FDA approves Soltamox, an experimental cancer drug, for breast cancer

Business Week Online, October 31, 2005
Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. said regulators approved its experimental cancer drug as a treatment for breast cancer. Soltamox -- is the first oral liquid version of the tamoxifen cancer treatment to be approved in the United States. The drug is already sold in Britain, Ireland and Germany

Breast Mobile 2005

Mia's son Tyler took the following pictures at an auto show in Cleveland on March 3, 2005. The first shows the entire car, the second is an up-close shot of many of the signatures. Pretty cool! I need more information on this! If you have more detail, please send it to me (or add it to the comments section) so that I can update it here. What was the name of the Auto Show? What type of vehicle is this? Did people pay to sign? Who orchestrated this? Did proceeds go to a specific charity, such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation or another one? Is the vehicle still making its rounds? Please let us know whatever you know.

Left handedness and breast cancer: correlation is spurious

Bloor, Adrian J. BMJ, 2005 Oct 29;331(7523):1023-4
Challenges the writings of Ramadhani, et al, which claim that left-handedness makes one more disposed to developing breast cancer.

Dramatic Gain in Breast Cancer Treatment Found

Liz Kowalczyk, New York Times Syndicate, Wednesday, October 19, 2005
"Cancer researchers published results Thursday showing one of the most dramatic advances in breast cancer treatment in decades. The data found that the drug Herceptin reduced by half the risk that women with a fast-growing type of tumor would experience a relapse...The success of Herceptin showed the promise of a new approach to cancer treatment, which identifies specific genetic mutations in different types of cancer and develops therapies targeted to patients with those mutations. The belief is that such targeted drugs will be more effective than broad therapies have been. 'The results are simply stunning,' a leading oncologist, Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi."

Breast cancer drug therapy can be limited

United Press International, Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Most breast-cancer patients do not need to take another hormone drug after completing five years of standard tamoxifen treatment, researchers said Tuesday, in findings that could slash drug costs for thousands of women.

Restoring Silenced Suppressor Gene Kills Cancer Cells

10/19/2005 - Ohio State University

A new study suggests that restoring a gene often silenced in lung cancer causes the cells to self-destruct. The findings could lead to a new strategy for treating the disease. The research focused on a gene known as WWOX, which is lost or silenced in a large majority of lung cancers, and in cancers of the breast, ovary, prostate, bladder, esophagus and pancreas.

Radiation And Hormone Therapy After Surgery Cures Breast Cancer

10/19/2005 - American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology

The current standard of care for early-stage breast cancer is breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy) to remove the tumor followed by radiation and hormone therapy to kill any remaining cells. Physicians in Austria tested whether patients were more likely to have their cancer return if radiation therapy was removed from the mix. They found that radiation therapy combined with hormone therapy after surgery is more effective in keeping the cancer from returning, according to a study presented at the ASTRO Annual Meeting.

Breast Conserving Treatment An Option For Women With Implants

10/18/2005 - American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology

Breast conserving surgery followed by radiation therapy is a good option for women with early-stage breast cancer who have breast implants, according to a study presented October 16, 2005, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 47th Annual Meeting in Denver.

Study Finds New Type Of Silicone Implant Offers More Natural Looking Breasts, Low Complication Rate

10/18/2005 - American Society of Plastic Surgeons
A new type of silicone breast implant may offer breast augmentation and reconstruction patients more natural looking breasts with a low complication rate, according to a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The new gel implants will be the next type of silicone implant produced by manufacturers if the FDA approves the devices to be marketed and sold in the United States.

Cancer Patients Hide Their Use Of Complementary And Alternative Treatments From Their Doctors

10/17/2005 - American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
Although almost half (48 percent) of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation are using at least one type of complementary and alternative medical therapy (CAM) treatment, a majority of them (75 percent) don't tell their doctor, even while receiving conventional cancer treatment, according to a study presented October 16, 2005, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 47th Annual Meeting in Denver.

Largest Single-institution Study Demonstrates Mammosite Is A Safe Breast Cancer Treatment

10/17/2005 - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Treating breast cancer with MammoSite® resulted in a low risk of complications and was generally well tolerated, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. The study, presented at the 47th annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), Oct. 16 to 20, also evaluated cosmetic outcome of treatment with MammoSite and found that it was comparable to that of standard external beam radiation.

Researchers Develop Cancer 'Nanobomb'

10/17/2005 - University of Delaware
University of Delaware researchers are opening a new front in the war on cancer, bringing to bear new nanotechnologies for cancer detection and treatment and introducing a unique nanobomb that can literally blow up breast cancer tumors.

Sleep duration and breast cancer: a prospective cohort study

P K Verkasalo, K Lillberg, et al. Cancer Research. 2005 Oct 15;65(20):9595-600.
"Breast cancer incidence has increased during recent decades for reasons that are only partly understood. Prevalence of sleeping difficulties and sleepiness has increased, whereas sleeping duration per night has decreased. We hypothesized that there is an inverse association between sleep duration and breast cancer risk, possibly due to greater overall melatonin production in longer sleepers....This study provides some support for a decreased risk of breast cancer in long sleepers."

Smoking and prognosis in women with breast cancer

Fentiman, I. S., et al. Int'l Journ of Clinical Practice, Vol 59 Issue 9 Page 1051, September 2005
Smoking was the third most important predictor of distant relapse-free, breast cancer-specific and overall survival after stage and age at diagnosis. These results suggest that smokers are not only more likely to die of other diseases, but also have a higher mortality from breast cancer, compared with those with the disease who have never smoked. The best prognosis, however, was found in those who had given up smoking.