Dendreon breast cancer drug Neuvenge effective in trial

Dendreon Corp., the developer of a treatment to stimulate the immune system against prostate cancer, said a small study suggests the same technique may help women with breast cancer.
A clinical trial of Neuvenge showed that four of 18 patients taking the treatment, or 22 percent, had their tumors shrink or stabilize, according to results published in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The Seattle-based company, which has no marketed products, lost almost $1 billion of its market value May 9, when its leading drug candidate, Provenge, was delayed by a request from U.S. regulators for more proof that it works. Dendreon presented early results for Neuvenge, its only other drug in human testing, at a scientific meeting in March 2004. The company hasn't invested since in any large clinical trials needed for approval. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

New breast-cancer drug Exemestane

Government drug-buying agency Pharmac has approved funding for a new drug for breast-cancer sufferers. Pharmac medical director Dr Peter Moodie said exemestane would be fully funded under a deal with pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor drug, can help to block the growth of hormone-dependent tumours by lowering the amount of oestrogen hormone in the body. --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--

Medical Breakthrough -- Radiation Seeds for Breast Cancer

Radiation treatment is often necessary for breast cancer patients to ensure remaining cancer cells don't come back after a lumpectomy. It can be painful, time consuming, and emotionally and physically draining. Tonight's medical breakthrough shows us how a new therapy cuts treatment time from several weeks to one day. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--

Potential new therapeutic target for breast cancer

A new publication in the journal Clinical Cancer Research reports on the genetic characterization of classic lobular carcinomas (CLCs), a type of tumour that accounts for 10-15% of all breast cancers. These tumours show a disappointing response to current forms of treatment (chemotherapy and endocrine therapy, since most of the tumours express estrogen receptors), so a team of researchers led by the Institute of Cancer Research set out to perform an analysis of their molecular genetic features, with a view to seeking potential alternative targets for therapy. Thirteen typical tumour samples were profiled for gene expression using a variety of techniques, leading to the identification of a genomic region that is amplified in the CLCs. From within this region, the gene FGFR1 was found to be over-expressed; this gene encodes the fibroblast growth factor receptor one, which is a cellular signalling molecule. A breast cancer cell line was identified that showed the same molecular genetic and expression profiles as the CLCs (despite its reported original derivation from a different type of tumour, a ductal carcinoma); inhibition of FGFR1 expression using either small interfering RNA (siRNA) or achemical inhibitor caused reduced survival of this cell line, but not of control cell lines.The researchers therefore concluded that FGFR1 signalling contributes tothe survival of classic lobular carcinomas cells, and possibly also to ductal carcinoma cells, and that it may therefore represent a useful therapeutic target for FGFR1-positive breast cancers. --Click the title of this post to read the full article from its source--