Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Hi Sylvia
You are essentially correct; mir-708 acts to prevent metastatic behaviour.
(little science lesson now!)
Your genes are encoded on your DNA. Each gene is basically a blue print for the protein it encodes for. So your BRCA1 gene encodes for the BRCA1 protein. If you have a mutation in your BRCA1 gene, the blue print is wrong, and when the cell makes the BRCA1 protein it will be faulty.
In order to get from DNA (i.e - gene) to protein a complex series of events takes place, but essentially the gene DNA undergoes a process called transcription which transcribes the gene in its DNA form to mRNA. A process called translation then takes place to use the mRNA as a template (or set of instructions) to make the protein. Basically the cell "translates" the information on the RNA into the final protein.
miRNA is micro RNA. These short sequences of RNA do not code for a protein; i.e. the cell doesn't translate them into a final protein product, but the miRNA sequences block the translation of other mRNA's that the cell is trying to translate, so you don't get any protein made.
For example your cells are expressing (making) the BRCA1 protein, so the BRCA1 gene is being transcribed from DNA into mRNA and then translated from mRNA into protein. The cell decides that too much BRCA1 is being made, so an miRNA very similar to the BRCA mRNA is made and this binds to the BRCA mRNA and stops translation from taking place, so no protein is made. (This is just an example, I'm not sure if any miRNA's are directed to control BRCA expression!!!)
mir-708 is a miRNA that has been show to be reduced in breast cancer cells in the lab and in patients with mets. Its helps to control expression of a protein that is located within the cell that controls intracellular calcium levels. Without going into too much detail, when the levels of calcium rise with-in the cell other pathways are switched on that promote tumour cells to migrate. Do note this is a complex process and has nothing to do with the amount of calcium in your diet!!
The big study with mir-708 was published at the start of this year http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1535610812005089
Basically breast cancer cell lines (model cells taken from patients that we use in the lab) do not have much mir-708, whereas normal cells do. In the study they replaced mir-708 in the breast cancer cells and injected them into mice. Tumour formation wasn't affected, i.e. the mice formed tumors regardless of the cells having mir-708 or not. But the mice that got the breast cancer cells that had mir-708 showed significantly reduced metastatic potential.
Its a lovely study, the slight problem is it would be extremely difficult to restore mir-708 levels in cancer cells in the body. Its a lot more complex than simply injecting a patient with mir-708!! Any therapy based on mir-708 would need to ideally target circulating cancer cells or any cells that had managed to spread to other organs - at the moment this is the holy grail of cancer therapy but not possible. mir-708 might be a useful diagnostic marker though, but any treatment based on it is a very long way off in my opinion.
p53 is the classic tumour suppressor gene. Its often called the genome regulator because of its importance and lots of cancers involve p53. One theory is that all cancereous cells need to bypass the regulatory mechanism associated with p53 - this hasn't been proven. But certainly many cancers will involve the p53 gene ending up mutated. This doesn't mean that people carry p53 mutations (although some do) but rather as a cell starts to become cancerous and more genes end up mutated or knocked out, once p53 goes it makes it easier for the cell to go down the cancerous route rather than being destroyed by the body. Its located on chromosome 17 and a few of the breast cancer studies have highlighted disruption of chromsome 17 and therefore most likley disruption of p53. Again the issue with treatment is that you can't simply give a patient the p53 protein. You need a way of switching proper p53 expression on within the cancer cells. Very difficult to do at this stage.
Personally I think the current thinking on treating metastatic tumours should be on hitting proteins on the cell surface that enable the cells to invade other tissues. Two proteins I am interesting in are ADAM9 and ADAM28. These are both over expressed in breast cancer cells, especially TNBC cells and play a role in invasion.
This is worth checking out as well regarding diet.
Love to allTom
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Hello Tom,
Thank you very much for that most interesting post, which I have just read very carefully. We are so lucky to have you on this thread.
I shall look up the links, read them carefully and then do some posts.
