http://www.health.am/cr/breast-cancer/ 2016-10-14T13:29:20+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-in-postmenopausal-women/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-in-postmenopausal-women/ Fatty acids in the breast may be useful indicators of cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. The results may help researchers determine the underlying mechanisms behind breast cancer development in some patients. The role of fat in breast cancer development and growth has been studied extensively using body mass index (BMI) and dietary fat intake. “BMI is an important risk factor for breast cancer development,” said Sungheon G. Kim, Ph.D., from the NYU Langone Medical Center. “While increased BMI may provide a protective effect for premenopausal women, postmenopausal women have an increased risk of developing breast cancer with increasing BMI.” Breast Cancer news 2016-06-08T07:59:03+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/taking-tamoxifen-for-breast-cancer/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/taking-tamoxifen-for-breast-cancer/ A study led by Loyola Medicine researchers may help reassure patients who worry the breast cancer drug tamoxifen could increase their risk of uterine cancer. The multi-center study was presented during the 2016 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology at McCormick Place in Chicago. First author of the study is Kathy S. Albain, MD, FACP, FASCO. The study’s co-principal investigator is Ronald K. Potkul, MD, FACS, FACOG. Dr. Albain is a professor in the department of medicine, division of hematology/oncology, and Dr. Potkul is chair of the department of obstetrics and oncology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. The study enrolled 296 eligible postmenopausal breast patients with a type of early-stage breast cancer called estrogen receptor-positive. Patients were randomly assigned to take tamoxifen alone or tamoxifen plus the hormone progestin. They were followed and assessed at years two and five. Researchers predicted that taking progestin would decrease the risk of abnormalities that can develop into uterine cancer. Such abnormalities occur in the endometrium (inner lining of the uterus). Breast Cancer news 2016-06-07T07:41:04+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/with-lower-breast-cancer-risk/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/with-lower-breast-cancer-risk/ Two linked papers in The BMJ this week shed new light on the relation of alcohol and diet with breast cancer and heart disease. The first study reports that high fruit consumption during adolescence may be associated with lower breast cancer risk, while the second study finds that increasing alcohol intake in later life is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Fruit and vegetables are thought to protect against breast cancer, but the evidence is conflicting. Most studies have assessed intakes during midlife and later, which may be after the period when breast tissue is most vulnerable to carcinogenic influences. Breast Cancer news 2016-05-13T07:42:31+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/approaches-to-eradicate-aggressive-breast-cancers/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/approaches-to-eradicate-aggressive-breast-cancers/ Conventional chemotherapy generally fails to eradicate aggressive breast cancers due to the early distant metastasis that can occur in these diseases. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive subtype which has no targeted treatment. It has recently been discovered that the oncogene MYC is elevated in TNBC, opening up promising opportunities for the development of new targeted therapeutic strategies that will allow selective killing of MYC-overexpressing TNBC cells. With support from a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Era of Hope Scholar Award, Dr. Andrei Goga has taken a multi-faceted approach to identifying new therapeutic targets in MYC-driven TNBCs. In the first part of the study, Dr. Goga’s team used a fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) assay to isolate disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) from patient-derived xenograft models (PDX) of breast cancer. DTCs are the cancer cells that no longer reside with a primary tumor but occupy a peripheral tissue and may develop metastatic tumors. FACS was used to sort cells based on the expression of human cell marker CD298, allowing for detection of early DTCs as well as DTCs from late stage metastatic tumor-burdened tissues. Gene signatures of isolated cells could then be determined by qPCR. The Goga team found that metastatic cells from low tumor-burdened tissues had enhanced stem cell-like gene signatures, while those from high-burdened tissues displayed signatures closer to that of the primary tumor. Breast Cancer news 2016-05-12T07:27:14+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/broccoli-against-liver-cancer/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/broccoli-against-liver-cancer/ Consumption of broccoli has increased in the United States over the last few decades as scientists have reported that eating the vegetable three to five times per week can lower the risk of many types of cancer including breast, prostate, and colon cancers. A new study from the University of Illinois reports that including broccoli in the diet may also protect against liver cancer, as well as aid in countering the development of fatty liver or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which can cause malfunction of the liver and lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver cancer with a high mortality rate. “The normal story about broccoli and health is that it can protect against a number of different cancers. But nobody had looked at liver cancer,” says Elizabeth Jeffery, a U of I emeritus professor of nutrition. “We decided that liver cancer needed to be studied particularly because of the obesity epidemic in the U.S. It is already in the literature that obesity enhances the risk for liver cancer and this is particularly true for men. They have almost a 5-fold greater risk for liver cancer if they are obese.” Breast Cancer news, Liver Cancer news, Prostate Cancer news 2016-03-03T21:04:18+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/identified-in-male-breast-cancer/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/identified-in-male-breast-cancer/ Male breast cancer (MBC) is a very rare tumor type, occurring in just 1% of all breast cancer cases, and the underlying genetic causes and treatment of MBC is not well understood. In a paper published in the March issue of Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies, researchers from Italy and the U.S. describe novel genetic variants found in a hormone receptor positive (HR+) MBC patient, that are distinct from previously identified genetic variants found in ten MBC cases. The authors present the treatment history of a HR+ male breast cancer patient. His disease stabilized from targeting of the PI3K/mTOR pathway using the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 in combination with everolimus as 3rd line treatment for his metastatic ductal carcinoma and experienced a prolonged stable disease. After 18 months he subsequently became resistant to the treatment and his disease progressed. The authors then investigated why the patient benefited and subsequently developed resistance to this combination treatment using genomic and immunohistochemical analysis. