Best of Breast: news for week ending 19 December 2014

A summary of medical developments in cancer and breast cancer, collated from Google Alerts, for the week ending 19 December 2014.

Tamoxifen.

 

I still have a lot of catching up to do, and I’ve just realised that the news feeds are full of the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium – help!

I know I should rejoice because the Symposium is full of researchers jostling to show off their latest “cures”, but after so many years of following the Symposium (and other symposiums) I’ve come to realise that they are about shoot-outs between different types of chemotherapy, and that the supposed breakthroughs haven’t really filtered through to mainstream/commercial/ affordable treatments.

I open with CYP2D6 testing as a marker for how effectively the body can metabolise tamoxifen.

Tamoxifen [Endoxifen] has long been the de facto treatment for (pre-menopausal) women with estrogen-positive breast cancer, it’s been touted as a preventative against recurrences.

However, what they don’t tell us is that tamoxifen doesn’t always work, or it may work only partially.  Tamoxifen is metabolized by the human body, via the CYP2D6 gene, into endoxifen which is the active metabolite.  If there are variants in the CYP2D6 gene, then this means that tamoxifen will not be effectively metabolised.

The test for CYP2D6 can be obtained in the US by the Mayo Clinic (Cytochrome P450 2D6 Genotype for Tamoxifen Hormonal Therapy) and in the UK by Roche (Roche AmpliChip^® CYP450 Test).  See also information  on:  http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1762071-overview

It is well worth getting if you want answers if you think tamoxifen isn’t working for you.  However, the solution, as some research seems to suggest, is to increase the dose of tamoxifen, or to switch off the ovaries [chemically or via ablation] and take more hormonal suppressors.

The second article is about a 20-year study which seemed to show that although tamoxifen prevented incidences of breast cancer, this did not affect overall mortality, and in fact led to an increase in ER-negative tumours after 10 years, and a 45% increase in endometrial cancer.  It seems to be saying:  yes, there’s less chance of you dying of breast cancer, but you’re still going to die of something else

(Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.)

Best of Breast: news for week ending 3 October 2014

News for the week ending 3 October 2014, for breast cancer, selected from Google Alerts.

The only items that got me excited this week are (1) a new gizmo that combines both MRI and robotics, allowing a biopsy to be taken with more accuracy while in an MRI scanner (I wonder how this is going to be done – I assume the needle must be non-magnetic?) and (2) a breast cancer vaccine trial in Australia – lucky Australians!  Currently the only breast cancer immunotherapy trials in the UK are for Her-2 positive breast cancer.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/swf/UberPlayer.swf?state=sharevideo&clipId=2540128021&width=480&height=322

1.  Image-guided robotics to perform biopsies in MRI scanners

Best of Breast: news for week ending 25 April 2014

The weekly catch-up from Google Alerts for Breast Cancer and Cancer for the week ending 25 April 2014.

Good bacteria: good for the guts … and the breasts. Image credit: sheknows.com

This week’s lead article is a study showing the link between gut bacteria and breast cancer.

It’s hard to believe that the breast, which is considered a sterile environment, can contain gut bacteria.  And more significantly, that certain gut bacteria may exist in the breast, and play a role in preventing breast tumours.

I like the idea of hopefully one day being able to ingest a food product, like a yoghurt, knowing that it can help to prevent breast cancer.  Unfortunately, there’s no mention in the study of where to get this “breast probiotic” – I don’t think it’s something that’s on the supermarket shelves yet.

In other developments this week, scientists find (yet another) way of sensitising cells that are resistant to chemotherapy; discover why some people are resistant to anti-estrogenic treatments and in yet another study show that Vitamin C can decrease breast cancer mortality risk.

Image credit: backyardfarmer.com

1.  Scientists may have found a link between bacteria and breast cancer

Best of Breast: news for week ending 11 April 2014

A summary of news for the week ending 11 April 2014 from Google Alerts – Breast Cancer and Cancer. Sometimes I feel as if this whole cancer-fighting business is like a bad B-horror-movie.  There were two articles this week which made me marvel about how ingenious and indestructible cancer cells appear to be.

The first is a study which showed how cancer cells eat themselves at times of stress and come back to life … just like zombies.  The second is research which shows how different types of cancer cells can cooperate to grow tumours.  It’s almost like cancer cells have an intelligence and life of their own, and aren’t just rogue cells.

The more I investigate, the more I realise why cancer is such a badass to deal with.

On a positive note, even zombies can be killed … we just have to be smarter to outwit them.  And you know how in movies where zombies are blasted to pieces with an anti-zombie gun that’s invented by the wacky scientist … well, there’s been research into using magnetic nanoparticles that get eaten up by cancer cells and which then explode when exposed to magnetic fields!

There was an article on how copper can fuel the growth of tumours, so removing it from the body could starve the tumours.  This is not a new development, as a reader, J, has pointed out – please refer to the comments and see the studies that J has sent, dating from 2000.  It’s such a shame that this information has been around, but the treatment is not part of standard-of-care.

There’s been a glut this week in new developments and drugs (and I apologise for using the zombie article which is admittedly sensationalist) … I was intrigued by the blip, until I realised that it’s the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in San Diego which was held this week – so tune in for more amazing anti-zombie cures in the weeks to come!

Cancer cells at work. Image credit: thinkgeek.com

1.  Zombie cancer cells eat themselves to live