Breast cancer blog

June 19, 2008, 9:17 PM CT

Breast Cells Sets Stage For Abnormal Cell Division And Cancer

A University of Michigan study reveals in detail how breast cells produce new cells that are predisposed to become malignant, unless they receive the protective action of the CHFR gene.

CHFR expression is missing in more than a third of breast cancers. Analysis of this gene is also a hot area of interest among scientists trying to explain colorectal, stomach, lung and other forms of cancer.

The new study reveals how and why new "daughter" cells, produced as cells in body tissues renew themselves, receive too few or too a number of chromosomes if expression of the CHFR gene is missing or low. The loss of CHFR can lead to the survival of genetically unstable cells loaded with too a number of chromosomes, which can lead to cancer.

"Our findings show that loss of CHFR disrupts normal chromosome segregation in breast cells during cell division and creates genomic instability, which can drive genetic mechanisms that accelerate the development of cancer," says Elizabeth Petty, M.D. , a U-M professor in the departments of human genetics and internal medicine and the senior author of the study. The article appears online ahead of print in the journal Neoplasia.

The new knowledge eventually could provide the scientific basis for diagnostic markers and identify which patients can benefit from specific types of cancer drugs......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

June 16, 2008, 9:57 PM CT

New Inhibitors Of Estrogen-dependent Breast Cancer Cells

Scientists have discovered a new family of agents that inhibit the growth of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells. The finding, described today at a meeting of the Endocrine Society, has opened an avenue of research into new drugs to combat estrogen-dependent breast cancers.

"This cell-based study is exciting because it suggests these compounds are likely to be effective in tumors that remain dependent on estrogen for growth but are resistant to current therapies," said principal investigator David J. Shapiro, a professor of biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois.

Eventhough multiple factors contribute to the development of breast cancer, estrogens play a key role in the growth of a number of tumors. More than 80 percent of breast cancer tumors in women over age 45 are activated by estrogen by way of a protein called an estrogen receptor. When estrogen binds to the receptor, this "estrogen-receptor complex" latches on to DNA and prompts it to transcribe the RNA blueprints for new proteins that promote cell growth, migration and division.

Current therapies for estrogen-receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancers include the use of drugs, such as tamoxifen, that interfere with estrogen's ability to bind to the estrogen receptor. Over time, however, ER-positive breast cancer tumors become resistant to tamoxifen. In some resistant tumors, tamoxifen even begins to act like estrogen and actually stimulates tumor growth......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

May 8, 2008, 9:06 PM CT

Switch regulates breast cancer response

A tiny modification called methylation on estrogen receptors prolongs the life of these growth-driving molecules in breast cancer cells, as per research by researchers at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute.

The results are reported in the May 9, 2008 issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

Most breast cancers contain estrogen receptors, which enable them to grow in the presence of the hormone estrogen. Their presence can determine whether tumors will respond to the estrogen-blocking drug tamoxifen.

The finding will help scientists sort out how mutations change the estrogen receptor's function and allow some breast cancers to resist tamoxifen, says Paula Vertino, PhD, associate professor of radiation oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.

"The problem is that a significant fraction of estrogen receptor positive tumors don't respond to tamoxifen," Vertino says. "Development of new drugs that interfere with the methylation of the estrogen receptor may be an alternative way to treat those tumors".

Until recently, researchers thought methylation enzymes acted only on DNA molecules or on histones, proteins that bundle DNA into spool-like packages. Methylation enzymes add tags called methyl groups to other molecules, influencing their ability to turn genes on or off......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

April 21, 2008, 7:35 PM CT

Mammography may be beneficial to all women

According to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, mammography, the gold-standard for breast cancer screening and early detection, has shown to significantly reduce the risk of being diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in women over the age of 80, an age group currently without clear guidelines recommending regular screenings.

The study, published online today (April 21) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), is the first to specifically assess the screening modality in women older than 80. It's estimated that approximately 17 percent of breast cancers are diagnosed in women older than 80, and only about one-fifth of women in this age group have routine mammograms.

According to the study's senior author, Gildy Babiera, M.D., the need for this study evolved as she began to notice a growing number of women who were 80-years-old and older in her clinic.

