Breast Cancer Innovations In The News

Periodically, I try to give you a brief glimpse of what has been making headlines about research, treatment or psycho-social issues with regards to breast cancer. A lot of relevant and encouraging info has been presented lately. (Annually, after the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, there is a plethora of promising research presented.)Please note that while many studies look encouraging, it is often several to many years before the new technology or treatment is available to the public. Often, preliminary results are good, only to find that further trials show dangerous toxicity or decreased benefit over a period of time. Still, it is encouraging to know that there are so many brilliant researchers worldwide battling to find the cause and cure of breast cancer.

Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging - Dr. Svensson, UK, some US colleagues and Siemens Medical Systems did this study. After ultrasound, patients were offered UEI (real-time strain imaging). 85% of the cancers were found to be larger than benign lesions.. Studies are still ongoing. http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf...

SABSC - PT-PCR (real time polymerase chain reaction assay) can help doctors decide which patients should undergo chemotherapy. This test looks for the presence of 5 reference genes and 16 oncogenes. In the study, it accurately predicted if there would be recurrence with no chemotherapy in 600 women. http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf...

Gefitinib ZD 1839 is an oral drug that appears to prevent the development of ER- breast cancer in mice models. http://jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.or...

New scoring system for breast cancer prognosis New scoring system is based on biologic characteristics of tumors, # of nodes involved and hormone receptor status. http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/p...

New Guidewire encircles 3 sides of lesion with single puncture to get negative margins. http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/p...

Iressa Promising In Mice Models - A lung cancer drug has shown benefit to breast cancer in mice models which does not respond to anti-estrogen therapies. While the initial success is encouraging, further trials must be conducted to test efficacy and toxicity. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl...

New tumor model Dutch scientists have developed a new tumor model that is viewed as part of the host body. Early results show that a low calorie diet delays tumor growth and that tumor growth is faster in younger hosts. Most models view the tumor as a separate entity from the host body. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...

PET/CT Scan Proves Better Imaging German researchers did a small study that indicates that the combination of the two imaging techniques determined the spread of cancer better than stand-alone MRI. Further studies to determine the accuracy and effect on patient survival are needed. http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=516...

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