Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org
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Cancer indicator may also predict diabetes risk
Research links epidermal growth factor receptor to diabetes risk
A study in Diabetes Care showed that adults with the highest circulating levels of the epidermal growth factor receptor HER2/ErbB2 were at a higher risk for diabetes than those with the lowest levels. Swedish researchers used a cohort of 4,220 participants from the Malmo Diet and Cancer-Cardiovascular study and found that each 1-standard deviation increase in ErbB2 levels was tied to an increased diabetes risk in both men and women.Healio (free registration)/Endocrine Today (6/17)
Adults with larger amounts of the epidermal growth factor receptor HER2/ErbB2 are at a higher risk for diabetes compared with those with lower measures, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.
"In addition to breast cancer, circulating ErbB2 levels are positively associated with an increased risk of diabetes," the researchers wrote. "Our results are interesting and worth exploring regarding the potential role of ErbB2 in the development of diabetes and in novel therapeutic approaches."
Diabetes Care. 2019; doi:10.2337/dc18-2556.
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Guiding Cancer Control: A Path to Transformation webinar
On June 27, 2019, from 1 to 2 pm EDT, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will release its new report Guiding Cancer Control: A Path to Transformation in a webinar report release event.
This new report will look at cancer control efforts in the United States and will recommend a new approach to reduce the burden of cancer and improve quality of life for cancer survivors.
Authoring committee members participating in the webinar include:
Michael Johns (Committee Chair), Emory University
Ashleigh Guadagnolo, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Joseph Lipscomb, Emory University
Mary McCabe, Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University School of Nursing
William Rouse, Stevens Institute of Technologyregister here (free):
{The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine offer numerous publications on cancer and other topics free of charge in PDF format or in print for a fee.}
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Impact of muscle volume on breast cancer outcomes
Prognostic impact of skeletal muscle volume derived from cross-sectional computed tomography images in breast cancer
This study analysed if the volume of muscle or the volume of fat in a patient with breast cancer had any impact on their survival. The study found that patients with breast cancer who had higher volumes of muscle survived better than patients with low volumes of muscle.
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that breast cancer patients with higher skeletal muscle volume showed more favorable prognosis.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30132218
DOI: 10.1007/s10549-018-4915-70 -
High Soy Intake May Cut Fracture Risk in Younger Breast Cancer Survivors
Findings seen among pre-/perimenopausal survivors of stage 0 to III breast cancer
- HealthDay
- Higher soy consumption is linked to fewer osteoporotic fractures in younger breast cancer survivors, according to a study published online May 21 in JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
- https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/85457/56?elsca1=emc_enews_topic-alert
- https://academic.oup.com/jncics/article/3/2/pkz017/5488692
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jncics/pkz017
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Thank you, Lumpie, for all your work on finding and posting these! That ultrasound device that can destroy CTCs sounds very promising!
My MO is very research oriented, but when I asked her about doing a CTC test, she said: "we know having higher levels of CTC in an early BC patient is associated with higher probability of relapse, but we don't know what to do about this yet". Now there may be a mechanism to destroy the CTCs!
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FarAwayToo: Ditto - my MO said the same thing: Even if we figure out that you have a high level of CTC's, we don't know what to do about it. That is not very comforting to patients. I am optimistic that, with further research, some version of CTC's will be used as a diagnostic tool and will become actionable.