"With an increasing number of people living longer, there's a real dilemma regarding how best to manage the care of breast cancer patients 80 years of age and older, taking into account both their comorbidities and their account their quality of life," said Babiera, associate professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology.

This research follows other M. D. Anderson studies looking at complications associated with surgery and treatment tolerability in elderly patients......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

April 17, 2008, 4:01 AM CT

lapatinib shrinks breast cancer tumors in6 weeks

A drug that targets the cell surface receptors that play an important role in many types of cancer can bring about significant tumour regression in breast cancer after only six weeks of use, a scientist told the 6th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-6). Dr. Angel Rodriguez, from the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA, said that the work demonstrated for the first time that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor lapatinib could decrease tumour-causing breast cancer stem cells in the primary breast cancers of women receiving neoadjuvant treatment (treatment given before the primary surgery for the disease).

Dr. Rodriguez and colleagues studied 45 patients with locally advanced breast cancer in which the gene HER-2 was over-expressed. The patients received lapatinib for six weeks, followed by a combination of weekly trastuzumab and three-weekly docetaxel, given over 12 weeks, before primary surgery. Biopsies were performed at the time of diagnosis and also after six weeks of lapatinib and cells from the tumours were obtained and analyzed.

We saw significant tumour regression after six weeks of single agent lapatinib, said Dr. Rodriguez. Bi-dimensional tumour measurements showed a median decrease of minus 60.8%. We had previously showed that tumour-causing breast cancer stem cells were resistant to conventional preoperative chemotherapy; indeed, residual cancers that were exposed to such chemotherapy showed an increase in tumour-causing cells and enhanced tumour initiation by the formation of mammospheres, small tumours that form when tumour-causing cells are cultured in a test tube, which reflect the capacity of the cells to self-renew. So we were excited to see that the results with lapatinib were different......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

April 13, 2008, 9:42 PM CT

MRI 'best' for looking at breast cancer and more

The use of MRI is effective in differentiating the blood supply to medial and lateral breast tumors, which is important in therapy planning and prognosis as per a research studyconducted by scientists at the University of Miami in Miami, FL and the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel.

Blood supply of medial tumors is mainly through the internal mammary vessels while lateral tumors may be supplied by both the internal or lateral mammary branches.

MRI is currently the best modality enabling us to visualize not only cancer in the breast but the effect it has on the surrounding anatomy, particularly regarding vascular supply and lymphatic drainage, said Ahuva Grubstein, MD, of the Rabin Medical Center and lead author of the study.

The study reviewed 47 tumors (24 medial and 23 lateral) compared to 54 negative and non-malignant cases. Of the 24 medial tumors, 21 predominately received blood from the medial vessel (87%) while 3 predominately received blood from the lateral vessel (13%). Of the 23 lateral tumors, 11 predominately received blood from the medial vessel (47%) while 8 predominately received blood from the lateral vessel (35%). As per the study, 18% of the lateral tumor cases didnt demonstrate any predominant vessel. We dont have enough data regarding aggressiveness of tumors and their blood supply, only that cancerous tumors can change the normal breast blood supply and that this change depends on the tumor location within the breast, said Dr. Grubstein. This change can be used as a marker for malignancy compared to non-malignant findings, he said......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

March 16, 2008, 9:53 PM CT

Gene Variant Increases Breast Cancer Risk

An international research consortium under the leadership of researchers of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) has shown that a common gene variant increases the risk of developing breast cancer.

In roughly five to ten percent of breast cancer cases there is a family history of breast cancer- i.e., hereditary and, thus, genetic factors play a role here. Alterations in the genes known as BRCAI and BRCAII are a major cause of familial breast cancer - these are responsible for roughly 25 percent of such cases.

"In Gera number of, 75 percent of familial breast cancers are not attributable to mutations in BRCAI and BRCAII. We assume that these cancers are caused in part by rare mutations and in part by unfavorable combinations of risk variants in various genes, which, on their own, have only little effect. Only very few of these have been identified so far - we are searching for the other ones," said Associate Professor Dr. Barbara Burwinkel of the DKFZ.

