Clinical trials that led to this conclusion were largely in white women and it was not clear till now if these results are applicable to African American women. Use of tamoxifen is also associated with increased risk of thrombo-embolic events like deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and stroke. It was also not clear that this information derived from the previous studies was applicable to African American women, who have much higher risk factors in terms of cardiovascular disorders and diabetes.
McCaskill-Stevens and colleagues studied a total of 20,000 women who participated in the NSABP clinical trials and found that tamoxifen was equally effective in prevention of breast cancer in both African American and Caucasian women. They also found that both of these ethnic groups had similar risks of thrombo-embolism despite increased incidence of other risk factors for the African American population. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[34] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 09 Sep 2005 12:10:06 pm |
| Daily stress may decrease the risk of breast cancer |
|
|
Stress is a part and parcel of the life of a modern woman. In these days you experience stress everywhere. At workplace you experience high levels of stress to keep up your performance, at home the additional responsibility of looking after the family and raising the children bring an enormous amount of stress to the life of a modern woman.
We hear all the bad things that stress can do to you. It increases the risk of ulcers, and increases the risk of heart attack. Stress is bad for you, and it can make you exhausted. But now scientists say that there is at least one good side to daily stress in women's life.
They say that daily stress decreases the risk of developing breast cancer in women. They found that, higher the day-to-day stress level, lower is the risk of developing breast cancer. This information is published in the recent issue of British Medical Journal.
Researchers from Denmark studied 6,689 women over a period of 18 years to come to this conclusion. They speculate that stress might decrease the production of estrogen, which is a risk factor in breast cancer. However they caution that this is an unproven theory, which needs further investigation.
It is to be noted that this study findings contradicts two previous studies from Finland and Sweden, the former found no link between daily stress and breast cancer while the latter found a direct association with higher risk.
Researchers said that part of the reason for the apparent discrepancy might be that the current study only looked at first-time incidence of breast cancer while the previous studies looked at all cases. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[52] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 08 Sep 2005 12:12:54 pm |
| Breast Cancer and African American Women |
|
|
Breast cancer is the leading cancer site in African American women. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among African American women, (exceeded only by lung cancer). Even though incidence of breast cancer is slightly lower in African American women compared to Caucasian women, mortality rate from breast cancer is 28 percent higher in African American women compared to Caucasian women
New research findings suggest that African-American women who carry the 10398A mitochondrial DNA allele are 60 percent more likely to develop invasive breast cancer compared to African-American females without this genetic marker. There were no apparent implications for 10398A mitochondrial DNA for breast cancer in white women.
This study was headed by Jeffrey Canter, M.D., M.P.H., of the Center for Human Genetics Research at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee and the research data is published in the September 1 issue of "Cancer Research."
The mitochondria, located outside the nucleus, are the cell's energy-producing factories. Unlike chromosomal DNA, the mitochondrial DNA is passed to offspring exclusively from the mother. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[34] | Trackbacks [1] |
|
|
| 07 Sep 2005 12:05:37 pm |
| One hormone treatment after another |
|
|
Now there is even better news and hope for patients who have hormone receptor positive breast cancer. As per new research findings published in the September 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute various hormonal agents can be used in optimal sequence to reduce the recurrence of breast cancer.
Researchers from Massachussetts General Hospital in Boston have found that switching women off tamoxifen and onto the drug letrozole may help keep them cancer-free.
Tamoxifen for five years post-surgery is now standard treatment for women with estrogen-linked breast cancer. However, over a period of time, cancer cells can become resistant to - or even dependent on - tamoxifen. Letrozole belongs to the group of aromatase inhibitors and works differently, lowering estrogen levels by selectively inhibiting a key enzyme called aromatase.
Researchers have found that just 3.6 percent of women who started taking letrozole at the end of their tamoxifen treatment experienced cancer recurrence, compared to 6 percent in a control group who started taking a placebo after finishing up with tamoxifen.
However, the Boston team noted that letrozole also led to more side effects, including osteoporosis and hot flashes, probably linked to estrogen depletion. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[36] | Trackbacks [3] |
|
|
| 06 Sep 2005 12:31:38 pm |
| Predicting the behavior of breast cancer |
|
|
Researchers are working hard to find newer and newer ways to predict the behavior of breast cancer. The newest addition is a test involving the lymph nodes, looking at the immune cells. This may be the best way to predict whether breast cancer has spread and will be likely to recur, as per the researchers.
Currently, the best way to predict whether breast cancer is likely to come back is to search for involvement of lymph nodes near the breast. But Dr. Peter Lee and colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine say that perhaps examining the immune cells in those lymph nodes might be a better way to predict the cancer's spread.
"Immune changes in the lymph node almost perfectly predict clinical outcome, much better than any other prognostic factor that is available today," Lee said
This prediction has important treatment implications. Patients whose tests suggest an aggressive cancer could receive extra treatment to try to kill any stray tumor cells.
Lee and colleagues said that the test was accurate in predicting 33 patients whose cancer returned. Within five years of the initial diagnosis, 33 of the 77 patients had their cancer return. An imbalance in immune cells was seen in the 33 women whose breast cancer came back before five years, Lee said.
The women whose lymph nodes had a normal immune cell balance had an 85 to 90 percent chance of being disease-free after five years. The group with an "unfavorable" immune profile had less than a 15 percent chance, Lee's team reported.
Lee hopes to develop a simple test that could help determine which women could benefit from more aggressive therapy, and which could be spared undergoing costly and toxic treatments unnecessarily. |
|
| |
Category : General
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[33] | Trackbacks [0] |
|
|
| 03 Sep 2005 03:48:19 pm |
| Aromatase Inhibitors may cause menopausal arthritis |
|
|
Aromatase inhibitors like arimedex, femara and aromasin have been hailed as the latest breakthrough medications for the treatment of hormone receptor positive breast cancer. They are usually considered as very benign drugs with minimal side effects. The commonest side effect associated with these drugs is hot flashes. These drugs may also minimally increase the risk of blood clots and uterine cancer.
Now there is increasing evidence to suggest that, use of aromatase inhibitors may have significant side effects. Women treated with aromatase inhibitors may experience joint pain and musculoskeletal aching often severe enough, in some cases, to make them stop the treatment.
Two prominent researchers, David T. Felson, M.D., of Boston University Clinical Epidemiology Unit, and Steven R. Cummings, M.D., of California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute and University of California, San Francisco, have thoroughly examined the evidence linking aromatase inhibitors and, more broadly, estrogen deprivation joint pain. Their findings were published in the September 2005 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
This view is shared by other oncologists and primary care physicians in the community and is widely overlooked.
Estrogen has well-established tissue-specific effects on inflammatory cytokines. Estrogen's role in joint inflammation could account for the increased sensitivity to pain that some women suffer with estrogen depletion. Citing studies of pharmacological suppression of estrogen and studies of natural menopause, the authors offer a look at compelling evidence associating estrogen deprivation with joint pain. |
|
| |
Category : Breast cancer treatment
| Posted By : Sherin | Comments[35] | Trackbacks [1] |
|
| |
|
|
|