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on pre-treatment and post-progression samples of the MBC patient, as compared to a whole blood normal control. The researchers found that a region of Chromosome 12p was deleted in the resistant tumor and that HR protein expression was increased in the resistant tumor. Breast Cancer news 2016-03-02T21:04:06+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-death-for-survivors/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-death-for-survivors/ Researchers at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have confirmed in a screening effectiveness study that early screening with MRIs can reduce breast cancer mortality for female survivors of childhood Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) who received chest radiation. The findings published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (doi:10.1093/jnci/djw010), build on previous clinical work that demonstrated MRI detects breast cancer at early stages in young survivors who are not old enough to start standard breast cancer screening, says principal investigator Dr. David Hodgson, a radiation oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network. Dr. Hodgson is also a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. “If you are a young woman who was treated with radiation therapy to your chest as a teenager or child for HL, or for that matter chest radiation therapy for any reason, you should be having a conversation with your family doctor or your oncologist about whether to start breast cancer screening earlier than most women would,” says Dr. Hodgson. Breast Cancer news 2016-03-02T09:00:00+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-in-older-individuals/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-in-older-individuals/ An estimated 15.7 percent of individuals 65 or older may have received nonrecommended screenings for prostate and breast cancers because they had limited life expectancies of less than 10 years, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology. Existing guidelines recommend against screening for these tumors in individuals with limited life expectancy. Overdiagnosis may cost the U.S. health care system as much as $1.2 billion annually. Firas Abdollah M.D., of the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, and coauthors assessed the prevalence of nonrecommended screenings for prostate and breast cancers. They analyzed data from individuals who were 65 or older and lived in the United States and who responded to the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System survey in 2012. Of those 149,514 individuals (weighted to represent nearly 43.6 million people), there were 76,419 (51.1 percent) who had a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test or mammography in the last year; 23,532 (30.8 percent) of those individuals had a life expectancy of less than 10 years. Those figures correspond to an overall rate of nonrecommended screening of 15.7 percent (23,532 of 149,514 individuals). Breast Cancer news 2016-01-21T20:42:11+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/her2-breast-cancer-recurrence/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/her2-breast-cancer-recurrence/ Recurrence of HER2-positive breast cancer after treatment may be due to a specific and possibly cancer-induced weakness in the patient’s immune system -  a weakness that in principle could be corrected with a HER2-targeted vaccine -  according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Results of the study show that T cells from patients whose breast cancer had recently recurred showed far weaker response to the HER2 receptor protein, compared to T cells from patients whose breast cancer had not recurred over a long period following treatment. The study, published in JAMA Oncology this week, suggests that patients with HER2-positive breast cancer -  which accounts for roughly 20 percent of the 260,000 invasive breast cancers diagnosed in the US each year -  might someday undergo immune status monitoring with blood tests before, during and after treatment, to allow physicians to gauge the risk of recurrence, and possibly to reduce that risk with therapies that boost anti-HER2 immunity. “We know that it’s not a fixed immune defect, because we have several clinical trials open where we’re vaccinating people and can restore anti-HER2 responsivity,” said the study’s senior author Brian J. Czerniecki, MD, PhD, the Rhodes-Harrington Professor in Surgical Oncology at Penn and the co-director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. Breast Cancer news 2015-12-30T23:02:34+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/new-breast-cancer-drug-may/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/new-breast-cancer-drug-may/ Palbociclib, a new oral drug whose efficacy in combating breast cancer has been demonstrated alone and in combination with endocrine therapy, also has potential to combat other types of cancer, according to a literature review and additional original research conducted by experts at the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) in the University of Pennsylvania published this month in JAMA Oncology. Palbociclib targets the rapid division of tumor cells by inhibiting the activity of the enzymes CDK4 and CDK6, which propel cell division and increase in number in most cancers. It is the first CDK4/6 inhibitor to be approved for the treatment of breast cancer. “All living cells undergo cell division and palbociclib’s unique capacity to halt the cell division process (also known as the ‘cell cycle’) therefore has potentially broad applicability,” said the study’s lead author Amy S. Clark, MD, MSCE, an assistant professor of Hematology/Oncology at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and ACC. “Pairing palbociclib with other anti-cancer therapies such as endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy can create a powerful combinatorial effect with real promise for addressing a variety of cancers.” For example, amplification of CDK4 is reported in a high percentage of melanomas and esophageal cancers. Breast Cancer news 2015-12-30T01:49:20+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-related-lymphedema/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/breast-cancer-related-lymphedema/ Each year, about 