Members of the AKAP protein family are responsible for transmitting important signals in a cell. Researchers have suspected these proteins to be involved in cancer development. A large international study headed by Barbara Burwinkel has now delivered proof that this is true for breast cancer......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

March 7, 2008, 5:34 AM CT

High levels of estrogen associated with breast cancer recurrence

Women whose breast cancer came back after therapy had almost twice as much estrogen in their blood than did women who remained cancer-free despite therapy with anti-estrogen drugs in a majority of the women as per scientists as per a research findings reported in the recent issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The findings suggest that high levels of estrogen contribute to an increased risk of cancer recurrence, just as they lead to the initial development of breast cancer, said the studys lead author, Cheryl L. Rock, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.

While this makes sense, there have been only a few small studies that have looked at the link between sex hormones in the blood and cancer recurrence, she said. This is the largest study to date and the only one to have included women taking agents such as tamoxifen to reduce estrogens effect on cancer growth.

What the results mean for women who have already been treated for breast cancer is that they should do as much as they can to reduce estrogen in their blood, such as exercising frequently and keeping weight down, she added. Taking anti-estrogen drugs like tamoxifen may not completely wipe out the hormones effect in women who have high levels of estrogen......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

February 25, 2008, 9:18 PM CT

Test To reduce recurrence of breast cancer

A new test that examines large sections of the sentinel lymph node for genes expressed by breast cancer could reduce the risk of recurrence and multiple surgeries, doctors say.

The GeneSearch Breast Lymph Node Assay, manufactured by Veridex, L.L.C., a Johnson & Johnson company, is being used at the Medical College of Georgia to examine half of the tissue in the sentinel lymph node, the first place breast cancer typically spreads. The sample represents more than 10 times the amount of tissue examined in traditional biopsies.

And because the test examines the tissue with molecular tools, it is more sensitive, says Dr. Zixuan (Zoe) Wang, molecular biologist and scientific director of MCG's Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Diagnostic Labs, L.L.C.

"When we look at the tissue with the GeneSearch test, we are looking for excessive amounts of mamoglobin and cytokeratin 19, both genes that are expressed more in breast cancer tissue," Dr. Wang says. "If those genes are present in excessive amounts, we know the cancer has metastasized."

MCG is the first place in Georgia to offer the test, which Time Magazine named one of the top-10 medical breakthroughs of 2007.

Done during a lumpectomy, the GeneSearch test uses molecular diagnostic methods to examine more tissue than traditional sentinel node biopsies, reducing the chance of false negative results, says Dr. Stephen Peiper, chair of the MCG Department of Pathology and Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Physician and Scientist......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

January 31, 2008, 11:01 PM CT

Breast cancer diagnosis comes late

Women who live in Chicago's gentrifying neighborhoods are more apt to receive a late diagnosis of breast cancer than women who live in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, University of Illinois at Chicago scientists have found.

The surprising finding is as per a research findings reported in the recent issue of the Annals of Epidemiology.

"There's been a lot of social change in American cities since 1990, but we know very little about how gentrification impacts health outcomes," said Richard Barrett, researcher at the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy and lead author of the study. "We know that minority women in Cook County are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer and to die from it compared with white women, but we were interested in how neighborhood change impacts breast cancer diagnosis".

Prior research indicated that places with more people of higher socioeconomic status tend to have lower rates of distant metastasis when diagnosed with breast cancer, Barrett said.

"That would lead one to assume that if an area becomes gentrified, then the proportion of breast cancer cases diagnosed with distant metastases would decline, and patients should have a better chance for survival.

"Our study showed that is not true"......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

January 28, 2008, 10:40 PM CT

Reducing Symptoms In Breast Cancer Patients

Psychological interventions for cancer patients do more than just ease emotional distress - they directly improve health, new research suggests.

A study of 227 patients with breast cancer observed that those who participated in a psychological intervention program were rated as having better health by a research nurse a full year after the program started.

One especially important result was that patients who exercised received a higher dose of their chemotherapy drug, possibly improving their overall therapy.

