Tag Archives: breast

Anderson algorithm increases surgical success with advanced ovarian cancer

The researchers describe the Anderson Algorithm in a perspective piece outlining a personalized surgical approach to ovarian cancer published online at Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. “Our algorithm allows us to be much smarter about whom we operate on up front, providing a more individualized approach to surgery that’s led to better results for our patients,” said Anil Sood, M.D., professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine and senior author of the paper. The multi-step process was developed through MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program, an ambitious effort launched in 2012 to dramatically reduce cancer deaths. Sood is co-leader of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Moon Shot…

Women back idea of more breast screens for those at high risk of cancer

Fewer women (60 per cent) would be happy to be screened less often if they were found to be at lower risk. More than 940 women from across the UK were asked for their views on the possibility of tailoring breast screening to people’s genetic risk in a study funded by Cancer Research UK and The Eve Appeal…

Palbociclib shows promise in patients with hormone-resistant breast cancer

“The FDA approval has expanded treatments options for many metastatic breast cancer patients, but these new results are showing how effective the drug can also be for breast cancer patients who have already tried endocrine therapies and may be running out of options,” said lead investigator Angela DeMichele, MD, MSCE, associate professor in the division of Hematology/Oncology and Epidemiology and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the Abramson Cancer Center. “Combined with the promising results from other trials looking at the effectiveness of this drug, our results indicate that palbociclib can extend the duration of disease control and produce tumor shrinkage in patients with estrogen-receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, without the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy.” The newly-published phase II trial primarily sought to evaluate disease response and control, while monitoring for the presence of side effects such as neutropenia, an abnormally low white blood cell count. Patients enrolled in the trial had previously undergone several prior chemotherapy and hormonal regimens for metastatic disease…

Breast density helps better predict breast cancer risk — ScienceDaily

The study, “Volumetric Breast Density Improves Breast Cancer Risk Prediction,” was presented during the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. “There is increasing interest in implementing personalized breast cancer screening strategies instead of guidelines based on a woman’s age. However, most risk models do not include breast density, which is an important indicator of a woman’s breast cancer risk,” said Jennifer Harvey, MD, professor of radiology at the UVA School of Medicine…

Diagnostic tool Oncotype DX associated with reduction in chemotherapy rates post-surgery in younger women with breast cancer — ScienceDaily

Mariana Chavez Mac Gregor, M.D., assistant professor, health services research and breast medical oncology, will present the findings at a poster session of the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Oncotype DX is a 21-gene assay used to help estimate the likelihood of recurrence in women with early-stage breast cancer and, thus, determine those who may or may not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network includes its use for women with lymph node-negative, hormone receptor (HR)-positive and HER2-negative disease. …

Tamoxifen reduces breast cancer rates by nearly a third for 20 years

The IBIS-I trial (International Breast Cancer Intervention Study), led by Queen Mary University of London and funded by Cancer Research UK, examined the long-term risks and benefits of taking tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease (aged 35-70 years old, primarily with a family history of breast cancer). During the study 7,154 pre and post-menopausal women were randomized to receive either tamoxifen (20mg daily) or a matching placebo for five years. …

Tamoxifen reduces breast cancer rates by nearly a third for 20 years — ScienceDaily

The IBIS-I trial (International Breast Cancer Intervention Study), led by Queen Mary University of London and funded by Cancer Research UK, examined the long-term risks and benefits of taking tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease (aged 35-70 years old, primarily with a family history of breast cancer). During the study 7,154 pre and post-menopausal women were randomized to receive either tamoxifen (20mg daily) or a matching placebo for five years. After completing treatment, the health of all participants was monitored with an average follow-up time of 16 years and maximum of 22 years. The new and extended analysis, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, revealed 251 women from the tamoxifen group versus 350 from the placebo group developed breast cancer — a reduction of 29 per cent. …

Immune function marker does not predict benefit of trastuzumab in HER-2+ breast cancer patients — ScienceDaily

And since trastuzumab, and not chemotherapy alone, is the standard of care for the HER2-positive sub-class of breast cancer, there is no need to test for these lymphocytes in HER2-positive patients in order to predict outcome, say researchers from Mayo Clinic in Florida. These findings, presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, don’t mean that immune function in this class of cancer isn’t important — just that it is likely more complicated than measuring the number of these lymphocytes, says the study’s lead author, Edith A. Perez, M.D., deputy director at large, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, and director of the Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program at Mayo Clinic in Florida. …

New breast cancer classification based on epigenetics

The identification of patients with high-risk breast cancer is key to knowing whether a patient will require only the removal of the tumor by surgery or whether if she will need additional chemotherapy to make sure the removal of breast cancer cells. Currently, known genetic mutations and expression patterns are determined, but the puzzle of the genetics of the disease remains a large unfinished part…

Immune function marker does not predict benefit of trastuzumab in HER-2+ breast cancer patients

And since trastuzumab, and not chemotherapy alone, is the standard of care for the HER2-positive sub-class of breast cancer, there is no need to test for these lymphocytes in HER2-positive patients in order to predict outcome, say researchers from Mayo Clinic in Florida. These findings, presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, don’t mean that immune function in this class of cancer isn’t important — just that it is likely more complicated than measuring the number of these lymphocytes, says the study’s lead author, Edith A. Perez, M.D., deputy director at large, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, and director of the Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program at Mayo Clinic in Florida. “Researchers are really interested in the different components of the immune system as a predictor of the natural history of breast cancer and benefit from different therapies, but it may be that when trastuzumab is used, it is the function of the immune system and not the number of lymphocytes that is important,” Dr. …