Breast Cancer Breakthroughs
Reported April 12, 2010
SAN DIEGO (Ivanhoe Newswire) — You have breast cancer: Nearly 200,000 women will hear those words this year. About 41,000 will die from it. Technology is changing the way doctor’s track and kill the disease.
Pamela Peterburs thought she had her life mapped out until her path abruptly changed.
“It did not show up on a monthly mammogram, and to me that underscores how valuable it is doing your self breast exams,” Peterburs told Ivanhoe.
Dr. Anne Wallace is making sure the cancer didn’t spread to the lymph nodes, the first place cancer may go.
“You can take a picture and actually see where the lymph node is.” Dr. Wallace, professor of clinical surgery at Moores UCSD Cancer Center in San Diego, Calif., said.
Doctors are using a new molecule called Lymphoseek to find the right lymph nodes to test. It lights up the area, helping doctors see the nodes that need to biopsied for possible cancer.
“Taking all those out, which is standard, can lead to more arm swelling, pain and difficulty with healing and long-term range of motion,” Dr. Wallace said.
It’s also been an uphill battle for Eileen Kastura.
“I did last year 20 weeks of chemo, went through radiation and three surgeries,” Kastura told Ivanhoe. She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
“Much more aggressive, much more resistant to chemo, and outcomes are not as good,” Dana Zakalik, M.D., Director of Beaumont Cancer Genetics Program in Royal Oak, Mich., told Ivanhoe.
Kastura is using a new type of drug called a PARP inhibitor. It blocks a cancer cell’s ability to repair its own DNA.
“By blocking that enzyme, the cell dies off, and it can’t repair itself,” Dr. Zakalik, explained.
In one study, a PARP inhibitor improved survival by 60 percent when added to a chemo routine. In stage IV cancer patients like Eileen, tumors shrank by 48 percent.
“The fact that it prolongs survival is huge, because for a drug to prolong survival means that it’s making a big impact on the biology of the cancer,” Dr. Zakalik said.
“I’m still a mom of two girls and still working two days a week and stay busy,” Kastura said.
PARP inhibitors are also being tested on ovarian and prostate cancers.