"Patients who participated in the program showed fewer and less severe symptoms, and functioned better than those who didn't take part," said Barbara Andersen, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.

"These were independent health evaluations by nurses who didn't know which patients were participating in the psychological intervention, so we know the effects were real and significant".

The results were reported in recent issues of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Participants in the study were patients with breast cancer at the Ohio State University Medical Center. All had been diagnosed with Stage II or Stage III breast cancer, had received mastectomies, and underwent chemotherapy during the course of the study......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

January 17, 2008, 10:19 PM CT

NICE guidelines on breast cancer need urgent revision

The NICE guidelines on follow-up for patients with breast cancer need urgent revision, warn experts in this weeks BMJ.

More than 1.2 million women and men worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and it is now recognised as a chronic disease that can recur even after 20 -30 years.

Survival continues to improve, so new cancers are now more common in a number of patients than recurrence because the therapys of the first cancer are so effective. However, follow-up protocols still vary widely both within and between countries and are not always evidence based.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England and Wales state that the aims of breast cancer follow-up are to detect and treat local recurrence, to deal with adverse effects of therapy and to provide psychological support.

The guidelines suggest that these aims can be met by two to three years of follow-up, and that routine long term follow-up is ineffective and unwarranted. They also claim that the yield from mammography is low.

But Michael Dixon, Consultant Surgeon at Edinburgh Breast Unit and David Montgomery, Clinical Research Fellow at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, argue that the NICE guidelines do not meet their stated aims.

Eventhough true local recurrence after breast conserving surgery falls with time, the development of new cancers in the treated breast increases, so the overall rate of ipsilateral breast events is constant at 0.5 to 1% each year for at least the first 10 years and probably for the rest of the patients life......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

January 8, 2008, 9:22 PM CT

Choosing overly aggressive treatments for breast cancer

Despite a 1990 consensus recommendation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that lumpectomy plus radiation was the therapy of choice for early stage breast cancer, the United States continues to have the highest rate of mastectomy surgery among industrialized countries. Why would a person knowingly undertake a far more severe form of therapy when a lesser one would suffice? A recent survey shows that only 74 percent of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS) chose breast-conserving surgery even though 82 percent of their physicians had recommended the procedure.

To answer this question, we investigate the framing of individual risk understandings by the broader cultural discourses surrounding the disease, explain Nancy Wong and Tracey King (both Georgia Institute of Technology). In-depth interviews. suggest that screening and therapy decisions are influenced by the predilection toward restitution narratives that exists in the United States and other Anglo-western societies. Reflecting culturally structured values toward illness, the dominant narrative of restitution is reinforced by the long-established biomedical model through its emphasis on personal agency, control, and survival.

Due to increases in the availability and sophistication of mammographic screening, DCIS now accounts for approximately 20 percent of all breast cancer cases. The scientists find that womens individual understandings of breast cancer and the risks linked to detection, therapy, and reconstructive surgery are heavily influenced by the ideas of vigilant detection, aggressive therapy, and conformity in maintaining appearances......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

December 28, 2007, 8:14 AM CT

Taxol with avastin for metastatic breast cancer

The positive results of the first nationwide clinical study showing the benefits of an antiangiogenic agent in breast cancer therapy are reported in the Dec. 27 issue of the New England Journal (NEJM).

The study with Avastin showed the biggest improvement in metastatic breast cancer ever reported in a chemotherapy-based clinical trial. It nearly doubled the time between initiation of chemotherapy for metastatic disease and progression of the breast cancer tumors.

The study was coordinated by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and Kathy Miller, M.D., associate professor of medicine and Sheila D. Ward Scholar at the Indiana University School of Medicine, is the lead author.

Dr. Miller said she found the results exciting because this was the first study to show that an antiangiogenic agent can delay progression of advanced breast cancer. The study looked at Taxol (paclitaxel), which is one of the standard agents for metastatic disease, with and without the addition of Avastin (bevacizumab).

This study not only achieved the longest progression-free survival in advanced disease but the therapy achieved that improvement without adding to the day-to-day treatment burden and with only minor increases in toxicity, said Dr. Miller.