There is so much news at the moment about gene therapy and it is all very interesting. On the front page of yesterday's Independent, the headline was Genome revolution targets treatments for common cancers. The article on the front page continues on the whole of page 9 with the heading Wanted: 75,000 people to help Britain lead the world in genetic medicine. I need to read the article again more carefully to take it all in. I was interested in the diagram on page 9 which is described as "a code showing part of a human DNA sequence which holds the key to targeted medicine (Getty)". I was wondering whether you had read the article?
I really appreciate your great input on this thread.
Best wishes.
Sylvia
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Hi Sylvia
Well this time last last year you would have found me posting on share dealing and financial spread betting forums if I had a spare few mins at work. Its strange to be posting on a breast cancer forum and obviously not what I or anyone would have chosen to do. But if my posts give advice, help to explain anything, or even just make anyone laugh then its worth doing. Besides the support on here is amazing. Discussing movements on the FTSE 100 would often bring out the worst in people - i guess because money is involved. But here, I'm seeing the best side to human nature. In a strange way you can almost feel the love and support radiate across the internet.
Yep, gene therapy is and will be amazing. Its been a long time coming. Infact it was learning about gene therapy that made me want to do pure research rather than clinical medicine. Haemophilia B looks like its going to be the first illness to be cured by gene therapy and many more will follow. There have been lots of problems along the way, but the progress being made now is staggering.
The whole genome revolution is already taking place. Specialised labs like the Sanger lab can sequence a whole genome in days now. The big project the press are talking about is to sequnce 100,000 genome from healthly and diseased patients to identify genes involved in rare diseases and cancer. The insititue I work at in london is involved in the project. I've not read the article in the Independent, I'll have a look! But the data should be imense from this project.
Tom
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Dear Sylvia and all,
The year is winding down, I wish everyone here a very Merry Christmas and good things in the year to come.
I join the others in thanking breastcancer husband for sharing his knowledge. Very enlightening, and encouraging. I read the article on nutrition with interest. It seems the author was interested in fat reduction. Many of us, including myself, do not have excess weight as an issue. I wonder how much of a problem sugar intake is. I have a hard time giving up sugar, although I am thin. I have heard sugar feeds cancer, do you think that is true?
I have started physical therapy (again) and am still doing acupuncture. To adagio, I love the acupuncture. I feel it has helped more than any of the pills I was offered by the many docs I saw. I still have pain but I think I am gradually getting better.
Sylvia, thanks for starting the thread and thank you for your thoughtfulness and caring that shines through so strongly.
I wish for all of us health and new vitality in the year ahead, may the chemo be bearable and successful for those going through it. May the new mothers and mothers-to-be have strong, thriving children.
Best wishes to all of you!
Mary
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Hello Tom,
Thank you for your post. Yes, I can understand how strange it must be for you to be posting on a breast cancer forum this year when last year you were into shares. That is the way life is. We never know what is around the corner. You are doing a very worthwhile job on this thread and I hope we are helping you and your wife on this cancer journey and letting you know that you will get to the end. It is true that on the thread you do see and feel the good side of human nature.
I did not think that I would be starting a thread for UK people (or anywhere else) and still be doing it over four years on. I often think about how it all happened. I was over four years since diagnosis when I somehow came across this forum. I was not even looking for information about breast cancer. I was looking for information about an over active parathyroid gland (hyperparathyroidism) and I got into posts with sam52 who also had it and had gone through treatment for hormonal breast cancer in 2001. I was diagnosed with this at the same time as my breast cancer when the oncologist was checking out why I had high levels of serum calcium in the blood, which can be a sign of spread to the bones in breast cancer. To cut a long story short, sam52 and I both surgery to deal with a non-malignant adenoma on the parathyroid and our problem was cured. The most interesting part of all this was a Swedish research paper about a connection between breast cancer and hyperparathyroidism. I gave all this information to my breast cancer consultant and oncologist, and it was all new to them. In the research paper it was about which came first or were they both caused by a third factor. All I know is my breast cancer consultant told me that my hyperparathyroidism had been there undiagnosed well before my breast cancer started. I have always wondered whether the hyperparathyroidism caused my breast cancer. Since then, on the relevant threads, women have posted to say they have had the same two problems. An over active thyroid may also be connected. I had absolutely no symptoms and would not have known because GPs do not test the parathyroid gland as part of routine blood tests. We are told hyperparathyroidism is rare but I think it is just not diagnosed. If you are interested have a look at parathyroid.com.
