Research Shows More Than One Type Of Breast Cancer

New research in breast cancer shows that there could be five types of breast cancer and each responds differently to treatment. "Increasingly in the last few years, we've recognized that there's at least five different subsets of breast cancer," said Dr. Charles Shapiro of the James Cancer Hospital. Research shows one type of breast cancer may be more genetic in nature and another may have more to do with hormones, making the difference crucial. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Breast cancer family history may miss father's side

Doctors taking a family history while screening for breast cancer should ask more questions about the father's relatives, say researchers who suspect cases on the paternal side are under-reported. Statistically, a population of women should show equal numbers of relatives with breast cancer on the maternal and paternal side of the family. But a recent survey of information on 800 U.S. women showed that 16 per cent of them reported a relative on the maternal side with breast cancer, compared with only 10 per cent on the paternal side. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Tamoxifen May Only Lengthen Life for Very High Risk Breast Cancer Patients

Most women with an elevated risk for breast cancer will not live longer if they take the cancer prevention drug tamoxifen, a new study shows. Researchers concluded only very high-risk women benefit in terms of life expectancy when they take the drug for prevention. They calculated that women at the lower end of the high-risk scale would spend a whopping $1.3 million per year of life added if they purchased tamoxifen in the United States. In Canada, where the drug sells for much less, the cost per year of life saved was estimated to be about one-tenth that amount. The researchers used a computer-generated model to predict life expectancies for a hypothetical group of women at high risk for breast cancer who did and did not take tamoxifen to lower their risk. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

67 Year Old Woman Claims Prempro Caused Breast Cancer

It is being reported that the hormone replacement drug called Prempro, may have been a contributing factor to a woman's development of breast cancer. Linda Reeves was on the hormone replacement therapy to protect against osteoporosis, a condition that plagued her mother, when she developed breast cancer and was told to stop taking the pills by her doctor. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

New techniques support Breast MRIs in detecting and treating breast cancer

Researchers have developed new techniques to aid clinicians in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. They have developed a unique software platform for the analysis and display of serial-time MRI, which is showing great promise in the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Breast MRI is a relatively new tool used by physicians to diagnose breast cancer as an adjunct to conventional mammography. Breast MRI displays the behavior of a cancerous lesion in three dimensions and approaches a nearly 100 percent accuracy rate in the detection of invasive cancer. In contrast, mammography provides a two-dimensional view of the breast and surrounding tissue and only detects 80 to 85 percent of tumors. One of the main strengths of MRI is its precise delineation of soft tissue and its ability to image the breast in fine sections dynamically by taking multiple MRI images over time. The percentage of medical centers doing breast MRI is small, but growing. According to Dr. Roger Goldwyn, “Our approach is to use innovative image-processing tools to find additional tumors and to help determine patient management outcomes. These techniques have also led to biopsies directed by these image-processing tools, surgical planning modifications, and monitoring effectiveness of chemotherapy.” --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Study finds gene that doubles risk of breast cancer

SCIENTISTS have discovered a new breast cancer gene which doubles a woman's chance of developing the disease. Carrying a damaged version of the gene called ATM means the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 70 increases from one in 12 for the general population to one in six, the researchers said. It is hoped that the finding could lead to new ways of identifying women who face an increased risk of cancer, and also to help treat and prevent the disease. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Study compares breast-cancer drugs

Mayo Clinic: Can you provide an update on the recent breast cancer prevention research that was in the news? - Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. Answer (from Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, Breast Diagnostic Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.): You are probably referring to the National Cancer Institute's Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) Trial. The initial results were released in April 2006 and are important for anyone who is at high risk of developing breast cancer. This four-year study, with nearly 20,000 women participating, compared the effectiveness of drugs tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and raloxifene (Evista) in reducing breast cancer for postmenopausal women at increased risk of the disease. Results from a landmark 1998 study had already shown that tamoxifen reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer in premenopausal and postmenopausal women by about 50 percent. STAR researchers found that raloxifene, a drug used to treat osteoporosis, was just as effective as tamoxifen in reducing the risk of developing invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Both tamoxifen and raloxifene are selective estrogen receptor modulators and work by blocking estrogen receptors found in the breast from binding to estrogen. Estrogen stimulates breast tissue and cell proliferation and has been implicated in the development of breast cancer. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Male breast cancer: oestrogen blocker and hormone combination may provide much needed male-specific treatment

Medical oncologists are seeking a drug combination can slow the progression of male breast cancer, a rare disease that often goes undiagnosed until it’s in an advanced stage and often too late to treat effectively. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Epeius Biotechnologies Initiates Tri-REX Vaccination Protocols For Breast Cancer

Epeius Biotechnologies today announced the opening of a Vaccine-assisted Phase I/II clinical trial for metastatic breast cancer that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy. The innovative protocol introduces Reximmune-C(TM), the second in a series of targeted biologic therapies designed to seek out, accumulate in, and destroy metastatic tumor nodules, while sparing normal cells and tissues. The lead product, Rexin-G(TM), has recently been granted Orphan Drug Status by the FDA. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Breast cancer surgery during your lunch break

A new machine that cuts out tumours within minutes means women can have surgery to remove lumps from their breasts in a lunch hour. The high-tech equipment slices up tissue into tiny pieces and then vacuums it out of the body. All that's left is a four-millimetre wound which heals quickly and leaves no scar. The new procedure, which is being trialled at the Princess Grace Hospital in London, is expected to transform breast surgery for thousands of women.
At the moment, it is only being used on benign tumours, but doctors hope to extend its use to malignant growths. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Fighting Breast Cancer with new enhanced 3D lesion detection technology

Zumatek's technology allows for earlier detection of breast cancer, supplementing conventional X-ray mammography used for women over 40 years old with innovative breast scanners to detect cancer for women in their 30s. Zumatek was formed by researchers at Duke Medical Center to commercialize their platform of innovative breast scanners designed to detect subtle changes in breast cells before a tumor fully develops. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Abraxane™ Approved by FDA for Breast Cancer

The FDA has approved Abraxane™ (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) in metastatic breast cancer. Abraxane™ is used in patients who have failed combination therapy or who have relapsed six months after adjuvant chemotherapy. Approving this drug has created “protein-bound particle” drugs with Abraxane™ leading as the first in this class. American Bioscience, Inc. (ABI) has made this possible with its proprietary nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab) technology. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Tesmilifene Gets Fast-Track Status for Breast Cancer

YM Biosciences, Inc. has recently been granted fast-track status for its lead drug Tesmilifene (DDPE). The indication is for the treatment of advanced breast cancer to be used in combination with an anthracycline-based regimen. Tesmilifene is considered to be a small molecule chemopotentiator that is currently being evaluated in a phase III clinical trial. The trial includes 700 patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer comparing epiribucin and cyclophosphamide with or without tesmilifene. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Mammograms found to raise cancer risks

Due to cumulative radiation, doctors are recommending MRIs to young women who should be screened. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--