Medical scientists at the University of Leicester have announced a potentially unique advance in breast cancer research by identifying two genes associated with adverse reaction to cancer treatment.
Mutations in the well-known breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 have a role in the propagation of aggressive stem cell-driven cancer.
Radiation therapy affects not only the cancer mass, but also the surrounding tissues, including the bone marrow. Signals from the cells in the bone marrow damaged by cancer radiotherapy could be involved in the development of secondary acute myeloma by drawing hematopoietic stem cells, the blood-producing cells of the bone marrow, from distant sites into the irradiated bone marrow, according to researchers from the Ontario Cancer Institute. Their findings suggest that local radiotherapy leads to leukemia, even though radiotherapy directly affects only a small fraction of the bone marrow.
Two genes associated with aggressive breast cancer are linked to a key property of mammary stem cell function, according to researchers at the University of Michigan.
The sharp decline in the rate of new breast cancer cases in 2003 may be related to a national decline in the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to a new report in the April 19, 2007, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have identified gene expression signatures that could serve as biomarkers to predict how individuals will respond to the breast cancer drugs lapatinib and CI-1040.
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have identified an important gene involved in the spread of breast cancer that has developed resistance to long-term estrogen deprivation. The discovery was reported today in an oral presentation during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles.
An extended analysis of cancer rates reinforces a strong association between use of hormone replacement therapy and increased breast cancer incidence, according to research led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and published in the April 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Following a report of the analysis of data from the SEER registries of the NCI, showing that the incidence of breast cancer fell by 6.7 percent in 2003 in the US, and the suggestion that the data might be linked to the decrease in the use of postmenopausal hormones, the IMS advises caution in linking these two trends and recommends that hormone therapy be prescribed whenever indicated.
Using Chinese herbs either alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy may help protect a breast cancer patient’s bone marrow and immune system, as well as improving the woman’s overall quality of life.