I am sure we shall talk a lot more about gene therapy but I think we shall leave it until after Christmas.
Your work as a researcher must be truly interesting and absorbing. Please keep us up to date.
I can imagine your little daughter must be very excited this Christmas Eve. It is a wonderful time for children.
Take care and have a lovely Christmas.
Sylvia
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Hello marymn8,
Thank you for your good wishes to all of us.
It is true that not all of us have issues with weight. I am tall and slim and have never had a weight problem and have always been careful with my diet. However, I think that being overweight is not conducive to good health and may lead to all kinds of chronic illness, especially diabetes, which is an awful disease and yet can often be controlled through diet. I do not think you have to go mad with a low fat diet but I do think you should not have an excess of saturated animal and dairy fat. Common sense and moderation is needed.
I think that too much sugar is a big problem and that we are flooded with sugar in the western diet. Again, moderation and common sense has to be used. It is true that cancer cells feed on sugar and that it is prudent not to overdo sugar consumption. We also have to remember that cancer is a complicated disease and there will not be one single cause. It is more likely to be multi-causal and with multiple risk factors. The western diet and way of life is not a healthy one. We each have to do what we can to stay healthy. I think there is an attitude, especially in the UK, where people think that a magic pill will do it and keep them healthy and I tend to think doctors here think the same. Each person has to meet their doctor half way and take responsibility for their own health. The NHS is getting into a shocking state because it is being taken for granted and I cannot believe the huge numbers of prescriptions that are being dished out by doctors. They seem intent on medicating the whole population. I firmly believe that your food should be your medicine and you medicine should be your food.
Thinking of you, Mary, and sending fond thoughts across the ocean. Have a good Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year and thank you for all the effort that you make on this thread.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Jackpot(Gill),
I just wanted to let you know that I watched the John Bishop Christmas Show on the television on Monday. I enjoyed it so much and did have a good laugh. Did you see it? Did you go to his show for which you had booked.
I hope all is well.
Season's Greetings and a Happy, Healthy New Year.
Sylvia. xxx
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Hi - just a quick pop in to wish everyone across the pond a Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays) and a Happy New Year! Please celebrate with me on Saturday, as I reach my 3 year milestone that day. My newest thing that I'm trying (hasn't arrived yet) is organic turmeric tea. Until it gets here, I've added about 1/2 teaspoon of the tumeric to a cup of organic green tea. Gave me lots of energy - not sure what that is about. lol It might be too much, so if you try this, maybe only start with a little sprinkle.
Love and fondest wishes to you all. I know we can prevail as strong, healthy women in 2015.
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Hello Sylvia
Thank you for your post. So much has happened in the last couple of months (none of it good,unfortunately)....but I will update you by private message as soon as I am able.
I hope you have a pleasant and peaceful Christmas.
With love from
Sam x
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I want to also use what Maryna8 said, I couldn't have said it any better:
"Sylvia, thanks for starting the thread and thank you for your thoughtfulness and caring that shines through so strongly."
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Hello sam52
I was so happy to find you have posted but very sorry to hear that things seem to have been difficult for you. I do hope you are managing to have a bit of a rest during the school holidays. I look forward to hearing from you in a PM and hoping that I can give you some support. In the meantime, I hope the New Year 2015 will be a better one for you and will be a healthy one.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello InspiredbyDolce (Debra)
Thank you for your post and your kind words. I would like to say how much I appreciate the support and information that you give on this thread. I shall be very interested to know what you think of the organic green and turmeric tea that you have on order. I can imagine that the green tea you made and added some turmeric would have been very strong indeed! I love green tea and from time to time I do have turmeric powder that i mix in (about a large teaspoon) to a small pot of organic hummus. I have not tried turmeric supplements but I know people are taking these. I have tried green tea and ginger that I found in the supermarket (Twinings) that is very nice and strong.