The study enrolled 722 women with metastatic disease from the United States, Canada, Peru and South Africa. Patients were randomized to one of two arms of the phase III study Taxol alone or Taxol with Avastin. The patients, who joined the study from December 2001 through May 2004, represented a balance of age, disease-free interval, estrogen-positive receptors and sites of disease......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

December 28, 2007, 8:07 AM CT

CT faster more accurate than mammography

Cone-beam breast CT provides exceptional tissue contrast and can potentially reduce examination time with comparable radiation dose to conventional 2D mammography, as per a new study by a team of scientists from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Cone-beam breast CT employs a large area x-ray beam in conjunction with a flat panel x-ray detector to scan and generate 3D images of the breast. The scanner is placed below a table on which the patient lies prone with the breast protruding through an opening. Only the breast is exposed to radiation resulting in improved image quality and sparing the rest of the patients body from unnecessary radiation exposure. The scan can be completed in less than one minute with a single complete rotation of the x-ray tube-detector gantry around the breast. Unlike conventional CT, the patient is not moved through the gantry during scanning.

For the study, the scientists used cone-beam CT on 12 mastectomy specimens. The scientists discovered that structured noise on cone-beam CT was minimal because of the absence of overlapping tissue; that breast anatomy was well resolved on all images as skin, adipose, and glandular regions; and that microcalcifications within cancers were clearly shown. In addition, they discovered that the detection of cancers based on morphologic assessment of tissue structures could potentially be improved compared with mammography because of the lack of overlapping glandular tissue......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

December 17, 2007, 8:45 PM CT

Scientists identify and repress breast cancer stem cells

By manipulating highly specific gene-regulating molecules called microRNAs, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) report that they have succeeded in singling out and repressing stem-like cells in mouse breast tissue cells that are widely thought to give rise to cancer.

If certain forms of breast cancer do indeed have their origin in wayward stem cells, as we believe to be the case, then it is critical to find ways to selectively attack that tumor-initiating population, said Gregory Hannon, Ph.D., CSHL professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Hannon also is head of a lab focusing on small-RNA research at CSHL and corresponding author of a paper reporting the new research, reported in the latest issue of Genes and Development.

We have shown that a microRNA called let-7, whose expression has previously been linked to tumor suppression, can be delivered to a sample of breast-tissue cells, where it can help us to distinguish stem-like tumor-initiating cells from other, more fully developed cells in the sample. Even more exciting, we observed that by expressing let-7 in the sample, we were able to attack and essentially eliminate, very specifically, just that subpopulation of potentially dangerous progenitor cells.

The study was done in collaboration with Senthil Muthuswamy Ph.D., an expert in breast cancer research who heads a CSHL lab focusing on understanding the changes in the biology of breast epithelial cells during the initiation and progression of cancer. Dr. Muthuswamy emphasized that a key ingredient that made this study successful is the use of a mouse breast-derived model cell system called COMMA-1D that not only includes differentiated cells but also stem-like progenitors, in varying stages of maturity, or differentiation......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

December 13, 2007, 9:58 PM CT

Stem cell transplant for breast cancer

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation, the controversial, arduous, yet once-popular combination therapy that fell out of favor as a treatment for breast cancer, has proven not to be beneficial as an adjuvant treatment for women with node-positive disease, as per an expansive analysis conducted by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

In a review of 15 randomized high-dose chemotherapy studies conducted around the world between 1988 and 2002, the researchers from M. D. Anderson, in collaboration with the European Blood and Marrow Transplant Group, report that while there was a slight benefit on relapse-free survival, there was no benefit to overall survival. Donald Berry, Ph.D., professor and head of the Division of Quantitative Sciences, presented the findings today at the 30th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

"Of all cancers, breast cancer is one of the most sensitive to therapy, resulting in a dramatic mortality decrease in the U.S. in recent years," says Berry. "Frequently, in recent breast cancer history, when we have run studies of adjuvant treatment for node- positive breast cancer, the findings have shown that an innovation indeed delays recurrence and prolongs survival. For example, we've shown that increasing doses of the chemotherapy regimen FAC within the standard dose range improves overall survival and disease-free survival. We've shown the same for the addition of paclitaxel. We've also proved that dose density, in terms of delivery every two weeks versus every three weeks, improves overall survival......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

