Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org
Comments
-
Have scientists found an anti-cancer vaccine?
Published Thursday 15 February 2018By Ana Sandoiu
Fact checked by Jasmin Collier
Researchers from Stanford University used stem cells to create a vaccine that has proven effective against breast, lung, and skin cancer in mice.
Humans may soon benefit from an anti-cancer shot, researchers say.To produce the vaccine, the scientists turned to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), or stem cells that are generated from adult cells.Over a decade ago, Japanese-based scientists showed for the first time that adult cells can be genetically reprogrammed to behave in the same way as pluripotent stem cells.These cells can take any shape or function, "specializing" into whatever type of cell the body needs.Embryonic stem cells are probably the most well-known type of pluripotent stem cell. As Wu and colleagues write, about a century ago, scientists found that immunizing animals with embryonic tissue caused them to reject tumors.Over time, this led scientists to believe that embryonic stem cells could be used as a sort of vaccine against cancer tumors. The main challenge of anti-cancer vaccines, however, is the limited number of antigens — or foreign agents that elicit an immune response — that the immune system can be exposed to at once.But, as Wu and his colleagues write, using iPSCs generated from the patient's own genetic material has — in theory — a range of immunogenic advantages. They present immune T cells with a "more accurate and representative panel of [a] patient's tumor immunogens."So, the researchers — led by Joseph C. Wu, of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University in California — set out to test this hypothesis in mice, and they published their results in the journal Cell Stem Cell. 0 -
Regarding the Cell Search test - I'd like to see those studies paired with the BCI and a side-by-side comparison of results over time.
And as for the cost of the test (Cell Search) - IF it proves accurate I'd certainly consider paying for it out of pocket.
0 -
From cell search tests:
“Breast cancer survivors may be tempted to rush out and get it, but doctors say it's too soon for that. Although it's been used for about a decade to monitor certain patients with advanced cancer during treatment, its value for helping to predict breast cancer relapse risk is not well established, and insurers won't pay the $600 to $900 tab.”
Doctors don't want to rush into it so we have to wait more years? Why not start using it now and find out if it's any good? I would be willing to pay for it too Hopeful. They are already using the test
Maybe doctors are worried about being put out of business.
0 -
Job loss following breast cancer diagnosis linked to race and insurance status
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180214/Job-los...
Study reveals the association between ultra-processed foods and cancer
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180215/Study-r...
Scientists program nanorobots to shrink tumors
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180212/Scienti...
Too bad the promising studies always seem to be in the mouse stage. Hope they work on humans some day!
0 -
2013 Forbes Study
Aug 11, 2013 @ 11:10 AM 225,310
The Cost Of Creating A New Drug Now $5 Billion, Pushing Big Pharma To Change
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/08...
0 -
marijen - 11 billion or more would not surprise me. Unfortunate that it is so expensive. I just have to hope it results in safer more effective treatments.
0 -
Newer Breast MRI May Be More Accurate and Easier
AddthisShareEmailFacebookTwitter
TUESDAY, Feb. 20, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- A new type of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) that doesn't use a contrast agent appears better at detecting what's really cancer and what's likely just a harmless lesion, researchers report. In a study in Germany, the new technique reduced false-positive findings by 70 percent. The scan was also able to detect 98 percent of breast cancers correctly, the researchers said.
"This more advanced imaging technique is very good at distinguishing things that might be invasive cancer and things that are likely not cancer," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. He wasn't involved in the study.
The new test is known as diffusion kurtosis imaging. To create it, the researchers altered another special type of MRI. Then they combined the new scanning technique with software that decides whether a suspicious breast lesion is benign (harmless) or malignant (cancerous).
The new MRI "basically maps the movement of water molecules in the tissue. If a malignant tumor grows in the tissue, it disrupts the healthy tissue structure, which changes the movement of water molecules in this area," explained the study's lead researcher, Dr. Sebastian Bickelhaupt. He's the head of the Breast Imaging Research Group at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.
Currently, MRI scans are used as part of screening for women with a particularly high risk of breast cancer.
This may include women with a breast cancer gene or genes, women with a family history of a breast cancer gene who haven't been tested themselves, those who've had radiation to the chest to treat lymphoma, and women with certain syndromes that raise the risk of breast cancer significantly, according to the American Cancer Society.
The problem is that MRIs currently finds a lot of areas in the breasts that are deemed suspicious.
"I advise patients to ready themselves emotionally. MRI delivers a lot of false positives and there's a high probability that you will need several biopsies," Brawley explained.
Along with reducing the need for unnecessary biopsies due to false positive findings, the benefits of the new MRI type include no contrast agent, the researchers. A contrast agent is a substance introduced intravenously that makes it easier to see certain areas on an imaging test.
The new test also has a shorter imaging time. Bickelhaupt said the test only takes about 10 minutes. And unlike mammography or CT scans, there is no exposure to radiation.