I am sending fond thoughts across the ocean and wishing you a Happy, Healthy 2015. I shall definitely be thinking of you tomorrow as reach your third anniversary.
All the very best.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone.
Just popping to say that hope you all managed to have an enjoyable Christmas doing whatever makes you happy and contented.
Today I have been reading my winter issue 2014/15 of Vita Magazine, the Breast Cancer Magazine from Breast Cancer Care. Remember it is a free magazine that you can also read on line. I find excellent and so easy to read. It has a bit of everything. I like to read the letters from breast cancer patients.
Of particular interest I found the article Strollin' on the river, about a patient looking for a physical challenge to focus her attention on two years after a secondary breast cancer diagnosis.
Also of interest was the article entitled Someone to Talk to and another one Lonely no More. I was interested to read that loneliness affects an estimated one person in five living with cancer. The article points out what you can do to help this.
All of you going through treatment or recently finished will be interested in the two page article entitled Coping with Fatigue and Top Fatigue fighting tips.
For those of you in the UK, you will be interested in the article Hot Topic Access to Drugs. This explains what NICE is all about and what the Cancer Drugs Fund is all about.
You will all be interested in the section Your Questions Answered - Ask a Breast Cancer Expert. The question this quarter is as follows: "My friend and I have both got triple negative breast cancer. She thinks all triple negative breast cancers are the same but I have heard there are lots of different types. Which one of us is right?"
There is also a question about inflammatory breast cancer and hair care after chemotherapy.
There are also a couple of good recipes about home made soup.
Please have a look at all of this and some of the other articles.
This is an easy to understand magazine and strangely somehow relaxing to read.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello InspiredbyDolce
Just popping in to say congratulations on three years out today. I hope others in the group will pop in with congratulations. You are doing absolutely everything to keep this nasty disease at bay.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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I'll second the congratulations! Well done!
Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas.
My wife has developed a nasty cough, I must admit its very scary. Normally I wouldn't even think about a cough, but as I'm sure you can imagine its sending our thoughts into overdrive. Our daughter has had a cough the past few weeks following on from Chicken pox, so logically its the same infection. She is having her PICC line inserted on Monday (my wife has done her first two chemo rounds without it) and will get a chest x-ray to check its in place so we'll hopefully get to check her lungs at the same time.
Love to all
Tom
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Hello Inspired!!
Congratulations on the 3-year mark, that must be a wonderful feeling!! Keep it going, you inspire us all.
Question: when does the counting start? Is it from finding the tumor onward? Or does it start when treatment finishes? If it's from finding the tumor onward, I am almost to a year.
Have you kept to a healthy diet and exercise program? Christmas has been hard for me. So much lovely chocolate and tasty goodies everywhere. People go to the bother of making all the stuff and it's just rude to resist, right? Haha.
Keep it going Deborah! And I wish you a wonderful, healthy blessed New Year!
Mary
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Congratulations InspiredbyDolce, and i AM inspired to get cracking on a more healthy diet. I do find turmeric capsules give me indigestion so i may try sprinkling the contents on food as Sylvia suggests, Hummous does sound a good idea so I will buy some low fat tomorrow and give it a try with the turmeric
Love and best wishes to you all
Sue x
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hi Sylvia
Sorry I've not been on...I've somehow been locked out of my account all my email notifications disappeared as well so not sure what went wrong there
Inspired congrats on reaching the three year mark, it must be a lovely feeling reaching milestones like these
Maryna8 I go from my diagnosis date which makes me 18 months out now,
Sylvia I did go to see john bishop at the echo arena and had a wonderful time we had seats in row L which were quite far back when one of the ushers came up to us and asked us if we would like to move forward as they had two tickets become available we said we would and got moved to row B and had a wonderful view,
The date for my op is coming round quickly and I'm feeling a little nervous about it but still think I doing the right thing
Breastcancerhusband I'll be interested to read about the research into gene therapy it all sounds really promising and I hope your wife's cough clears up quickly, it's strange how we worry now about things we wouldn't have give a second thought too before
I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward too the new year
Love
Gill
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Hi Everyone! Today is my 3 year survivorship date (figuring by the dx date, as per the landmark study) and Jan 4th is my 3 year healthy victory date. My u/s last week was normal. For those of you wondering my protocol, I request an MRI and u/s yearly, with each of those staggered at 6-months, so that the surveillance flip flops.
