Posts Tagged ‘breast cancer’
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
Posted in breast cancer, Cancer, research | No Comments »
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 »
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
Posted in breast cancer, research | No Comments »
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
Posted in breast cancer, research | No Comments »
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
Posted in breast cancer, research | No Comments »
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
Posted in breast cancer, Cancer, research | No Comments »
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 »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
A new study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and based upon mice research concluded that eating a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrate may reduce the risk of cancer and slow the growth of tumors.
The researchers implanted various strains of mice with human tumor cells or with mouse tumor cells and assigned them to one of two diets. One diet that was typical of Western diets contained about 55% carbohydrates, 23% protein and 22% fat. The other diet was high in protein, contained 15% carbohydrate , 58% protein, and 26% fat.
Findings showed that tumors consistently grew slower in the Hi-Protein, Lo-Carb diet. In one group of mice genetically predisposed to breast cancer half were placed on the Western type diet and half on the other diet. Almost half of those on the Western type diet developed breast cancer within the first year whereas none of those on the other type diet did. In addition, only one of the mice on the Western type diet reached age 2 (normal life span) and 70% of them died from cancer. Conversely over half of those on the Hi Protein, Lo-Carb diet live to age two and only 30% developed cancer.
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It is interesting that alternative physicians have utilized this information for years using an intervention that reduces carbohydrates as part of the insulin potentiation treatment. It is also interesting that 36 years ago when I was given 6 months to live when diagnosed with lung cancer and sought out an alternative physician , part of my alternative treatment was a diet that eliminated most carbohydrates and all simple sugars.
Tags: breast cancer, Cancer, cancer risk, Hi-Protein Diet, Low-Carb Diet, South Beach type diet, tumor growth, Western type diet
Posted in Cancer, nutrition | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
A new study reported in Breast Cancer Research online concluded that women who drank at least five cups of coffee daily had a significantly reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer However, this association was most strongly observed with ER-negative (estrogen receptor) tumors.
Previous studies have had contradictory results on the association of coffee drinking and breast cancer. Thus, this study included both a large Swedish Study population and a large validation German Study population. The case-controlled studies included 2,818 postmenopausal women with breast cancer and 3,111 age-matched controls. All women were between age 50 and 74, born in Sweden, and living there between 1993 and 1995. The validation German study included 3,464 patients with cancer and 6,657 age-matched controls. Information on breast cancer risk factors, lifestyle factors, and socioeconomic variables were provided by all participants. The strongest association of all risk factors for breast cancer was for heavy coffee drinking and ER-negative breast cancer. The combination of heavy coffee drinking and ER-negative tumors resulted in a 57% reduction in the risk for breast cancer. Analysis of the validation German data confirmed that heavy coffee drinking had a protective effect for ER-negative tumors.
Tags: breast cancer, coffee, estrogen recepton-negative tumors, German study, progesterone negative tumors, research, Swedish study
Posted in breast cancer, Cancer, cancer survivors, research, rheumatoid arthritis | No Comments »