These two factors -- no need for an IV contrast agent and shorter test -- potentially could reduce MRI costs.
The study included 222 women from two sites in Germany. Ninety-five of the women were only included in the training portion of the study. The second group included 127 women. Their average age was 59. All had undergone X-ray mammography that indicated potential cancer.
All the women underwent the new MRI test, then had a biopsy to see if the suspicious area was cancer. The researchers then compared the findings from the new test to the biopsy results. They also assessed the results of conventional MRI images.
The investigators found that the new test was significantly better than standard MRI at detecting breast cancers.
"Although the numbers are pretty small in this study, this technique is an exciting thing. My gut is that if larger studies continue like this, this technique will be available in hospitals in the next decade or so," Brawley said.
Bickelhaupt and Brawley said this technique isn't designed to replace current standards, such as mammograms or ultrasounds.
Instead, Bickelhaupt said this test would expand the options available to women based on their clinical needs.
"Implementing such imaging approaches into the clinical routine might expand the diagnostic toolbox of the radiologist in the future," he said.
The study was published Feb. 20 in the journal Radiology.
More information
Learn more about new imaging tests to detect breast cancer from the American Cancer Society.
SOURCES: Sebastian Bickelhaupt, M.D., head, Breast Imaging Research Group, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; Otis Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society; Feb. 20, 2018, Radiology
Copyright © 2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
0 -
lymphovenous bypass
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/...
"...instead of tying off the lymphatic vessels, he reconnects them to a nearby vein, to preserve as much of the body's natural drainage system as possible.
"So the risk of lymphedema is dramatically reduced," Feldman says, among those considered good candidates for the procedure. "In my study, 4 percent incidence of lymphedema, as opposed to 30 to 40 percent in the group that didn't have it."
0 -
Urgent Care Services For Cancer Patients Offer A Gentler ER Alternative
https://wamu.org/story/17/05/03/urgent-care-servic...
For Now, Sequencing Cancer Tumors Holds More Promise Than Proof
https://wamu.org/story/18/01/15/for-now-sequencing...
The Painful Side Of Positive Health Care Marketing
0 -
Lumpie-
Thanks for starting this thread and being so consistent about posting! It is so helpful to have so many different articles to read!
0 -
I love the ER article Lumpie, I hope the ER Alternative catches on everywhere!
0 -
Miss Melissa - glad you find it helpful. I kind of post what is of most interest to me ...
Marijen - I like it, too! It is so frustrating to be told 'we are going to stick you in the hospital... although we won't really be doing anything for you... but... we're really not sure what to do with you...." arg!
0 -
Why do some breast cancers become treatment-resistant?
Published Tuesday 13 February 2018By Maria Cohut
Fact checked by Jasmin Collier
Most breast cancers are estrogen receptor-positive, meaning that signals received from estrogen, a hormone, promote the growth of the tumors. To stop these cancers from spreading, estrogen inhibitors are usually prescribed. But what happens when tumors develop treatment resistance?
In around a third of ER-positive breast cancer cases, the tumors become treatment-resistant. Why is that?Studies suggest that "approximately 70 percent" of all breast cancersare estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive).These types of cancer are typically treated with drugs — such as tamoxifen and fulvestrant — that either lower the levels of the hormone or inhibit the estrogen receptors to prevent the tumors from spreading. This is known as endocrine therapy.However, around a third of the people treated with these drugs develop resistance to them, which negatively impacts their chances of survival. The mechanisms that underlie the tumors' resistance to therapy is not well understood and currently poses a major challenge.Recently, however, specialists from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, have made significant progress in uncovering what exactly happens in the bodies of people in whom endocrine therapy does not work.Dr. Myles Brown — the director of the Center for Functional Cancer Epigenetics at the Institute — and his colleagues investigated how certain gene mutations render cancer cells more resilient, facilitating metastasis. Their findings, the scientists hope, may eventually lead to more effective approaches for patients who do not respond well to traditional treatments.The results of the team's study were published in the journal Cancer Cell. 0 -
JAMAOncology | OriginalInvestigation
Comparison of the Performance of 6 Prognostic Signatures for Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer
A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/arti...0 -
A Review of Histologic Prognostic Variables in Breast Cancer
0 -
Breast Implants Tied to Increased Risk of Rare Blood Cancer
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/8918630 -
-
30-day mortality after systemic anticancer treatment for breast and lung cancer in England: a population-based, observational study - The Lancet Oncology
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/P...(16)30383-7/fulltext0 -
The biggest Breast Cancer risk that women are not aware of
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/bi...
0 -
I Confronted the Doctor Who Missed My Cancer
0 -
^Good article from Elle. Thanks.
0 -
Sciencedaily, "Breast Cancer's Spread Routes Mapped" regarding research from the Karolinska Institute, KTH in Sweden & University of Helsinki:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/1802...
