Cancer
Rare ATM gene mutations, plus radiation, may increase risk of a second breast cancer
Certain rare mutations in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene, combined with radiation exposure, may increase a woman’s risk of developing a second cancer in the opposite breast, according to a study published online March 19 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Breast cancer survivors are at increased risk of developing a second cancer in the other, or contralateral breast, compared to women who have not had breast cancer. The ATM gene is known to play a role in cells’ response to DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation, another breast cancer risk factor. But it has been unclear whether women who carry ATM mutations are especially susceptible to radiation-induced breast cancer.
To address this issue, Jonine Bernstein, M.D., of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and colleagues, compared ATM mutations among women who had developed a second cancer in the contralateral breast to mutations in those who had a cancer in only one breast. The women were participants in the Women’s Environment, Cancer, and Radiation Epidemiology (WECARE) Study, an international case–control study. There were 708 case subjects—women with contralateral cancer—and 1,397 control subjects who did not have a second cancer but were similar to the case subjects in other respects, such as age and race.
Obesity and Colon Cancer a Deadly Combination
Obese patients with colon cancer may have a greater chance of dying from the disease compared to those at a normal weight.
Every year in the United States, roughly 150,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer. A new study involved 4,381 patients with stage II or II colon cancer who were treated with chemotherapy, 20 percent of whom were obese.
“Obesity has long been established as a risk factor for cancer, but our study in colon cancer patients shows that obesity predicts a poorer prognosis after the cancer is surgically removed,” Frank A. Sinicrope, M.D., a professor of medicine and oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, N.Y., was quoted as saying.
Red Meat, Obesity Raise the Risk of Colon Cancer
Two new research studies have added weight to the evidence that both the consumption of red meat and excess weight contribute to the increased risk of developing colon cancer.
A team from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Rockville MD reviewed data from a cohort of over 300,000 men and women and reviewed the detailed questionnaires by the participants about the types of meat that they consumed and how it was cooked. After seven years of follow-up, there were 2,710 cases of colon cancer in the group.
Those who ate the most red and processed meat showed a significantly higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than those in the bottom quintile who consumed the least amount of meat.
LSUHSC researcher finds first inherited prostate cancer genetic mutation in African-American men
Shahriar Koochekpour, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, led research that has discovered, for the first time, a genetic mutation in African-American men with a family history of prostate cancer who are at increased risk for the disease. Dr. Koochekpour, who is also a member of the LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, identified an inheritable genetic defect in the receptor for the male hormone, androgen (testosterone), that may contribute to the development of prostate cancer and its progression. Scientific reports linking inheritable androgen receptor mutations to prostate cancer in Caucasians are rare, and this is the first one that focuses on the African-American population. The study is available in the advance online publication of the Nature Publishing Group’s Asian Journal of Andrology.
Dr. Koochekpour and his laboratory discovered this genetic change by testing DNA extracted from white blood cells of African-American and Caucasian men from Louisiana who had a proven medical history of prostate cancer in their families.
“We detected this mutation only in African-American men with prostate cancer,” notes Dr. Koochekpour.
Cellular Communication in the Cancer Microenvironment
Writing in the journal Genes & Development, Dr. Johanna Joyce and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center lend new insight into the mechanism by which tumor-associated macrophages promote malignant progression.
Innate immune cells, including macrophages, comprise a large fraction of the cellular environment that infiltrates tumors – the so-called “tumor microenvironment.” Tumors have a dynamic relationship with their microenvironment, communicating via secreted factors to modulate cellular growth and cancer progression.
In their paper, Joyce and colleagues delineate how tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) promote tumor growth and invasion. The researchers found that macrophage cells infiltrating pancreatic, mammary and lung tumors produce high levels of the proteases cathepsin B and S (Cts B and S), which enhances tumor growth and invasion. Interestingly, the researchers discovered that increased Cts B and S activity is stimulated by the tumors, themselves – through the release of interleukin (IL)-4.
Cell-Enriched Fat Grafts Improve Long-Term Graft Retention in Breast Reconstructive Surgery
In a study published in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery, researchers examine the science behind cell-enriched autologous fat grafting and its application to cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The results demonstrate a doubling in graft retention in cell-enriched grafts and provide insight into the mechanisms behind this improvement. The results reinforce both commercial observations and interim data from the RESTORE 2 clinical study that was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2009.
The preclinical results described in the paper support the potential clinical utility for cell-enriched fat grafts in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The key results include:
Long term retention of cell-enriched autologous fat grafts was increased two-fold over controls.
Exercise can lower breast cancer risk
Consistent observational epidemiologic evidence suggests that physical activity is associated with re- duced postmenopausal breast cancer risk. High endogenous estrogen and androgen levels are fairly consistently associated with an increase in breast cancer risk, whereas increased sex hormone– binding globulin (SHBG) levels are associated with a decrease in risk. This trial found that previously sedentary postmenopausal women can adhere to a moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise program that results in changes in estradiol and SHBG concentrations that are consistent with a lower risk for postmenopausal breast cancer.
This study, the Alberta Physical Activity and Breast Cancer Prevention Trial, was a randomized controlled trial of exercise was conducted in 320 postmenopausal, sedentary women age 50 to 74 years. Participants were randomly assigned to a 1-year aerobic exercise intervention of 225 min/wk or to a control group who maintained their usual level of activity.
