Archive for the ‘breast cancer’ Category
Friday, January 13th, 2012
New Research published in a recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that the malignancy-risk gene signature was associated with overall survival (OS) and was also a prognostic and predictive indicator for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). . The gene signature has also been useful in predicting breast cancer risk and consists of numerous proliferative genes.
In their research, they hypothesized that the malignancy-risk gene signature would have high prognostic and predictive value for early stage NSCLC. They studied the hypothesis by using 3 different NSCLC microarray datasets ranging in number from 117 to 442. An overall malignancy risk score was generated by principal component analysis to determine the prognostic and predictive value of the signature using 2 sided statistical tests.
The malignancy-risk gene signature was statistically associated with overall survival (OS) at the .001 level for the NSCLC patients. Validation with the two additional datasets demonstrated that the malignancy-risk score had prognostic and predictive values. Of the patients not receiving chemotherapy (ACT) those with a low malignancy-risk score had increased overall survival compared with those having a high malignancy-risk score at the .007 level of probability and at the .01 level for the two independent data sets.
The researchers concluded that “the malignancy-risk gene signature was associated with OS and was a prognostic and predictive indicator.”
Tags: kung cancer, malignancy-risk gene signature, NSCLC, overall sirvival, predictive, prognosis, research
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Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
A new study published in the online Journal of Women’s Health added to the discussion on drinking wine/alcohol and breast cancer risk by concluding that drinking red wine in moderation might reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer in women. Contradicting the widely accepted belief that all alcohol increases the body’s estrogen levels and fosters the growth of cancer cells the researchers found a chemical in the skin and seeds of red grapes that slightly lowered estrogen levels while elevating testosterone among premenopausal women drinking about eight ounces of red wine nightly for a month. White wine did not contain the same phytochemicals and results. These results varies from a study a year ago that concluded that women had a 15% increased risk of breast cancer if they drank more than 3 drinks a week.
In the study 36 women were randomly assigned to drink either Chabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay daily for a month.Then the wine was switched in the two groups for the second month. Hormone levels were evaluated twice monthly through blood collection. Results showed the results discussed above.
More research is needed to confirm this small study and determine how safe red wine is in reducing cancer risk.
Tags: breast cancer, red wine, research
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Friday, January 6th, 2012
Research presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium concluded that there is a link between starch intake and a greater risk of breast cancer recurrence. It is not just overall carbohydrate but starch intake and “women who increased their starch intake over one year were at a much likelier risk for recurring.”
Researchers analyzed a subset of 2,651 women who participated in the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Dietary Intervention Trial that enrolled 3,088 breast cancer survivors in a plant-based intervention trial. Subjects were followed for 7 years.
Researchers looked at how changes in carbohydrate intake influenced breast cancer recurrence in the subset of subjects. Carbohydrate intake data was obtained from multiple 24-hour dietary recalls at baseline and at one year later. In an annual telephone interview subjects reported what they had eaten during the past 24 hours. Carbohydrate intake at baseline was 233 grams daily. Women whose cancer recurred had a mean increase in carbohydrate intake of 2.3 grams a day during the first year whereas women whose cancer did not recur had a mean increase of 2.7 grams per day during the same period. Changes in starch intake were evaluated and the mean change for women who had recurrences was -4.1 grams a day and for those whose cancer did not return it was -8.7 grams a day. Overall, changes in starch accounted for 48% of the changes in carbohydrate intake. In addition, when changes in the starch intake were grouped into quartiles of change, the risk of recurrence was 9.1% among women who decreased their starch intake the most for the year compared to a risk of 14,2% for women who increased their starch intake the most over the year. After stratifying the sample by tumor grade, the researchers found that the increases observed were limited to women with lower-grade breast cancer.
Tags: breast cancer, carbohydrates, recurrence, research, starch
Posted in breast cancer, Cancer, nutrition | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
New research published online in Cancer presented results
answering questions of breast cancer patients about what their daughters might do to reduce their risk of breast cancer. They found that among adolescent girls with a family history of breast cancer (or maternal benign breast disease-a known risk factor for breast cancer) there was a significant association between the amount of alcohol consumed and increased risk of benign breast disease as young women.
Information from the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) including females age 9 to 15 years in 1966 and who completed annual questionnaires from 1966 to 2001 and again in 2003, 2005, and 2007 were analyzed. In the final two surveys, participants between the ages of 18 and 27 at the time reported whether or not they had ever been diagnosed with benign breast disease. There were 67 who had this diagnoses as confirmed by breast biopsies and another 6,741 reported they had not had this diagnoses. In addition, breast cancer and benign breast cancer disease diagnoses were obtained from mothers, and maternal aunts and grandmothers.
Young women whose mothers or aunts had breast cancer were over 2 times as likely to have a diagnosis of benign breast disease as compared to the women in the control group (without family history). In addition, among adolescent girls who had mothers, aunts, or grandmothers with breast cancer , the more alcohol the girls consumed the more likely they were to develop benign breast disease. The authors said these results were consistent with results found for older women and alcohol use and concluded ” Our study suggests that adolescent females already at higher risk for breast cancer, in light of their family history, should be aware that avoiding alcohol may reduce their risk for benign breast disease as young women, which might be accompanied by reduced breast cancer risk later in life.”
