Keyword: breastcancer
-
Metformin is a widely prescribed drug for managing type 2 diabetes. In recent years, indications of its potential anticancer properties have emerged in research. A study has found that metformin activates the body's immune cells. The effect was particularly observed in what are known as dendritic cells, which are the most effective in helping the immune system identify cancer cells as foreign entities. "Our study found that metformin contributed to the metabolism of dendritic cells so that they became active and enhanced the immune response against cancer cells," says Rita Turpin. Identifying this effect can help to develop anticancer therapies...
-
Removal of armpit lymph nodes can leave many breast cancer patients with lingering lymphedema, a painful and unsightly swelling of the arm. It's long been known that if a breast cancer has extensively spread within the lymph nodes, removing those nodes is the patient's only recourse. …To help clarify things for patients with such findings, de Boniface and colleagues tracked outcomes for nearly 2,800 breast cancer patients from five countries. All had metastases that were larger than 2 millimeters in one or two of their sentinel nodes. About half of the group were randomly chosen to undergo more complete armpit...
-
Suzanne Somers, best known for her roles on Three's Company and Step by Step, has died. Somers died on Sunday morning, PEOPLE confirms. She was 76. “Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” Somers’ longtime publicist R. Couri Hay wrote in a statement shared on behalf of the actress’ family. “Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family,” the statement continued. “Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th....
-
In a randomized trial, researchers uncover evidence supporting a shorter treatment time for breast cancer patients. The study compared two separate dosing schedules of pencil-beam scanning proton therapy, the most advanced type of proton therapy known for its precision in targeting cancer cells while preserving healthy tissue to reduce the risk of side effects. Survival rates for breast cancer continue to improve due to advances, leading to increasing emphasis on reducing the long-term toxicity of cancer treatment, including radiotherapy. Prior to this study, all patients treated with proton postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) had received a conventional 25- to 30-day course delivered...
-
Anti-estrogenic therapies can suppress the growth of cancer that does not express estrogen receptors; when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies, they halt tumor progression in mice models. Estrogen, a group of female hormones, is known to be involved in cancer progression, especially breast cancer. About 75% of breast cancers are estrogen-sensitive: they express the hormone receptor estrogen receptor α (ERα), and estrogen promotes tumor growth. Surprisingly, estrogen has been observed to promote tumor growth in ERα-negative cancers, such as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), for reasons that are not fully understood. The researchers analyzed patient data from The Cancer Genome...
-
Some women with early-stage, low-risk breast cancer may not need radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery, according to research. The research shows that women 55 or older with a specific subtype of Stage 1 breast cancer can be effectively treated with just surgery and endocrine therapy. Women with early breast cancer who have breast-conserving surgery typically receive radiation to the breast daily for several weeks to reduce the risk of cancer returning in the breast. However, radiation can be associated with both short-term and long-term side effects. The subtype of breast cancer that researchers focused on—luminal A—represents up to 60% of all...
-
Treatment times for radiotherapy could be reduced for some early breast cancer patients, according to a trial. Results show giving some breast cancer patients a targeted additional dose of radiotherapy at the same time as treatment to the whole breast (known as simultaneous integrated boost or SIB) cuts the time taken to complete treatment by at least one week. The trial found that SIB radiotherapy given at the right dose works just as well as existing radiotherapy techniques in reducing the risk of the cancer returning in the treated breast. The chance of the cancer returning to the treated breast...
-
A California mother has claimed she was told to terminate her surrogate pregnancy at 24 weeks by the child's prospective fathers after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Brittney Pearson, 37, from Sacramento told DailyMail.com that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May at 22 weeks. She says that after a full body MRI revealed the extent of the disease, the gay couple who were paying her to carry their child used legal threats to pressure her into terminating the pregnancy. Initially, Pearson claims, doctors at Sutter Health Medical Centre in Sacramento, believed she would be able to have...
-
Women ages 45 years and older taking estrogen hormone therapy in pill form were more likely to develop high blood pressure than those using transdermal (topical, applied to the skin) or vaginal formulations, according to research. "We know estrogens ingested orally are metabolized through the liver and this can lead to higher blood pressure," said Cindy Kalenga, an M.D./Ph.D.-candidate This study involved a large group of over 112,000 women, ages 45 years and older. First, researchers investigated the relationship between route of estrogen-only hormone therapy administration and risk of developing high blood pressure at least one year after starting the...
-
Researchers found when ribociclib, a targeted therapy drug, is added to hormone therapy there are a significant invasive disease-free survival benefit in patients with early hormone-receptor (HR) positive/HER2 negative breast cancer. Researchers found that patients who took the combination therapy had substantially longer invasive disease-free survival compared to those who were treated with the hormone therapy alone, regardless of whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. The addition of the targeted therapy reduced the risk of recurrence by 25%. "The results from the clinical trial have immediate implications for patients," said Slamon. "The findings show this combination is...