December 11, 2007, 10:40 PM CT

Accuracy of diagnostic mammograms varies by radiologist

For women with breast symptoms such as lumps, the ability of diagnostic mammograms to detect breast cancer accurately depends strongly on which radiologist reads them, as per a Group Health study published online on December 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

When a woman gets a mammogram, she wants to know that if she has breast cancer, the mammogram will be likely to detect it, said study leader Diana Miglioretti, PhD, an associate investigator at Group Health Center for Health Studies. This is particularly important when the woman has a breast concern such as a lump.

Ideally, this ability to accurately detect cancer (known as sensitivity) would be consistently high, with few false-positivesbiopsies performed despite the absence of cancer. And it wouldnt depend on which radiologist was reading the mammograms. But thats not what we found, she added.

The research team examined how well 123 radiologists interpreted nearly 36,000 diagnostic mammograms done to evaluate breast problems, such as lumps, from 1996 through 2003 at 72 U.S. facilities, including six from Group Health, that contribute data to the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium.

For different radiologists, sensitivity ranged from 27 percent to 100 percent; and false-positives, from 0 to 16 percent. These differences were only partially explained by the characteristics of the patients and the experience of the radiologists......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

December 9, 2007, 5:17 PM CT

BRCA1 mutations cause breast cancer

An international team of scientists led by Columbia University Medical Centers Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and Swedens Lund University has, for the first time, revealed how mutations in the BRCA1 gene lead to breast cancer. Findings show that one way BRCA1 mutations cause cancer is by knocking out a powerful tumor suppressor gene known as PTEN.

The new study will be published online on the Nature Genetics website on Dec. 9, 2007: http://www.nature.com/ng. It will appear in the January print issue of this journal. The study was led by Ramon Parsons, M.D., Ph.D., the Avon Foundation Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and ke Borg, Ph.D., professor of oncology at Lund University. The papers first author was Lao Saal, Ph.D. (now finishing his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons).

These findings are exciting because ever since the link was established between BRCA1 and breast cancer more than 10 years ago, we have been frustrated by our lack of understanding about how mutations in this gene cause breast cancer. We have been stymied by our limited resources to treat these cancers, which are linked to very poor prognoses. Now that we know that PTEN is involved, we finally have a target for treatment for these cancers, said Dr. Parsons, the studys corresponding author. Dr. Parsons is director of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Research Laboratory and director of the Breast Cancer Program of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

November 28, 2007, 10:02 PM CT

Stereo Mammography Improves Cancer Detection

A new radiological diagnostic tool called stereo mammography allows clinicians to detect more lesions and could significantly reduce the number of women who are recalled for additional tests following routine screening mammography.

The findings from a clinical trial underway at Emory University were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America held in Chicago.

In the study, stereoscopic digital mammography reduced false-positive findings by 49 percent in comparison to standard digital mammography, and reduced missed lesions by 40 percent, as per Dr. Carl DOrsi, MD, professor of radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, and director of breast imaging.

This finding is very significant because it shows the technology cuts by almost half the number of women who are recalled for additional tests, reduces the number of false positives that typically occur in standard mammograms and eliminates significant anxiety in patients and their loved ones, says Dr. DOrsi.

Standard mammography is widely considered to be one of the most difficult exams to read because lesions may be disguised by normal tissue," says Dr. D'Orsi. "At the same time, false-positives can also occur because of the two dimensional images provided by the existing technology......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

November 15, 2007, 9:59 PM CT

Similarities In Dog, Human Breast Cancer

Pre-cancerous mammary lesions in dogs and humans display a number of of the same characteristics, a discovery that could lead to better understanding of breast cancer progression and prevention for people and pets, said a Purdue University scientist from the School of Veterinary Medicine.

A group of researchers including Sulma Mohammed have found similarities between non-malignant lesions that are considered to carry risk for developing breast cancer in both canines and humans. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

"Dogs develop these lesions spontaneously in contrast to other available models and are exposed to the same environmental risk factors as humans," said Mohammed, an associate professor in comparative pathobiology. "These shared features make the dog an ideal model to compare the breast lesions that will progress to cancer and those that will regress. Such a model will facilitate customized therapy and prevention strategies." .

