http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A variety of mutations may give rise to breast cancer, but scientists generally assume that it starts off with just a few. That's because later-stage breast cancers tend to have more mutations—they are more heterogeneous—than early stage cancers. Now, new findings by scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center demonstrate heterogeneity is prevalent even within legions of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common, earliest stage non-invasive breast cancer (stage 0). The results, to be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Tuesday, April 9, suggest that a multiple-target approach to diagnosis and therapy may be needed to fight breast cancer from the very start. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-quantifying-heterogeneity-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:00:03 EST news284730723 Patients who consume high-fat dairy products following breast cancer diagnosis increase their chances of dying from the disease years later, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-high-fat-dairy-products-linked-poorer.html Cancer Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:26:01 EST news282497152 (HealthDay)—Efforts to prevent breast cancer need to focus more aggressively and coherently on environmental factors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-breast-cancer-focus-environment.html Cancer Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:30:01 EST news279905442 (HealthDay)—The drug Avastin (bevacizumab), when added to chemotherapy, does not improve disease-free survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer any better than chemo alone, new research finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-avastin-wont-breast-cancer-survival.html Medications Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:50:01 EST news274099765 Appropriately dosed hypofractionated radiotherapy was gentle on healthy tissues and effective in controlling local-regional early breast cancer, according to 10-year follow-up results from the U.K. Standardization of Breast Radiotherapy Trials (START), presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-hypofractionated-radiotherapy-safe-effective-early.html Cancer Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:40:03 EST news274095123 African American women with early stage, invasive breast cancer were 12 percent less likely than Caucasian women with the same diagnosis to receive a minimally invasive technique, axillary sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, years after the procedure had become the standard of surgical practice, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-african-american-women-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:13:53 EST news273939221 The combined loss of two tumor suppressor genes, retinoblastoma (RB) and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was shown to be strongly associated with progression of DCIS to invasive breast cancer, according to a study published November 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-combined-rb-pten-loss-dcis.html Cancer Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:33:15 EST news273342786 The quality of a woman's social networks—the personal relationships that surround an individual—appears to be just as important as the size of her networks in predicting breast cancer survival, Kaiser Permanente scientists report in the current issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-high-quality-personal-relationships-survival-women.html Cancer Fri, 09 Nov 2012 09:28:42 EST news271675711 A malarial drug is showing promise in stopping breast cancer before it starts, Mason researchers are discovering during a clinical trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-george-mason-university-breast-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:28:32 EST news270998766 Racial and ethnic disparities in breast tumor aggressiveness might be explained by social factors that influence the developing tumor and place those in disadvantaged groups at higher risk for aggressive breast cancer, according to data presented at the Fifth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Oct. 27-30, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-socioeconomic-disadvantage-linked-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:30:45 EST news270797388 Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered a precursor lesion for invasive breast cancer if untreated, and is found in approximately 45% of patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Patients with DCIS only (not accompanied by invasive disease) have a 5-year-survival of nearly 100%, compared to 89% for all stages of invasive breast cancer (24% for patients with distant metastasis). A new study has found that despite an enormous degree of intercellular heterogeneity in both DCIS and IDC, the evolution from noninvasive to invasive disease is determined by recurrent patterns of genomic imbalances in most cases. This study is published online in advance of the November issue of The American Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-invasiveness-ductal-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:46:54 EST news269614006 New research from the Netherlands shows that the switch from screen film mammography (SFM) to digital mammography (DM) in large, population-based breast cancer screening programs improves the detection of life-threatening cancer without significantly increasing detection of clinically insignificant disease. Results of the study are published online in the journal Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-digital-mammography-population-based-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:08 EST news268330160 A receptor protein suppresses local invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells, the most lethal aspect of the disease, according to a research team headed by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-lifr-protein-suppresses-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:35:21 EST news267784508 (HealthDay)—Changing the position of a patient while receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer may reduce the later risks of heart and lung problems, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-face-down-position-safer-breast-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:29:59 EST news266149792 Women who have breast cancer and are treated with two chemotherapy drugs may experience more cardiac problems like heart failure than shown in previous studies, according to a new Cancer Research Network study by Group Health researchers and others in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-heart-problems-chemo-drugs-breast.html Cancer Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:00:01 EST news265550767 (HealthDay)—Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) yields five-year clinical outcomes and patterns of failure similar to those achieved with whole breast irradiation (WBI), with excellent three-year survival for women who develop an ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-outcomes-similar-partial-breast-irradiation.html