-
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN)—nerve pain, tingling, or numbness in the hands or feet—is a common side effect of certain cancer treatments, including two drugs frequently used to treat cancer—the taxanes paclitaxel and docetaxel. Initial results from a large study that tracked CIPN in more than 1,100 patients treated for breast cancer with a taxane show a pattern of clinically meaningful, persistent sensory and motor symptoms, with patients experiencing more severe symptoms with paclitaxel than with docetaxel. Michael J. Fisch, MD, said "These results are highly relevant because taxanes such as paclitaxel and docetaxel are integral to our treatment of breast...
-
In what may turn out to be a long-missing piece in the puzzle of breast cancer, researchers have identified the molecular sparkplug that ignites cases of the disease currently unexplained by the classical model of breast-cancer development. "We have identified what we believe is the original molecular trigger that initiates a cascade culminating in breast tumor development in a subset of breast cancers that are driven by estrogen," said Peter Park. The researchers said as many as one-third of breast cancer cases may arise through the newly identified mechanism. The study also shows that the sex hormone estrogen is the...
-
Many cancer therapies do not produce the hoped-for results. A common reason for this is that the tumors develop resistance to the medications. This is the case with alpelisib, a treatment for advanced breast cancer. A research group has now discovered that the loss of the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene leads to a reduced response to alpelisib. The researchers also found that the dietary supplement N-acetylcysteine restores the sensitivity of cancer cells to this treatment. At the moment, patients with advanced and metastatic breast cancer lack effective treatment options. The PI3K signaling pathway is often overactive in breast cancer due...
-
Scientists have discovered why breast cancer cells that have spread to the lungs may "wake up" following years of sleep, forming incurable secondary tumors. Their research reveals the mechanism that triggers this breast cancer "time bomb"—and suggests a strategy to defuse it. Patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer—the most common type—have a continued risk of their cancer recurring in another part of their body for many years or even decades after their original diagnosis and treatment. When breast cancer cells spread from the first cancer in the breast to other parts of the body it is called secondary...
-
A new study has found that in women with BRCA gene mutations, having a high body mass index (BMI) is linked to more DNA damage in breast cells. Specifically, the study discovered that elevated BMI was associated with more damage to epithelium tissue DNA. Priya Bhardwaj, Ph.D. Candidate and her team worked with cultured healthy breast tissues collected from individuals with mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The samples were categorized as coming from a donor of lower weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2, n = 43) or overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2, n = 26). BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are protecting...
-
Compared to other common supplemental screening methods, breast MRI was superior at detecting breast cancer in women with dense breasts, according to a study. Roughly 47% of women have dense breasts, which is an independent risk factor of breast cancer. While screening mammography effectively detects up to 98% of cancer in fatty breasts, breast cancer is more easily missed in dense breasts. "Breast cancer masses appear white on a mammogram, and dense tissue also appears white, which makes finding breast cancers within dense breast tissue harder for radiologists," said Vivianne Freitas, M.D., M.Sc. The four most common supplemental imaging tests...
-
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said Monday she has been diagnosed with both Stage 1 throat cancer and breast cancer. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said Monday she has been diagnosed with both throat cancer and breast cancer. “This double whammy is serious but still fixable,” said the 66-year-old in a statement. “I’m hoping for a favorable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while, but I’ll fight with all have I got.” Navratilova’s fighting spirit is well-documented; she won a total of 59 Grand Slam titles -- in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. And she’s already beaten cancer once before. After...
-
Researchers are learning more about ways to prevent serious side effects from chemotherapy used to treat breast cancer patients. The work led by Xi Wu, Ph.D. was recently published. Anthracyclines belong to a class of chemotherapy agents used to treat a variety of cancers and remain an important part of therapy for patients with high-risk breast cancer. While effective in improving cure rates, they can also cause serious heart damage, including heart failure, which is often irreversible. "This is of crucial clinical importance for breast cancer patients as there are no proven strategies for prevention or interventions for cardiotoxicity," said...
-
A short, simple and safe drug treatment developed at Tel Aviv University reduced the risk of the spread of cancer metastases after surgery to remove the primary tumor. The research was led by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu. The risk of metastases after tumor removal is estimated at 35% among colon cancer patients. Prof. Ben-Eliyahu explains, "The stress and inflammation reactions and anxiety of cancer recurring—all have an adverse effect on the body's ability to fight metastatic processes." "The good news is that we know how to treat both stress and inflammation using off-the-shelf medications." The researchers gave 34 colon cancer patients...
-
While diabetes is already associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer, a new study indicates that presence of the disease may increase tumor growth and stiffness. Researchers also found that diabetes treatments could reduce the tumor growth and stiffness to levels comparable with non-diabetic ones. The study sheds light on a previously unknown biomechanical mechanism in which diabetic hyperglycemia acts on the extracellular matrix—a molecular network that promotes the growth of cells—to accelerate tumor growth and stiffness in breast cancer. The research offers potential evidence for future therapies targeted to diabetic cancer patients.
|
|
|