Also, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Have a nice celebration and go out there and be amazing! xoxo
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Hi ladies and husbands!
The site is no longer holding my e mail notification settings and getting on with life for me has also meant not coming here daily? I just had a day of scans...MRI, mammogram and ultrasound and then that painful poking and prodding....the ultrasound for me is then worst due to a couple of large but otherwise not problematic cysts. Results: Passed!!! I do not realize how stressed I am until I get good news and burst into tears of relief and gratitude.
It is snowing here in Munich, just the perfect not too light and not too heavy snowfall. Beautiful. Now come back summer!
I wanted to also say happy holidays, and a happy and serious kicking cancer to the curb 2015!
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Hello Tom
I was sorry to read that your wife has developed a nasty cough and I can understand your concern. If that were me I think I would phone the oncology department for advice or phone the breast care cancer nurse that your wife should have been given on diagnosis. Did your wife have a flu injection and a pneumonia one on diagnosis? I was told to go and get these on diagnosis because of the susceptibility to catching more or less anything when on chemotherapy, because of a suppressed immune system. I was also told to stay away from crowded places and anyone with anything infectious. A cough can be a sign of all sorts of things.
I do hope all will go well on Monday when your wife has the PICC inserted. I know that lots of women have these to try to avoid problems with veins that happen during chemotherapy.
It is good that she now has two rounds of chemotherapy behind her. Do you have a date for the next round?
It is a good thing that she will be having a chest x-ray to check that the PICC is in place, as you will be able to see whether she has a lung infection. I do remember having a cough long after treatment and I got an x-ray in order to have peace of mind, and everything was fine.
How is your daughter doing after chicken pox? I do hope she is making good progress.
Wishing you a happy healthy New Year.
Sylvia
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Hello maryna8,
I was told to count from the date of diagnosis, so that it what I do. I am now 9 years, 6 months and 8 days since diagnosis. It is really the only marker point that we can specify since we do not know how long the cancer was developing in our bodies.
I can understand that some people have trouble with their healthy diets at Christmas and other festive dates because sugar is everywhere. I feel lucky that I do not have a sweet tooth and so have no temptations. I am appalled by the floor to ceiling displays of chocolates, sweets, biscuits, cakes etc. in our supermarkets, especially as we have an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. I do not know how our health system will cope with this. I suppose within weeks or days all the chocolates for Valentine's day will be filling the shelves.
Sending you and your husband best wishes across the ocean for a happy healthy New Year.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Sue,
I do hope all is well with you and that you had an enjoyable Christmas.
I think you will find turmeric blended in with a tub of hummus is very palatable. I always buy it organic made with olive oil. Let us know how you get on with it. I sometimes have it with some raw vegetables such as raw peppers, small tomatoes, baby courgettes, baby sweetcorn. I always feel energised after raw food.
Wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Gill,
It was nice to hear from you and I was sorry to hear that you have been having trouble with your computer. I sometimes think computers have mind of their own!
I was glad to know that you had been to see John Bishop and that you had had a wonderful time and that you got to move forward to better seats. John Bishop is better than any bottle of tonic.