Cancer Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:10:01 EST news265033685 (HealthDay) -- In patients with invasive breast cancer, lymphovascular invasion (LVI) is a strong and independent predictor of both breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), according to a study published in the Aug. 1 issue of Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-lymphovascular-invasion-independent-predictor-survival.html Cancer Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:04:47 EST news262800180 Certain short strands of RNA, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), have been linked to the progression and metastasis of breast cancer and may provide information about prognosis. However, studies of miRNA expression profiles often report conflicting findings. While the potential for using miRNAs in breast cancer diagnosis is promising, scientists report in a new study published online today in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics that differences in the amount and types of miRNA within breast tumors can be misleading. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-sample-multiple-tumor-zones-breast.html Cancer Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:02 EST news258913629 (HealthDay) -- A widely prescribed drug, metformin, may lower the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with diabetes, a new study indicates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-diabetes-drug-metformin-breast-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:10:01 EST news258653386 (HealthDay) -- For women without diabetes and with operable breast cancer, administration of metformin prior to surgery does not significantly affect the proliferative marker Ki-67 overall, but drug effects are observed according to homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), particularly in luminal B tumors, according to a study published online May 7 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-metformin-dual-effect-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 09 May 2012 15:00:01 EST news255786992 A new study has identified a key mechanism that causes breast cancer to spread. The research, published by Cell Press on March 30th in the journal Molecular Cell, enhances our knowledge about the signals that drive cancer metastasis and identifies new therapeutic targets for a lethal form of invasive breast cancer that is notoriously resistant to treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mechanism-breast-cancer-invasive.html Cancer Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:00:03 EST news252240001 Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) need clear communication and tailored support to enable them to understand this complex breast condition, which has divided the medical profession when it comes to its perception and prognosis. That is the key finding of a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-cancer-havent-medical-staff-women.html Cancer Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:29:18 EST news251540952 Women who use the oestrogen-only form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) appear less likely to develop breast cancer in the longer term, according to new research published Online First in The Lancet Oncology. A follow-up study of over 7500 women from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial who took oestrogen for about 6 years and then stopped has found that they are over 20% less likely to develop breast cancer and remain significantly less likely to die from the disease than those who never used HRT, a period of nearly 5 years after stopping treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-estrogen-only-hrt-women-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:30:03 EST news250274515 The trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) protein protects and maintains the integrity of the epithelial surface in the normal breast. New research has found that while TFF3 protein expression is higher in well-differentiated low grade tumors and therefore associated with features of a good prognosis, it has a more sinister role in breast cancer invasion and metastasis. The report is published in the March issue of the American Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-protein-functions-breast-contribute-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:20:01 EST news248590309 Nearly one in four women who undergo a partial mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer have another surgery to remove additional tissue (reexcision), and there is substantial surgeon and institutional variation in the rate of reexcisions that cannot be explained by patients' clinical characteristics, according to a study in the February 1 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-substantial-variability-additional-surgery-partial.html Surgery Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:02 EST news247239286 According to the results of a new study published in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, many early-stage breast cancer survivors lacked knowledge about their disease and were not meaningfully involved in treatment discussions or asked their preferences regarding the approach to treatment. As a result, the study's investigators determined that there is a need for improvements in the quality of the surgical decision-making process for these patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-early-stage-breast-cancer-patients-lack.html Cancer Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:23:45 EST news245420619 Hispanic women are more likely to die from breast cancer than non-Hispanic white women, according to research presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-breast-cancer-mortality-higher-hispanic.html Cancer Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:10:25 EST news242539817 An international research team led by Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has found biological differences in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer that are linked to the timing of recurrence despite endocrine therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-patterns-genes-breast-cancer-recurrences.html Cancer Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:16:05 EST news242453755 Women in their 40s with no family history of breast cancer are just as likely to develop invasive breast cancer as are women with a family history of the disease, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). These findings indicate that women in this age group would benefit from annual screening mammography. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-mammography-screening.html Cancer Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:47:19 EST news241753625 Consumption of 3 to 6 alcoholic drinks per week is associated with a small increase in the risk of breast cancer, and consumption in both earlier and later adult life is also associated with an increased risk, according to a study in the November 2 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-alcohol-consumption-small-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:28:28 EST news239383692