Breast Cancer News

A family of proteins that help cancer cells survive and spread around the body may be associated with improved prognosis for some women receiving treatment for breast cancer, research has shown. The study, led by academics at The University of Nottingham and published online by the academic journal Oncotarget, discovered that when high levels of the protein calpain … [Read more...]

  We know that individuals who smoke take major health risks. Now a new research study from Lund University in Sweden shows that common treatment for breast cancer works less well in patients who smoke, compared to non-smokers. "Smokers who were treated with aromatase inhibitors had a three times higher risk of recurrence of breast cancer compared with the … [Read more...]

According to a recent research conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, it has been found that early-stage breast cancer patients receiving a shorter course of whole breast radiation with higher radiation doses per fraction reported equivalent cosmetic, functional and pain outcomes over time as those receiving a longer, lower-dose per fraction course of … [Read more...]

At the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2016, researchers present results of three clinical trials using new targeted therapies against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Each therapy uses a distinct strategy influenced by the immune system and all three have real potential to extend the lives of women whose cancers have progressed after previous … [Read more...]

Surgery to remove the primary tumor in women diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, followed by the standard combination of therapies, adds months to the patients' lives, compared with standard therapy alone, an international clinical trial led by a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) professor revealed. The results of the phase III randomized, controlled trial … [Read more...]

Scientists have successfully blocked breast cancer cells from entering and hiding in the bones of mice, where they can survive chemotherapy treatment. Researchers at  have also devised a method of flushing breast cancer cells out of bone marrow in mice, making them easier to eradicate through conventional treatments or by the immune system. The findings, published in the … [Read more...]

Consuming high amounts of saturated fat or low amounts of mono- and polyunsaturated fats as an adolescent was associated with higher breast density in young adulthood. Breast density is a risk factor for breast cancer. The new work has been published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Authors are … [Read more...]

Women who sleep for shorter periods and experience frequent snoring prior to a breast cancer diagnosis may have a poorer prognosis. This is the finding of a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Inadequate sleep duration combined with frequent snoring prior to a breast cancer diagnosis may reduce survival from the disease, say researchers. Breast … [Read more...]

In a development that could lead to a new generation of drugs to precisely treat a range of diseases, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have for the first time designed a drug candidate that decreases the growth of tumor cells in animal models in one of the hardest to treat cancers -- triple negative breast cancer. "This is the first … [Read more...]

Breast cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D in their blood are twice as likely to survive the disease as women with low levels of this nutrient, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the March issue of Anticancer Research. In previous studies, Cedric F. Garland, DrPH, professor in the Department of Family and Preventive … [Read more...]

Young women with early breast cancer face a difficult choice about whether to opt for a mastectomy or breast conserving therapy (BCT). This is because there is little evidence as to whether the greater risk of a return of the disease at the site of the original tumour after BCT is linked to a greater risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body, leading to higher … [Read more...]

An increase in women with breast cancer choosing double mastectomy may be influenced by media coverage of celebrities, a new study finds. From 2000 to 2012, 17 celebrities publicly disclosed their breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Researchers from the University of Michigan analyzed 727 articles from major U.S. print publications that covered these celebrity diagnoses. … [Read more...]

Protective mastectomies that preserve the nipple and surrounding skin prevent breast cancer as effectively as more invasive surgeries for women with a genetic mutation called BRCA that raises their risk of developing breast cancer, a multi-institution study led by Mayo Clinic found. The research should reassure patients and surgeons that nipple-sparing mastectomies, which leave … [Read more...]

Infertility and hormonal fertility treatments may influence the amount of dense tissue in the breast, a risk factor for breast cancer, according to a study involving 43,313 women, published in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden found that women with a history of infertility had denser breasts than other women. The … [Read more...]

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and collaborators at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have identified a molecular marker in normal breast tissue that can predict a woman's risk for developing breast cancer, the leading cause of death in women with cancer worldwide. The work, led by HSCI principal faculty member Kornelia … [Read more...]

Tallahassee resident Jennie Simons couldn't even reach over her head by the time she had finished her breast cancer treatment in 2008. She was a survivor, beating back a particularly aggressive case of breast cancer -- first in 2000 and then again in 2008 when it recurred -- but the chemotherapy left her body ravaged. She had 15 surgeries during the breast reconstruction … [Read more...]

A new study finds that the majority of women who undergo mastectomy for breast cancer go on to get breast reconstruction, a practice that has increased dramatically over time. Researchers found that 46 percent of patients received reconstruction in 1998 but that figure rose to 63 percent by 2007. "Breast reconstruction has a big impact on quality of life for breast cancer … [Read more...]

Women with BRCA-related breast cancer who have a double mastectomy are nearly 50 per cent less likely to die of breast cancer within 20 years of diagnosis compared to women who have a single mastectomy, according to a new study led by Women's College Hospital's Kelly Metcalfe. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, suggest a double mastectomy may be an … [Read more...]

Scientists from The University of Manchester working with IBM Research have identified a key biological mechanism that for the first time explains why women with dense breast tissue are at greater risk of developing breast cancer. The research, published in the journal Cell Cycle, has important implications for future cancer prevention and treatment. Women with higher … [Read more...]

A series of simple telephone calls can make a profound difference in helping women to meet their treatment goals for breast cancer, according to a randomized trial of women who are also obese, published online today in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dr. Pamela Goodwin of Mount Sinai Hospital and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. Women who received advice about … [Read more...]

New research looking at the biological process involved in breast cancer development has strengthened the argument for a potential link between alcohol consumption and the disease. Scientists from The University of Manchester -- part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre -- and the University of Salford looked at a particular enzyme, a biological molecule that accelerates … [Read more...]

Tamoxifen, a drug currently used to treat breast cancer, also kills a fungus that causes a deadly brain infection in immunocompromised patients. The findings, which could lead to new treatments for a disease that kills more HIV/AIDS patients than tuberculosis, appear in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM.) "This work sets the … [Read more...]

A new study led by University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researcher Peter Zhou shows that targeting Twist, a nuclear protein that is an accelerant of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program in human cells, may provide an effective approach for treating triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer has an activated EMT program, which is a … [Read more...]

A UCLA researcher has analyzed the long-term outcomes in postmenopausal women who took two widely used breast cancer treatments and found that although both drugs were safe and effective, and had no detrimental effect on overall quality of life, there were some differences in the type and severity of symptoms the women experienced with each treatment, and these especially … [Read more...]

Young women who smoke and have been smoking a pack a day for a decade or more have a significantly increased risk of developing the most common type of breast cancer. That is the finding of an analysis published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study indicates that an increased risk of breast cancer may be another health risk … [Read more...]

Omega-3 fatty acids may lower the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal obese women, according to researchers. The protection likely comes from the fatty acids' anti-inflammatory effects, said Dr. Andrea Manni, professor and division chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, Penn State College of Medicine. Obesity is a major breast cancer risk factor in … [Read more...]

Preventing cancer requires intimate knowledge of how cancer starts, what causes it to grow and flourish, and how to stop it in its tracks. Sometimes this comes in the form of a vaccine (the HPV vaccine for cervical and head and neck cancers), a screening (a colonoscopy for colorectal cancer) or a blood test (the PSA level test for prostate cancer). Carol Fabian, M.D., … [Read more...]

So far, studies have suggested no significant association between red meat intake and breast cancer. However, most have been based on diet during midlife and later, and many lines of evidence suggest that some exposures, potentially including dietary factors, may have greater effects on the development of breast cancer during early adulthood. So a team of US researchers … [Read more...]