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Rate of breast implant removal surgeries rising
The number of women having breast implants removed has increased almost 40% over the past decade, and they report an array of symptoms they say are linked to the implants, including headaches, fever, brain fog, rashes, chronic fatigue and joint pain. Dr. Dave Rankin of Aqua Plastic Surgery in Jupiter, Fla., said he performed at least 400 explant procedures in 2018 and he sees demand for explant surgeries outpacing demand for implants.WFTS-TV (Tampa, Fla.) (6/17)
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Make palliative care automatic for breast cancer, expert says
Palliative care should be "automatic, expected and a routine part of excellent breast cancer care," said Dr. Michael Rabow, a palliative care medical director at the University of California at San Francisco's Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Progress has been made for patients with metastatic breast cancer, but palliative care remains underutilized overall. Medscape (free registration) (6/14)
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/913957
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New models may address cancer survivors' care coordination headaches
Because their medical histories are lengthy and complex, cancer survivors in particular struggle with poorly coordinated care that can compromise access to needed follow-up, writes Michelle Doose, an epidemiology researcher and cancer survivor. However, patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations and other emerging frameworks show promise for ensuring cancer survivors get well coordinated care that could also become a model for other patients. Scientific American (tiered subscription model) (6/2019)
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/cancer-survivors-deserve-coordinated-care/
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Lawmakers introduce data privacy proposal
The Protecting Personal Health Data Act, proposed by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., aims to create data protection standards and regulation not currently covered by HIPAA, including those from technologies such as health apps. The proposal would require HHS to create a national task force to protect health data and develop security standards for apps, consumer devices, software and services, and establish regulations to help enhance health data security and privacy. Health IT Security (6/17)
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/proposed-bill-would-close-hipaa-gaps-curb-health-app-privacy-risks
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Life And Debt: Two Health Professionals. Two Hurricanes. Two Heart Surgeries.
A physician married to a psychologist got very sick. As expenses mount, these providers are experiencing the woes of American health care from the other side.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/life-and-debt-doctors-hurricanes-surgeries_n_5cee9494e4b0975ccf5ea272
{Financial and social toxicity of a medical crisis. Most of us can relate.}
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Traumatic injuries linked to later social dysfunction
(Reuters Health) - Nearly half of trauma patients, even those without brain injuries, experience social deficits that make it harder for them to interact with friends and stay involved in the community, a recent study suggests.
{This article reports on trauma patients but I believe that there are some studies out about the traumatic effects of a cancer diagnosis and the burdensome consequences of dealing with the whole process. Some may find this topic interesting, relevant.}
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Metformin, 1p diabetes pill, is new weapon against breast cancer
'A diabetes drug that costs as little as 1p a tablet can curb the growth of breast cancer by up to 76%, experts have found.
Scientists discovered that metformin, taken by millions of diabetes patients, dramatically alters the make-up of breast cancer stem cells by forcing them to become addicted to glucose.
This creates a treatment "sweet spot", enabling cancer drugs to target and kill the stem cells.
The Southampton University team found that treating breast cancer with a low dose of metformin before attacking it with cancer drugs called CtBP inhibitors produced a reduction of up to 76% in the growth of the disease.In results published in the journal Carcinogenesis, researchers showed that an eight-week programme of low-dose metformin, commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, altered the metabolism of breast cancer stem cells.
Normally, the cells rely on both oxygen and glucose for the energy they need to grow and survive. But breast cancer stem cells are incredibly resilient, and can alter how they produce their energy depending on their surroundings.
To survive the metformin treatment, the stem cells switched their metabolism to become more reliant on glucose, which creates a new treatment "sweet spot".
r Jeremy Blaydes, a reader in cancer cell biology at Southampton University and the lead author of the report, said: "Our work has given us the first glimpse into how changes in metabolism can alter the behaviour of breast cancer stem cells and reveal new targets for therapy. "We hope these could lead to new treatment options for breast cancer patients who most need it."
The laboratory findings will allow combinations of metformin and CtBP inhibitors to be trialed in patients.
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, which funded the research, said: "While it's often brand new drugs that make the headlines, the repurposing of drugs used in other health conditions to develop new cancer therapies, or improve existing ones, is a really exciting research avenue."
The method could help all breast cancer patients, but experts say it could be particularly useful in halting the spread of triple negative breast cancers.0 -
If anyone has an answer to this it would clear things up for me. Why do cancer cells switch to getting their energy from glucose when Metformin is taken? Is it because the insulin is lowered so there is a switch to glucose? Kind of confused about the mechanism...
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I'm not sure completely, but I did find this:
Cancer cells need a lot of energy to grow and spread as fast as they do. However, an obstacle in the way of cancer's metabolic needs is a molecule called NAD+. This molecule turns nutrients into energy.