1.38 million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer. Advances in treatment have facilitated a 90% five-year survival rate among those treated. Given the increased rate and length of survival following breast cancer, more and more survivors are facing life-time risk of developing late effects of cancer treatment that negatively impact long-term survival. In particular, Breast cancer-related lymphedema is one of the most distressing and feared late effects. Lymphedema, characterized by the abnormal swelling of one or more limbs, is most often the result of an obstruction or disruption of the lymphatic system over the course of the cancer treatment. Lymphedema usually manifests after a latent period of one to five, or even twenty years, after treatment. Consequently, lymphedema remains a major health problem affecting many breast cancer survivors and exerting a tremendous negative impact on survivors’ quality of life. Although at present, no surgery or medication can cure lymphedema, this condition can be managed with early and appropriate treatment. “Obesity is an established risk factor not only for breast-cancer related lymphedema but also for breast cancer occurrence, recurrence, and fatality,” says Mei R. Fu, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN, associate professor of Chronic Disease Management at the New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN). “Accordingly, we believe obesity is a significant, but modifiable risk factor for lymphedema.” Breast Cancer news 2015-12-17T21:22:04+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/her2-positive-breast-cancer1/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/her2-positive-breast-cancer1/ Pertuzumab (trade name: Perjeta) is approved for two therapeutic indications. Its use in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel in adult patients with HER2-positive metastatic or locally recurrent unresectable breast cancer was already investigated by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in a dossier assessment in 2013. This assessment resulted in a survival advantage for certain patients and hence for a hint of a major added benefit. In a further dossier assessment, the Institute now examined the benefit of the drug in its second therapeutic indication, i.e. in preoperative use. In this so-called neoadjuvant treatment, pertuzumab is used in HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early stage breast cancer at high risk of recurrence, also in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy. The study data presented resulted in a hint that pertuzumab is of lesser benefit than the appropriate comparator therapy. Trastuzumab and docetaxel as comparator therapy The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) specified trastuzumab, a taxane (paclitaxel or docetaxel) and, if applicable, an anthracycline as appropriate comparator therapy in its commission to assess the drug. In a combination of trastuzumab and anthracycline, the cardiac function was to be closely monitored because of the cardiovascular risks involved. The drug manufacturer decided to use trastuzumab and docetaxel. Breast Cancer news 2015-12-03T23:46:57+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/seen-after-false-positive-mammograms/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/seen-after-false-positive-mammograms/ Women with positive mammography screens ultimately judged to be false were still at significantly increased likelihood for developing invasive breast cancer within the next 10 years, a study involving 1.3 million women showed. The 10-year breast cancer risk was higher by 39% in women who had false-positive mammograms and additional breast imaging as compared with women who had true-negative mammograms, Louise M. Henderson, PhD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill, and co-authors reported in the December issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Moreover, the risk increase reached 76% in the subgroup of women who had breast biopsies after false-positive mammograms, and was independent of breast density, a known risk for breast cancer. The reasons for the association remain unclear, but the results suggest that a history of false-positive screening mammography should be incorporated into breast cancer risk-prediction models, the researchers said. Breast Cancer news 2015-12-03T23:28:38+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/triple-negative-breast-cancer1/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/triple-negative-breast-cancer1/ Recent laboratory findings provide novel insight into potential new therapeutic approaches for triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly difficult to treat and aggressive form of the disease. In a recent study published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, scientists from Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) and Wayne State University demonstrated in preclinical experiments that the drug cabozantinib inhibits growth of several triple-negative breast cancer subtypes. “Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for 15 to 20 percent of all breast cancer cases, yet is responsible for a disproportionate number of cancer-related deaths,” said Carrie Graveel, Ph.D, VARI research assistant professor and corresponding author on the paper. “This higher mortality rate is due to a lack of targeted therapies, the disease’s aggressive nature and the diverse cell population that comprises the tumor. It is crucial we develop better diagnostic tests and an array of targeted therapies to better classify cancer subtypes and effectively treat the disease on a patient-by-patient basis.” Breast Cancer news 2015-10-27T15:00:33+00:00 http://www.health.am/cr/more/treating-breast-colon-and-skin-cancers/ http://www.health.am/cr/more/treating-breast-colon-and-skin-cancers/ Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) have patented an effective drug for treating cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast, colon, and skin cancers. The researchers have proved the anti-tumor effects of the drug on immunodeficient mice. The new compound and its derivatives enabled the researchers to reduce tumor activity by 50 percent after 41 days of treatment with the drug, administered twice a week, to mice with induced tumors. They have also managed to successfully describe the mechanisms by which the drug acts on the cancer stem cells (CSCs). This crucial scientific breakthrough has been made by the UGR research groups “Research and Development of Pharmaceutical Drugs”, directed by Professor Joaquín Campos Rosa, and “Advanced Therapies: Differentiation, Regeneration and Cancer”, directedby Professor Juan Antonio Marchal Corrales. The Córdoba-based company Canvax Biotech has also participated in the development of the patent. Breast Cancer news, Skin Cancer news, Colon & Colorectal Cancer news 2015-10-20T17:32:00+00:00