Tags: adolescents, alcohol, benign breast disease, breat cancer, family history
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Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Recent research published in Psychology and Health concluded that certain factors such as marital status, having children in the home, income level, and age affect the probability of depression among breast cancer survivors that in turn, affects the likelihood of failure to adhere to the medical regimes causing potential complications. The researcher studied who is more likely to be distressed following a breast cancer diagnosis and when depressive symptoms are most likely to occur during the course of treatment. During the year following treatment single women and women with children in the home were more likely to be depressed and these women may need additional support during this period.
Women of different income levels seemed to have similar levels of increased depression during treatment but these symptoms decreased in women of higher incomes in the year following treatment. Younger cancer survivors had more depression during treatment than older women but reported levels similar to the older women following treatment. The researcher believes that identifying these factors that influence depression in cancer survivors is an important part of the prognosis since this can influence the treatment regime and outcome of the disease.
Tags: age, breast cancer, depression, income, marital status, outcome, research
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Friday, October 28th, 2011
A new study to be published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded that by being screened for mammogram every other year a woman’s probability of having a false positive episode is reduced by about a third-from 61% to 42% over the course of a decade. -
In the study almost 170,000 women between age 40 and 59 from seven regions of the United States and almost 4,500 women with invasive breast cancer were evaluated in relation to mammograms. Because of the added decade of testing, they found that women who started mammograms at 40 instead of 50 were more likely to have more false-positive results that lead to more treatment. The authors said “this study provides accurate estimates of the risk of a false-positive mammography and breast biopsy for women undergoing repeat mammography in community practice, and so provides important information about the potential harms of undergoing regular mammography.”
An additional report to be published in the same issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine studied almost 333.000 women between age 40 and 79 to examine the accuracy of film mammography against digital screening which is replacing the older film screening. Findings showed that overall cancer detection rates were similar for both methods but digital screening may be better for women between age 40 and 49 who are more likely to have extremely dense breasts associated with lower cancer detection. The study also found that digital mammography better detects estrogen receptor-negative tumors for women between age 40 and 49. If women start biennial screening at age 40, they will undergo 17 exams, and those who start annual screenings at age 40 will undergo 34 exams. The researchers concluded that screening every other year would likely lessen the chances of false-positive tests but “could also delay cancer diagnosis.” However, the authors found that for those diagnosed with cancer, women screened every two years were not significantly more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer compared to those screened every year.
Tags: breast cancer, detection, digital screening, mammography, research
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Friday, October 7th, 2011
A new study reported in the October issue of the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB journal) concluded that resveratrol in red wine stops breast cancer cells from growing by blocking the growth effects of estrogen. These findings vary from earlier findings about red wine and cancer. The researchers used several breast cancer cell lines expressing the estrogen receptor to test the effect of resveratrol. Comparing the growth of cells treated with resveratrol to those untreated they found an important reduction in cell growth in the cells treated with resveratrol but no reduction in growth of the untreated cells. Additional studies showed that this reduction in growth was related to a drastic reduction of estrogen receptor levels caused by the resveratrol. The authors concluded that although these findings are exciting, “in no way does it mean that people should go out and start drinking red wine or resveratrol supplements as a treatment for breast cancer.”
Tags: breast cancer, estrogen receptors, red wine, research, resveratrol
Posted in breast cancer, Cancer, nutrition, research | No Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
Research presented at the Fourth American Association of Cancer Research Conference last week concluded that psychological stress could be a factor in the aggressiveness of breast cancer especially among minority populations. The researchers studied patient who reported perceptions of psychological stress including fear, anxiety, and isolation two or three months following diagnoses of breast cancer. Nine hundred eighty nine breast cancer patients completed the data and of those, 411 were non-Hispanic black, 397 were non-Hispanic white and 181 were Hispanic. Psychological stress was higher among black and Hispanic patients compared to white patients and those reporting higher stress tended to have more aggressive tumors. However, the researchers warned that it is not know whether the stress was a result of the cancer diagnoses or if it would have been present before a cancer diagnoses. Thus, it could be a result of or a factor in a cancer diagnoses. More research is needed to confirm the findings.
Tags: breast cancer, minority populations, psychological stress, research
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Friday, September 16th, 2011
A new research study published in Nutrition and Cancer concluded that the risk of breast cancer was significantly reduced in mice when their regular diet included walnuts. Using a mouse model one group was given a typical diet with the equivalent of 2 ounces of walnuts a day (for humans) to mothers from conception to weaning and then to the offspring thereafter. The other group received a typical diet without the walnuts. During the study period those whose diet included walnuts developed breast cancer at less than half the rate of those on the typical diet only. In addition, the numbers of tumors and sizes were significantly smaller.
The researchers said “These reductions are particularly important when you consider that the mice were genetically programed to develop cancer at a high rate”. “We were able to reduce the risk for cancer even in the presence of a preexisting genetic mutation.”
Tags: breast cancer, diet, research, walnuts
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Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Researchers reported in the journal Analytical Chemistry that the PSA may be used as a new test for detecting breast cancer. The prostate-specific antigen measured in the PSA test is a potential biomarker of breast cancer in women but levels in healthy women is so small that most tests will not measure them.
Thus, the researchers built a tiny fiber-optic biosensor using gold nanoparticles and PSA antibodies to detect and report PSA levels via a florescent signal. The sensitivity and specificity of the test for breast cancer are comparable to those found when using it as a biomarker for prastate cancer. It is also believed that the sensitivity and specificity compare favorably to the current screening methods for breast cancer (clinical exam and mammogram).
Tags: breast cancer, prostate cancer, PSA, screening
Posted in breast cancer, Cancer, prostate cancer, research | No Comments »
