Chest X-rays, breast cancer linked

An analysis of 1,600 women with breast cancer gene mutations suggests that exposure to chest X-rays may increase the risk of breast cancer, and that exposure before the age of 20 may be linked to particularly heightened risk. The research, conducted by a consortium of European cancer centers, was the first to analyze the impact of low-level X-ray exposure among women at genetically high risk for the disease. The study was published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

US specialist suggests hormone therapy in breast cancer treatment

Richard Love, breast oncologist and professor at The Ohio State University, USA, recently visited Bangladesh to discuss a pioneering clinical trial and to offer Bangladeshi breast cancer sufferers hormonal treatment for the disease, saying "Hormone therapy should be the first line of treatment for women whose tumors show sensitivity to hormonal change." Love is conducting a study in 11 countries in Asia and Africa designed to investigate the optimal timing for hormonal breast cancer treatments. He encouraged doctors to consider hormone therapy for cancer sufferers whose tumors are hormone receptor positive. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

'Notebook' provides guidance for breast cancer patients

Vallejo's Sutter Solano Medical Center, in conjunction with six other affiliates of Sutter Health, have produced a breast cancer "notebook" for patients. The guide, entitled "My Personal Journey," offers suggestions for women from diagnosis to treatment, and tips to treat or prevent side-effects of the disease and its treatments. The notebook also offers advice on diet, exercise and how to explain the disease to their children. "Having a tool like this helps a woman and her family become more educated," said Janice Hoss, R.N., director of cancer services at Sutter Solano. "In my 25 years of work, I'm not sure of anything quite as comprehensive. It's really an excellent resource for our breast cancer patients."... Sutter Solano Medical Center's new breast cancer notebook is available to patients and anyone who requests it through the hospital at 300 Hospital Dr., Vallejo. The notebook is also available online at http://www.cancer.sutterhealth.org --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Cadmium linked to breast cancer

Women with the highest levels of cadmium in their urine have more than double the risk of breast cancer than women with the lowest levels, according to a new study. However, further studies are needed to determine if these elevated levels are a cause or effect of breast cancer. Although cadmium, a heavy metal, has been classified as a probable cancer-causing substance by the US Environmental Protection Agency, until now no human studies have investigated its link with breast cancer. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Western Australia researchers make breast, prostate cancer breakthrough

Researchers in Western Australia have discovered a gene which could lead to new treatments in breast and prostate cancer, as well as diabetes and obesity.The gene is called SLIRP, Slirp for short, and it's been identified as having the potential to shut down the hormones that keep cancer cells alive.The research team says that in the near term the discovery should lead to lower doses of current cancer therapies like radiation.But the secrets of SLIRP are still being unlocked. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Cholesterol-lowering drugs not associated with increased breast cancer risk

A report being published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that women who took statins--the widely used cholesterol lowering drugs--do not face an increased breast cancer risk as had been suggested by some previous studies. In fact, the study, which was led by a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), found that women who took hydrophobic statins, named for their inability to dissolve readily in water, had an almost one-fifth lower incidence of invasive breast cancer compared to women who did not take statins. "At minimum, our findings suggest that women can now be reassured that they are not increasing their risk of developing breast cancer by taking these drugs," said senior author Jane Cauley, Dr.P.H., professor and vice chair for research, department of epidemiology, GSPH. "Although we found that women who took hydrophobic statins actually lowered their breast cancer risk, we believe this finding needs to be confirmed in additional studies." --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Study questions government's conclusion that raloxifene is better than tamoxifen

Final results from a big study comparing two drugs for preventing breast cancer in high-risk women reveal surprises that challenge the government's claim that one is clearly better. The study compared the old standby, tamoxifen, to raloxifene, a newer drug so far approved only for preventing the bone disease osteoporosis. The government contends raloxifene is safer. At a news conference in April, the National Cancer Institute, which paid for the $88 million study, said both drugs were equally effective at lowering the risk of serious forms of breast cancer. But raloxifene users had 36 percent fewer uterine cancers and 29 percent fewer blood clots, making it a safer choice, government researchers said. However, data made public on Monday show that the uterine cancer results were not statistically significant. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Calcium and vitamin D pills may not help against breast cancer

Taking calcium and vitamin D supplements does not reduce the chances of developing breast cancer in a U.S. study of women's health, according to findings released on Monday, but some women may benefit and more study was needed to confirm the findings. "We can't yet make a general recommendation about how much calcium and vitamin D individuals should take each day as supplements," said Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, the study's lead author. One nutrition expert said the new results were unreliable, in part because women were allowed to take supplements besides what they were given as part of the study. Earlier research had suggested that vitamin D and calcium supplements may protect women from breast cancer, which is expected to kill about 41,000 U.S. women this year. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Xeloda (capecitabine) plus paclitaxel is as effective as and safer than epirubicin plus paclitaxel plus paclitaxel plus paclitaxel

A new randomised phase III study in advanced breast cancer shows the combination of Xeloda (capecitabine) plus paclitaxel is equally as effective and safer than the, recognised as highly potent, combination of epirubicin (an anthracycline) plus paclitaxel.(1) It is well known that anthracyclines (epirubicin and others) are associated with cumulative cardiac toxicity, which can be life-threatening, restricting the number of treatments a patient can receive during her lifetime due to progressive heart failure. Importantly, Xeloda plus paclitaxel (known as 'XP') is safer for patients as it has no cumulative side-effects. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Doctors hail exemestane as the new breast cancer drug

A new type of cancer drug for treating women with breast tumours has produced dramatic improvements in survival rates, it will be revealed tomorrow. Scientists, who will speak at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Atlanta, have found that exemestane produced a 15 per cent improvement in survival rates in breast cancer patients when they changed to the drug after taking tamoxifen for two or three years. For decades, tamoxifen has been viewed as the 'gold standard' treatment for post-menopausal women who have undergone surgery for a first breast cancer. This has produced a steady improvement in breast cancer survival rates over the past decade. But the new research suggests the use of exemestane could make greater improvements. 'These results show that switching to exemestane after two to three years of tamoxifen is safe and can improve the cure rate in post-menopausal women with breast cancer,' said Professor Raoul Coombes of Imperial College, London. 'Both drugs can be an important part of therapy for these patients.' Experts say aromatase inhibitors like exemestane will gradually replace tamoxifen. However, exemestane costs about £1,000 per patient per year, 10 times more than tamoxifen. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

For advanced breast cancer, Tykerb may be an alternative to Herceptin

A Phase III study has shown that Lapatinib ( Tykerb ) and Capecitabine ( Xeloda ) versus Capecitabine alone nearly doubled time to progression ( 36.9 weeks in the combination arm versus 19.7 weeks with Capecitabine alone, p=0.00032 ) in women with refractory advanced or metastatic ErbB2 positive breast cancer whose disease had progressed following treatment with Trastuzumab ( Herceptin ) and other cancer therapies.In April 2006, GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ) stopped enrollment of the study based on the unanimous recommendation of an Independent Data Monitoring Committee ( IDMC ) because it had met its primary endpoint of time to disease progression, and exceeded the predetermined stopping criteria outlined in the committee charter.Tykerb , a small molecule that is administered orally, inhibits the tyrosine kinase components of ErbB1 and ErbB2 receptors.Stimulation of ErbB1 and ErbB2 is associated with cell proliferation and with multiple processes involved in tumor progression, invasion, and metastases. Overexpression of these receptors has been reported in a variety of human tumors and is associated with poor prognosis and reduced overall survival. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--