http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have shown that loss of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (RB) in triple negative breast cancer patients is associated with better clinical outcomes. This is a new marker to identify the subset of these patients who may respond positively to chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-sabcs-loss-rb-triple-negative.html Cancer Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:19:36 EST news242680748 (AP) -- Breast cancer experts are cheering what could be some of the biggest advances in more than a decade: two new medicines that significantly delay the time until women with very advanced cases get worse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-big-breast-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:30:02 EST news242540493 Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), a procedure that removes the unaffected breast in patients with cancer in one breast, provides only a modest increase in life expectancy, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In fact, the study shows that the surgery may actually reduce the quality-adjusted life expectancy – a measure of life expectancy that takes into account quality of life – among women whose breast cancer is not hereditary. Since only around 10% of breast cancers are known to be caused by genetic factors, the findings of the study apply to the vast majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer who are treated with mastectomy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-contralateral-prophylactic-mastectomy-limited-gains.html Cancer Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:11:01 EST news242539847 The largest study to investigate the tolerability of the breast cancer drug tamoxifen in male breast cancer patients has shown that men stop taking their prescribed therapy early because of problems with side effects caused by the drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-male-breast-cancer-patients-tamoxifen.html Cancer Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:16:22 EST news240642975 Women with the deadliest and rarest form of breast cancer now have a chance of treatment where once their options were severely limited, thanks to a new discovery by George Mason University researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-women-deadliest-breast-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:25:22 EST news240492310 A new potential target to slow breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis has been identified by a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Kremer from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). Complications in breast cancer patients are commonly caused by the spread of the disease through metastasis to other parts of the body, most often to the bones and lungs. These findings, published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), suggest that a specific protein plays a key role in the progression of the disease outside of the initial tumor area. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-breast-cancer_1.html Cancer Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:42:00 EST news240151312 Employers need to be more aware of the capabilities of women affected by breast cancer and provide them with better support, backed by employment directives and occupational health policies, according to a paper in the November issue of the European Journal of Cancer Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-employers-tackle-culture-breast-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:58:16 EST news239885883 This year, more than 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women will not survive their battle with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. New research from the University of Missouri shows that certain factors, including marital status, having children in the home, income level and age, affect the likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors. Further, depressed patients are less likely to adhere to medication regimens, potentially complicating the progress of their treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-link-depression-breast-cancer-outcomes.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:21:24 EST news239473253 In the largest study of its kind to date, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have shown that women related to a patient with a breast cancer caused by a hereditary mutation -- but who don't have the mutation themselves -- have no higher risk of getting cancer than relatives of patients with other types of breast cancer. The multinational, population-based study involving more than 3,000 families settles a controversy that arose four years ago when a paper hinted that a familial BRCA mutation in and of itself was a risk factor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-higher-breast-cancer-women-dont.html Cancer Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:00:03 EST news239289107 Whitehead Institute scientists report that patients whose estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers have high levels of the ancient cellular survival factor heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) experience poor outcomes -- including increased mortality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-high-master-protein-linked-poor.html Cancer Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:00:01 EST news239284830 Delivering anticancer drugs into breast ducts via the nipple is highly effective in animal models of early breast cancer, and has no major side effects in human patients, according to a report by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers in Science Translational Medicine on October 26. The results of the study are expected to lead to more advanced clinical trials of so-called intraductal treatment for early breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-through-the-nipple-breast-cancer-therapy-early.html Cancer Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:00:01 EST news238855423 Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have discovered a new way to model human breast cancer that could lead to new tools for predicting which breast cancers will spread and new ways to test drugs that may stop its spread. Their results are published online today in the journal Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-breast-cancer-discovery-probability-metastasis.html Cancer Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:25:39 EST news238595129 (Medical Xpress) -- Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that switching off a gene called CERT makes breast cancer cells more sensitive to a range of drugs. The research is published in the Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-silencing-paves-treatments-breast.html Cancer Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:40:01 EST news238415280 (Medical Xpress) -- Erxi Wu, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Fengfei Wang, research associate of pharmaceutical sciences, co-wrote the article, "Anti-cancer activities of tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate in breast cancer patients under radiotherapy,” which will be published by Current Molecular Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-tea-epigallocatechin-gallate-inhibits-cell-proliferation.html Cancer Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:37:38 EST news238401438 Only seven per cent of female breast cancer patients opt for breast reconstruction surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-breast-cancer-patients-reconstruction-surgery.html Cancer Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:20:54 EST news238296044 A new study has found that an osteoporosis drug protects against the bone damaging side effects of certain breast cancer medications. