Avastin found effective in advanced breast cancer patients

Avado Study of Avastin Plus Docetaxel Chemotherapy Showed Improved Progression-Free Survival in Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer – Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) announced that AVADO, a Roche-sponsored Phase III, placebo-controlled study evaluating Avastin? (bevacizumab) in combination with docetaxel chemotherapy met its primary endpoint of prolonging progression-free survival (PFS) in patients who had not received prior chemotherapy for their locally recurrent or metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer.

21% errors in pathology reports in Miramichi Hospital, New Brunswick

21% errors in pathology reports by previous unidentified pathologist in Miramichi Hospital, New Brunswick, Canada, reported by Dr. Rosemary Henderson, pathologist. – An additional review of pathology reports in Miramichi Hospital, New Brunswick is completed by Dr. Rosemary Henderson, pathologist. This review included 227 cases of prostate and breast cancer biopsies from 2004-2005. The results indicated that 18 percent of the cases had incomplete results and three percent of the cases were misdiagnosed.

Breast cancer sufferers demand answers from PHARMAC, New Zealand

Herceptin Heroines are back in the High Court today to continue their case against drug funding agency PHARMAC, New Zealand. – 8 cancer survivors are in the New Zealand High Court to fight their case against drug funding agency PHARMAC. The women are challenging PHARMAC’s decision not to fund 12 months of Herceptin treatment for NZ women with HER2 positive breast cancer.

1 in 20 breast cancer web pages features inaccuracies

Review of online breast cancer information encourages healthy skepticism for consumers; Quality criteria does not determine accuracy of web site. Web site quality criteria failed to detect online health information errors during a study by UT researchers Elmer Bernstam, M.D., and his wife, Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D. – In an extended analysis of Web pages dedicated to disseminating breast cancer information, researchers at two University of Texas institutions in Houston have determined that while most breast cancer data found online was accurate, one in 20 breast cancer Web pages featured inaccuracies and sites displaying complementary and alternative medicine were 15 times more likely to contain false or misleading health information.

Ban use of bisphenol A in baby bottles

Environmental health groups call for immediate moratorium on bisphenol A in baby bottles, food and beverage containers. Baby bottles leach toxic chemical, according to new U.S. and Canadian Study. – Dozens of state and national environmental health organizations in the U.S. and Canada are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers, based on the results of a new study that demonstrates the toxic chemical BPA leaches from popular plastic baby bottles when heated.

Oral contraceptive pills can protect against ovarian cancer

The longer a woman uses the oral contraceptive pill, the lower her risk of getting ovarian cancer later in life. Oral contraceptives give substantial long-term protection against ovarian cancer. – Use of oral contraceptives during a woman’s life-time gives substantial long-term protection against ovarian cancer and the longer they are used, the greater the reduction in risk. These are the conclusions of authors of an Article in this week’s edition of The Lancet – a medical journal in the United Kingdom.

1000 Genomes Project to support disease studies

One thousand people are to have their genomes mapped in a major effort to understand how genes influence disease. – An international research consortium announced the 1000 Genomes Project, an ambitious effort that will involve sequencing the genomes of at least a thousand people from around the world to create the most detailed and medically useful picture to date of human genetic variation.

Surgical site infections common after breast surgery

Surgical site infection after breast cancer surgical procedures was more common than expected for clean surgery and more common than SSI after non?cancer-related breast surgical procedures. – Infections at the incision site occurred in more than 5 percent of patients following breast surgery and cost them more than $4,000 each in hospital-related expenses, revealed in a US study.

Black women get breast cancer two decades earlier than white women

Black British women in UK are diagnosed with breast cancer 21 years younger than white British women. – Black British women in Hackney, East London, are diagnosed with breast cancer 21 years younger than white British women, according to a Cancer Research UK study published online in the British Journal of Cancer.

Combined hormone therapy increases lobular breast cancer risk

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center leads first study designed to evaluate the association between combined HRT use and the risk of lobular breast cancers. – Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen/progestin hormone-replacement therapy for three years or more face a fourfold increased risk of developing various forms of lobular breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers.

Health Newstrack