Due to the success of mammographic screening and awareness by women, abnormal cell growth within breast tissues is frequently diagnosed, Mohammed said. These intraepithelial lesions are recognized risk factors for invasive cancer, and their presence affects patient management decisions......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

November 13, 2007, 9:39 PM CT

Proteins As urvival Markers in Some Breast Cancers

New research suggests that the presence or absence of two proteins may be important markers for long-term survival in some breast-cancer patients.

One of the proteins, called ErbB-4, is important for the growth and differentiation of several types of cells in the body. The second protein, called Wwox, is a tumor suppressor - it helps prevent cells from becoming malignant - and it is missing in a number of breast cancers. Researchers don't yet understand how it works.

The research shows that the two proteins work together, and that their absence is linked to shorter survival in breast cancer. Furthermore, the study shows that Wwox keeps ErbB4 on the cell surface, and that this is linked to better survival.

The study was done by scientists at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in collaboration with scientists in Finland, and it was published in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Research.

"Our findings suggest that the interaction of these two proteins is clinically important in breast cancer," says first author Rami I. Aqeilan, research assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"The findings must be verified, but they suggest that we can use these proteins as clinical markers that predict better survival. Therapeutically, perhaps we can design drugs or inhibitors that interact with ErbB-4 to help control the growth of these tumors."........ Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

November 13, 2007, 9:24 PM CT

Simpler way to assess breast cancer risk

A new, simpler model for predicting breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women appears to be as accurate as a more complicated method currently used to decide if women would benefit from medicine to reduce their risk of getting cancer, as per research published recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

A team of scientists led by Rowan T. Chlebowski, a lead investigator at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed), sought a simpler method for measuring breast cancer risk so women and their doctors could easily determine when the women would be likely to benefit from tamoxifen therapy for reducing their chances of getting breast cancer.

"For the first time, a postmenopausal woman can use a simple model and determine by herself if she is at increased risk of getting breast cancer, said Dr. Chlebowski. She could then raise this issue with her health care provider because interventions to reduce her risk of breast cancer are now available".

Using data from the Womens Health Initiative, a 15-year research program involving 161,808 postmenopausal women and funded by the National Institutes of Health, the scientists found postmenopausal women were at an increased risk of developing breast cancer if they were: 55 years of age or older and had either had a breast biopsy at any time, regardless of findings, or had a first-degree relative (mother, sister or daughter) who had breast cancer diagnosed at any age......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source

November 7, 2007, 8:59 PM CT

Extracts of catfish caught in polluted waters

Exposing estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells to extracts of channel catfish caught in areas with heavy sewer and industrial waste causes the cells to multiply, as per a University of Pittsburgh study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Washington, D.C. The abstract, number 159141, will be presented at a special session on Contaminants in Freshwater Fish: Toxicity, Sources and Risk Communication, at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7.

The study, which tested extracts from channel catfish caught in the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers near Pittsburgh, suggests that the fish, caught in areas of dense sewer overflows, contain substances that mimic the actions of estrogen, the female hormone. Since fish are sentinels of water quality, as the canary in the coal mine is a sentinel of air pollution, and can concentrate fat soluble chemicals from their habitats within their bodies, these results suggest that pharmaceutical estrogens and xeno-estrogenic chemicals, those that mimic estrogens in the body, may be making their way into the regions waterways.

We believe there are vast quantities of pharmaceutical and xeno-estrogenic waste in outflows from sewage therapy plants and from sewer overflows, and that these chemicals end up concentrated and magnified in channel catfish from contaminated areas, said Conrad D. Volz, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., principal investigator, department of environmental and occupational health, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Sewer overflows result from inadequate sewer infrastructure, which releases raw, untreated sewage directly into area rivers during wet weather, as per Dr. Volz. In Pittsburgh alone, 16 billion gallons of raw, untreated sewage are deposited into area rivers every year with major implications for public health......... Posted by: Betsy      Read more         Source