Baseline, 6-month, and 12-month assessments of hormone levels, namely estrone, estradiol, androstenedione, and testosterone were quantified. Women in the intervention group exercised an average of 3.6 d/wk for 178 min/wk.
Vitamin D Halts Growth of Breast Cancer Tumors
For the past 18 months, I’ve been working on building a new research library consisting of over 1200 books on natural health topics. Through some rather advanced technologies that took me far longer to build than I originally anticipated, I’m now able to locate and collect, within minutes, paragraphs on any combination of topics from among these 1200 books.
For example, today I wanted to research “Vitamin D” and “Breast Cancer.” This produced a collection of well over 650 quotations on the subject from the various sources in my private library. A small sampling of those results are shown below.
The information you’ll find in here is fascinating! You’ll learn that vitamin D cream can be rubbed directly on tumors to make them vanish. You’ll also learn how resveratrol can be used to amplify the results of vitamin D. There are also explanations on how vitamin D can be used to greatly reduce breast cancer cases in America, Canada, the UK and elsewhere.
Metastatic Breast Cancer: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
In women, breast cancer is the common type of cancer and it is affecting one out of eight women. At any time, this cancer may develop and the risk increases with developing of cancer as the women get older. In most of the post-menopausal women, it is common and with the increase in age will increase the risk as well.
When the breast cancer is spread beyond the breast, then it is said to be in metastatic state. This means that cancer has traveled from breast to another part of the body. The cells of cancer will travel through blood vessels or lymphatic system.
Causes
As of today, the breast cancer like any other forms of cancer is considered as one of the final outcomes of multiple hereditary and environmental factors. The risk of breast cancer will be increased by 70% in young people by inhaling the secondhand smoke and primarily menopausal women are affected by this.
Aspirin May Boost Breast Cancer Survival
A new study of more than 4,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer shows that taking aspirin appears to significantly increase survival and reduce the risk of recurrence.
Click here to find out more!
“Women who took aspirin were 50 percent less likely to die from breast cancer [during the study follow-up period] than those who did not take it,” said study author Dr. Michelle Holmes, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, in Boston.
The study is published online Feb. 16 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The 50 percent reduction is the overall finding when comparing to users to nonusers, she said. “Statistically, the women who took it more days per week had a higher risk reduction,” Holmes noted. For instance, those who took it six to seven days a week had a 64 percent reduction in risk of death during the follow-up. For some reason, those who took aspirin two to five days a week had an even greater risk reduction, 71 percent, Holmes found.
International Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer Reaches 10 Year Milestone
2010 marks the 10th anniversary of the only international conference dedicated to the critical issues of young breast cancer survivors and those who care about them. Nearly 1,000 young breast cancer survivors, caregivers and medical professionals from around the world are expected to attend the 10th Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer, to be held Friday, Feb. 26-Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Ga.
One in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer is younger than 45 when diagnosed, yet their emotional and medical concerns are different than those of women over age 45, as is the impact of their diagnosis on family, friends, partners, colleagues and children. Fertility concerns and the possibility of treatment-induced early menopause are just two examples of the issues young women face.
A joint effort by Living Beyond Breast Cancer and Young Survival Coalition, this three-day event is a must for premenopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Men who eat soy may have lower lung cancer risk
Men who don’t smoke and eat a lot of soy may have a lower risk of lung cancer, according to a new study.
Soy contains isoflavones, which act similarly to the hormone estrogen, and may have anti-cancer qualities in hormone-related cancers of the breast and prostate, the researchers note in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Cells in the lung have properties that suggest they may also respond to isoflavones.
Dr. Taichi Shimazu, of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, and colleagues studied more than 36,000 Japanese men and more than 40,000 Japanese women, 45 to 74 years old and free of cancer at the start of the study.
Medicare cuts damage cancer care, group finds
Changes to Medicare, the federal health plan for the elderly, may be damaging important aspects of cancer care in the United States, according to a study released on Thursday.
They found that many centers offering cancer care are losing money on patients and predicted that some may be forced out of business.
The Community Oncology Alliance, which commissioned the report, said the findings have implications for healthcare reform in Congress but also require immediate attention from Medicare.
Mammograms may be overused in women with dementia
Some elderly women with severe cognitive impairment are getting mammography breast cancer screening even though they are unlikely to ever benefit from it, a new study finds.
Researchers found that among more than 2,100 U.S. women age 70 and older, 18 percent of those with advanced cognitive impairment had received a screening mammogram in the past two years.
This was despite the fact that these women would likely fall into a group that, according to guidelines, should not routinely have mammography screening.
What Are Some Breast Cancer Early Symptoms?
When you think you may have breast cancer you may experience problems that will let you know. Here are some of the breast cancer early symptoms that may come up to watch for. If you have any of them please set up that appointment with your doctor and get in.
It’s always a better idea to go in and find out that your okay than to let it go. Self examinations are a big part of what you need to do to make sure that you don’t find any lumps. These breast lumps if you do find them could be a sign of breast cancer.
So as soon as you find that lump you should be calling and setting up an appointment. You may experience some nipple retraction too. This is when you will need to also call and set up an appointment to see the doctor.
