Cause of Hormone-Breast Cancer Link Found

AUSTRALIAN researchers have discovered why high levels of the female sex hormone estrogen can lead to breast cancer. Scientists at the University of Queensland studied a gene called MYB, known to promote cancer growth, and its reaction to high levels of estrogen. The study confirmed MYB becomes active when exposed to high estrogen levels, results in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Dense Breasts, Hormone Levels Are Two Separate, Independent Risk Factors For Breast Cancer

The density of a woman’s breast tissue and her level of sex hormones are two strong and independent risk factors for breast cancer, according to a team of researchers from Harvard and Georgetown universities. The finding dispels the common belief that the risk associated with dense breasts merely reflects the same risk associated with high levels of circulating sex hormones, they say. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Hot Flashes May Be Welcome Sign In Women with Breast Cancer

Women on tamoxifen therapy who reported having hot flashes were less likely to develop recurrent breast cancer than those who did not report hot flashes, according to a study from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Moreover, hot flashes were a stronger predictor of outcome than age, hormone receptor status or even how advanced the breast cancer was at diagnosis.... "This study provides the first evidence that hot flashes may be an indicator of a better prognosis in women with early stage breast cancer," said the study's senior author, John P. Pierce, PhD, director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. "Our data support the possibility of a significant association between hot flashes and disease outcome."--Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

US drug firm to pay $3m in cancer suit

A Pennsylvania jury awarded $3 million on Tuesday to an Ohio woman who claimed a hormone replacement drug made by Wyeth had caused her breast cancer. The woman, Jennie Nelson, 67, of Dayton, was found to have breast cancer in 2001 after taking the drug, prempro, for five years to treat symptoms of menopause. Her lawyers said Wyeth knew for decades the drug could cause breast cancer but had failed to warn patients. More than 5,000 women have sued Wyeth over its hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro. Wyeth has won two cases and lost two cases, which have been heard in Arkansas and Philadelphia. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

New Study Shows Efficacy Of AROMASIN On Early Breast Cancer

New data from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-33 study, presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, showed that postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer who received Aromasin after five years of tamoxifen were 56% less likely to have a relapse of breast cancer than those who received placebo (P=0.004).“Aromasin provided patients with improved relapse-free survival despite early study closure, unblinding and crossover in the placebo arm,” said Dr. Terry Mamounas, NSABP breast committee chairman and lead investigator for the B-33 study. Median follow-up of 30 months also showed that disease-free survival was improved by 32% (P=0.07). Toxicity experienced with Aromasin in the B-33 trial was acceptable for the adjuvant setting. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Young breast cancer patients test super-hormone treatment

Young women are getting a shot of a male hormone testosterone often used to treat prostate cancer as part of a super-hormone treatment that new research suggests may improve their survival odds for breast cancer. This chemical equivalent of ovary removal has one big advantage over surgery: it's not permanent, so it may preserve a woman's ability to have children. In premenopausal women, the drugs suppress the pituitary gland, which produces hormones that control the ovaries and cause a woman to have a period every month. Side effects of this induced early menopause are similar to those of natural menopause _ hot flashes, night sweats, etc., according to new research presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which ended Sunday. The drugs are most often used in two situations:

• As an alternative to chemotherapy for women who have had surgery for small, hormone-fueled tumors and are considered at relatively low risk for recurrence.
• As a way to keep the ovaries suppressed in women whose periods return after temporarily stopping during chemotherapy.

--Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

As Postmenopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy Drops, Breast Cancer Recurrence Rates Drop

One year after millions of post-menopausal women in the United States stopped using Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in 2002, the number of new breast cancer cases dropped by 7% nationwide. Researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center believe the two are linked - that the incidence of breast cancer went down largely because so many older women stopped using HRT. The investigators are reporting their findings at the 29th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--