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that some breast cancer patients could take zoledronic acid in addition to their anti-cancer medications to maintain bone health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-drug-bone-loss-side-effects.html Cancer Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:33:54 EST news237436424 A chemical component of the marijuana plant could prevent the onset of pain associated with drugs used in chemo therapy, particularly in breast cancer patients, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Pharmacy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-marijuana-component-ease-pain-chemotherapy.html Medications Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:49:22 EST news237124153 Treating women with early stage breast cancer with a combination of chemotherapy and the molecularly targeted drug Herceptin significantly increases survival in patients with a specific genetic mutation that results in very aggressive disease, a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center reported Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-survival-early-stage-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:54:07 EST news237056037 Patients at Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare were the first in the nation to participate in a clinical trial to determine the safety, tolerability and effectiveness for usage of a new drug combination consisting of a standard drug called gemcitabine and a drug called nab-paclitaxel for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-results-drug-pancreatic-cancer-patients.html Cancer Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:20:58 EST news236967650 Stockholm, Sweden: Women diagnosed with breast cancer late in life are at greater risk of dying from the disease than younger patients, assuming they survive other age-related conditions, according to a study to be presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress on Saturday. The results point to shortcomings in patient care for elderly women as well as differences in the progress of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-elderly-breast-cancer-patients-treatment.html Cancer Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:38:34 EST news235935491 Depression, in addition to other barriers, may prevent Latina breast cancer survivors from undergoing preventive health screening for colorectal and ovarian cancer, according to data presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Sept. 18-21, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-depression-affected-health-screening-latina.html Cancer Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:32:20 EST news235661526 Psychosocial stress could play a role in the etiology of breast cancer aggressiveness, particularly among minority populations, according to study results presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here from Sept. 18-21, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-association-stress-breast-cancer-aggressiveness.html Cancer Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:14:33 EST news235660461 Gene therapy delivered directly to a particularly stubborn type of breast cancer cell causes the cells to self-destruct, lowers chance of recurrence and helps increase the effectiveness of some types of chemotherapy, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in the Sept. 13 edition of Cancer Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-gene-therapy-breast-cancer-stem.html Cancer Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:24:55 EST news235049043 A study by Mayo Clinic physician and North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) researcher Sandhya Pruthi, M.D., and colleagues found that flaxseed provided no benefit in easing hot flashes among breast cancer patients and postmenopausal women. The study is in the current online version of the journal Menopause. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-flaxseed-hot-breast-cancer-menopause.html Other Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:02:18 EST news234633209 Nearly half of breast cancer patients carrying the BRCA1 gene mutation experience a complete pathological response (pCR) – the disappearance of all evidence of disease from the breast tissue and lymph nodes – regardless of disease stage after standard neoadjuvent chemotherapy, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-brca1-gene-mutation-neoadjuvant-chemotherapy.html Cancer Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:37:36 EST news234545782 Breast cancer patients over the age of 60 with early-stage, hormone-responsive small tumors who forego adjuvant endocrine, also called hormonal therapy, are not at an increased risk of mortality compared to women of the same age without breast cancer, according to a study published Aug. 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-adjuvant-therapy-older-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:32:22 EST news234027128 Amid the controversy surrounding the Food and Drug Administration's ruling that Avastin should no longer be used to treat metastatic breast cancer, a new multinational Phase III clinical trial shows that Avastin significantly increased tumor response rates in breast cancer patients when given before surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-clinical-trial-benefit-adding-avastin.html Cancer Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:47:04 EST news233321197 The toxicities associated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) may explain the lack of overall survival improvement compared with tamoxifen, according to a study published August 22 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-toxicity-aromatase-inhibitors-lack-survival.html Cancer Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:26:47 EST news233249178 Mayo Clinic has received investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration for two new cancer vaccines that mobilize the body's defense mechanisms to destroy malignant cells. The vaccines are among the first aimed at preventing cancer recurrence. The approval clears the way for Phase I clinical trials with women treated for ovarian or breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mayo-clinic-fda-ovarian-breast.html Cancer Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:46:24 EST news232807571 Taking a leukemia chemotherapy drug may help breast cancer patients who don't respond to tamoxifen overcome resistance to the widely-used drug, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-leukemia-drug-reverses-tamoxifen-resistance-breast.html Cancer Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:30:06 EST news231417656