I'd like to know more about the implications of this finding, it seems to imply that we don't learn as much, in terms of preventing metastases, as I'd thought from examining lymph nodes:
"Our most important finding, however, was that the metastases in the axillary lymph nodes do not seem to spread further to other organs, so even if these metastases can show how aggressive the cancer is, it is not they that cause the spread," says Johan Hartman, Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Oncology-Pathology and one of the researchers who led the study.
0 -
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that the risk of death from breast cancer is twice as high for patients with high heterogeneity of the estrogen receptor within the same tumour as compared to patients with low heterogeneity. The study, which is published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also shows that the higher risk of death over a span of 25 years is independent of other known tumour markers and also holds true for Luminal A breast cancer, a subtype with a generally good prognosis.
The most common form of breast cancer is estrogen-receptor-positive, so called hormone-sensitive breast cancer. This means that the tumour needs the female hormone estrogen to grow. Women who develop this kind of breast cancer have a remaining long-term risk of dying of the disease. It is also known that the estrogen receptor can change when a breast cancer tumour spreads, which affects survival. Why this is the case, however, is not known, but a possible explanation is that there are tumour cells in one and the same tumour with varying degrees of expression of the estrogen receptor. This is known as intra-tumour heterogeneity.
In the present study, Swedish and American researchers sought to discover if breast cancer patients with high heterogeneity of the estrogen receptor in their breast cancer tumour have a higher long-term risk of dying. To this end, they studied the fates of 593 patients in a clinical study, who had been either treated with tamoxifen or not treated with systemic therapy after surgery. All women had been diagnosed with post-menopausal estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer between 1976 and 1990.
"Our study shows that patients with high intra-tumour heterogeneity of the estrogen receptor were twice as likely to die up to 25-years after their diagnoses as compared to patients with low heterogeneity," says Linda Lindström, researcher at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet. "And this was independent of whether or not they'd received tamoxifen and of other known tumour markers."
The researchers also discovered that the greater risk of death for patients with high intra-tumour heterogeneity also applied to patients with Luminal A breast cancer, a subtype of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer that is considered to have a good prognosis.
"Patients with Luminal A breast cancer and high intra-tumour heterogeneity of the estrogen receptor were also twice as likely to die from the disease," continues Dr Lindström. "This is interesting given that patients with Luminal A breast cancer subtype are generally thought to have a good prognosis. We believe that if validated, these new findings should be useable within the near future."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Karolinska Institutet. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Linda S. Lindström, Christina Yau, Kamila Czene, Carlie K. Thompson, Katherine A. Hoadley, Laura J. van't Veer, Ron Balassanian, John W. Bishop, Philip M. Carpenter, Yunn-Yi Chen, Brian Datnow, Farnaz Hasteh, Gregor Krings, Fritz Lin, Yanhong Zhang, Bo Nordenskjöld, Olle Stål, Christopher C. Benz, Tommy Fornander, Alexander D. Borowsky, Laura J. Esserman. Intratumor Heterogeneity of the Estrogen Receptor and the Long-term Risk of Fatal Breast Cancer. Journal of The National Cancer Institute, 19 January 2018 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djx270
0 -
Acrylamide and Cancer Risk - National Cancer Institute
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevent...0 -
In the midst of an opoid epidemic, doctors are caught in a fierce debate over whether to stop medications for patients with chronic pain. Here's what happened to one man when his painkillers were taken away. Read the full story
0 -
Scientists map breast cancer's spread routes
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180227/Scienti...
"...the metastases in the axillary lymph nodes do not seem to spread further to other organs, so even if these metastases can show how aggressive the cancer is, it is not they that cause the spread..."
{Doesn't surprise me one bit.... }
0 -
Majority women willing to accept risks of breast screening, research shows
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180228/Majorit...
...new research suggesting that, on average, most women were willing to accept the risk of unnecessary follow-ups for an increased chance of detecting a cancer in screening.
0 -
Lumpie, a short while back I saw an article that said the Opiod crisis was not really opiod use as in Vicodan, oxycodone, like that. It was mostly the drug abusers such as heroin addicts, fentnyl patches, and meth addicts that get illegal drugs. It's not fair to lump all in one cart with cancer patients. The story says the guy featured had an intake of 150mg per day and he still wasn't an abuser. So if someone is taking the least amount and lowest dose of say one Vicodan a day or more, they shouldn't be cut off! I also saw a list probably at drugs.com where there are different levels of opiod pills. Oxycontin being at the top and codeine with tylenol at the bottom. So is this crisis just propaganda or what? Are they using this for some kind of political reason? Cancer patients and established chronic pain patients should not be included. However I do know of one 40 year old male who died recently after taking oxycontin for after surgery with alcohol.
Lumpie, do you think anyone else comes here to read Breaking News : )
0 -
I do and I’m assuming many others do as well. I think it’s very useful and interesting.
0
