Breast cancer is the abnormal growth and uncontrolled division of cells in the breast. Cancer cells invade and destroy surrounding normal tissue, and can spread throughout the body via blood or lymph fluid (clear fluid bathing body cells) to start a new cancer in another part of the body.
New research in the FASEB Journal shows that a ?breast cancer gene? causes osmidrosis and makes earwax wet and sticky – If having malodorous armpits (called osmidrosis) and goopy earwax isn’t bad enough, a discovery by Japanese scientists may add a more serious problem for women facing these cosmetic calamities.
Researchers find breast cancer gene that’s blocked by blood pressure drug. Gene overexpressed in up to 20 percent of breast cancers responds to blood pressure drug in lab, U-M researchers report. – Researchers have identified a gene that is overexpressed in up to 20 percent of breast cancers and that could be blocked in the lab by a currently available blood pressure drug, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Small molecule inhibitor shows promise in trastuzumab-resistant metastatic breast cancer – Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers report that a combination of trastuzumab and neratinib (HKI-272) a novel small molecule inhibitor of the HER2 receptor (ErbB2) appears active in women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have progressed on previous trastuzumab based therapies.
Identification of genetic variants affecting age at menopause could help improve fertility treatment – For the first time, scientists have been able to identify genetic factors that influence the age at which natural menopause occurs in women. Ms Lisette Stolk, a researcher from Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics that a greater understanding of the factors influencing age at menopause might eventually help to improve the clinical treatment of infertile women.
Markers for inflammation discovered in breast cancer survivors are linked to survival – A study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified two proteins in the blood that could become important prognostic markers for long-term survival in breast cancer patients.
African-American women with advanced breast cancer often forego vital treatment – A new study finds that nearly one in four African American women with late stage breast cancer refused chemotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially life saving therapies.
HRT-breast cancer risk stays same, regardless of family history – HRT conveys no greater breast cancer risk to women with, versus without, a first-degree family history of breast cancer. – The risk of developing breast cancer due to taking hormone replacement therapy appears to be the same for women with a family history of the disease and without a family history, a University of Rochester Medical Center study concluded.
Low-income breast cancer patients skipping hormonal therapy, increasing their risks – Many low-income women are failing to take the hormonal therapy prescribed as part of their breast cancer treatment, possibly lowering their survival rates, according to a study led by a researcher in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Genes that influence start of menstruation identified for first time – Two genes clarify the genetic control of female sexual maturation, and point to regulatory mechanisms involved in human growth and development. – Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, along with collaborators from research institutions across Europe and the United States, have for the first time identified two genes that are involved in determining when girls begin menstruation.
City-dwellers have higher risk of late-stage cancer than rural residents – People who live in urban areas are more likely to develop late-stage cancer than those who live in suburban and rural areas. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the June 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Triple drug combination is promising option to treat metastatic HER2+ breast cancer – Combining two chemotherapy drugs with trastuzumab (Herceptin) to treat women who have metastatic HER2+ breast cancer may offer physicians another choice in their treatment options.
Suit charges that Myriad Genetics BRCA1 and BRCA2 patents interfere with the free flow of information and knowledge in violation of the First Amendment and that human genes are ‘products of nature’ that cannot be patented. – The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announced that it is working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation to bring a lawsuit charging that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer are unconstitutional and should be invalidated.