I have found a few things on the television lately that have made me laugh. One was the last episode of Not Going Out with Lee Mack. He was getting married to Lucy, the woman with whom he has been a lodger. It also had Tim Vine and it was hilarious. I also saw The Two Ronnies Christmas show with highlights of festive shows from 1979-1982. With all the dire news that is never-ending we all need to laugh.
I can understand that you are getting nervous about your surgery. Can you remind me of the date? Focus on the fact this will soon be behind you and that you can face 2015 with optimism.
Have you made any New Year's resolutions? Do you think people still do this?
Sending best wishes your way and a happy healthy New Year.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello InspiredbyDolce (Debra),
I hope you celebrated your three year anniversary in a way that suited you.
I was interested to know that you have a healthy victory date and that it is on January 4th. Can you explain what this means?
I was interested to know that you request an MRI and an ultrasound yearly with each of these staggered at six months. Because in the US you have an insurance based health system, I assume that you ask your insurance for these tests and they allow them. Under our National Health System in the UK which is funded by taxes and is free at the point of use, so no one has to worry about finding the money to pay, we do not get these tests regularly. If we have, as breast cancer patients, concerns about anything, we can get in touch with our consultants and we can get tests if it is felt they are needed. The usual routine after standard treatment has finished is regular mammograms and physical check ups, starting three monthly, going to six monthly and then yearly.
Wishing you a very happy New Year and let us all keep it a healthy one with our diet, physical activity, trying to control our environment, avoiding negative stress and laughing and enjoying life as much as we can.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Susan,
I was glad to read your post and to know that you are getting on with your life. I was also glad to know that you have had good results from all your scans etc.
I think we can all understand the stress that you go through when waiting for tests and the absolute relief that is felt when told all is fine.
I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas doing what makes you happy.
I do not envy you your snow, as in the UK any snowfall means chaos and panic. The powers that be cannot seem to cope with snow clearance and their have been people stuck in their cars in the places where we have had snow these past few days. There has been a lot of snow in Scotland, Wales and the north of England, but not here in Devon. We do not often have snow in Exmouth. However, it is very cold here at the moment.
Wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year. Please come to the thread when you can as we need those who have gone through treatment and are in the clear to inspire others going through treatment and those who have had relapses.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year and say that I hope it will be a healthy one.
I am sending wishes to Marymargarethope. I hope things are not too bad with you and that you and your baby are progressing well.
To Michael, I hope 2015 will be good to you and that all is well with you in Northern Ireland. Have you had any snow? Where will you be seeing the New Year in?
Happy New Year Lindsay in Ireland. I hope you are having a good end of year with your family.
Happy New Year, adagio. I am not sure whether you are still on holiday or back in Canada. I hope to hear from you.
A really special hello to Carolben. I hope things are not too bad for you. I do not know whether you have gone back on chemotherapy or whether you are still having a rest. I do hope 2015 will be a good year for you.
To Jacqueline1963 in Scotland, I think you are starting radiotherapy on December 29th and wanted to say that I hope all will go well. This will soon be behind you and I hope you have a happy healthy New Year.
Many thanks to all of you who have posted and viewed during the past year and over the past four and a bit years.
Sylvia xxxx
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Dec 27th is DX date which is what was used in the landmark study which analyzed recurrences. Jan 4th was my surgery date so that is the point at which I was cancer free.
I request double surveillance as recurrences have been known to present as interval cancer so it's a strategy. Insurance approves it since I had a high risk factor, that being dx with bc under age 45.
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Hello InspiredbyDolce (Debra),
Thank you for that explanation. I appreciate it. Keep up the good work with your healthy diet and keep posting. I love to hear from you and appreciate all the information that you give us.
Fond thoughts.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi Sylvia
Wishing you and everyone a happy and healthy new year!
We had a snow shower for about 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon but it didn't lie. Yesterday and today has seen a very heavy frost but I think it is forecast to clear overnight. Thank goodness, I am not fond of winter.
I haven't anything planned for new years eve yet. I am not sure if Alex is coming down or if he is out with friends in Belfast. Will you be doing anything special?
Michael
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