Cancer cells' use of sugar holds the key to their destructionRestricting cancer cells' glucose supply and interfering with their ability to metabolize it could help destroy them.
"In order to keep the energy-generating machinery running, NAD+ must be continuously generated from NADH," Benjamin explains, adding,"[B]oth metformin and syrosingopine prevent the regeneration of NAD+, but in two different ways."
Many cancer cells rely on glycolysis in their metabolism, which means that they break sugar down into lactate. When there is too much lactate, however, glycolytic pathways are blocked.
So, to avoid this, cancer cells dispose of lactate via special transporters, and this is where the drug combination comes in.
"We have now discovered," Benjamin points out, "that syrosingopine efficiently blocks the two most important lactate transporters and thus, inhibits lactate export. High intracellular lactate concentrations, in turn, prevent NADH from being recycled into NAD+."
Metformin, meanwhile, blocks the second of the two cellular pathways that help NAD+ regenerate. So, when metformin is combined with syrosingopine, NADH can no longer be recycled into NAD+. This, in turn, creates an energy shortage.
The energy shortage ultimately leads to the death of cancer cells, which no longer have an energy supply. The combination of the two drugs, therefore, "may prove a viable anticancer strategy," conclude the researchers.
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And this:
In living cells, glucose plays a major role to energy metabolism, taken up by specific glucose transporters (GLUT). Once inside the cell, it is converted to pyruvate through the glycolytic pathway generating a small amount of energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Pyruvate is then transported into the mitochondria, enters the tricarboxylic acid cycle and is oxidized through in the mitochondria respiratory chain (oxidative phosphorylation system [OXPHOS]), generating ATP. This aerobic process is a major source of energy supporting life. Mitochondria are frequently dysfunctional in type 2 diabetes, but most of the ATP in patients with type 2 diabetes is generated through OXPHOS.
Cancer cells, meanwhile, tend to synthesize more ATP through glycolysis than normal cells do. This metabolic shift to aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of cancer, and is applied to a common clinical test for it, positron emission tomography. Recent studies have suggested that this metabolic shift could be to facilitate the uptake and incorporation of more nutrients into cell building blocks, such as nucleotides, amino acids and lipids, which are required for highly proliferating cells. Mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer cells might be behind this phenomenon, which is well appreciated after Otto Warburg proposed it could be the primary cause3. All in all, the mechanisms underlying the dysregulated cellular metabolism of cancer cells remain poorly understood. Whatever the mechanisms are, blocking these metabolic alterations is now emerging as a new therapeutic approach of cancer, and as such, some of the metabolic enzymes involved in the glycolytic pathway are currently considered as therapeutic targets. Glucose deprivation is currently considered as one of such therapeutic options.
Very recently, Madiraju et al.7 reported that metformin inhibits mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (mitoGPD), and thus alters the mitochondrial and cytosolic redox state, and reduces reactive oxygen species production. It is not clear how metformin inhibits complex 1 and mitoGPD or if the two mechanisms are interrelated. We are fully aware that there are other possible mechanisms for the anticancer effect of metformin, including stimulation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its upstream regulator, liver kinase B1 (LKB1), although they could well be secondary to its inhibitory effect on the mitochondrial function and the reduction of free radicals through inhibition of mitoGPD, as suggested by Madiraju et al.7
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Thanks so much! Still not clear but interesting nonetheless!
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I have been n metformin 1000 mg (2 x 500) since diagnosis as I had seen other articles showing reduced recurrences among women on the drug. I asked my MO and he prescribed it.
It seemed low risk and high potential benefit.
There are anti pinworm and anti tapeworm drugs which seem to target stem cells as well...
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Pain patients left in anguish by doctors 'terrified' of opioid addiction, despite CDC change
Ken Alltucker and Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAYPublished 3:54 p.m. ET June 24, 2019 | Updated 4:33 p.m. ET June 24, 2019
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/06...0 -
Cannabinoids: Preclinical hope for breast cancer therapy
This review concluded that cannabinoids have been shown to inhibit tumor cell growth, cancer spread and blood vessel formation in multiple trials involving animal models and cell cultures. Clinical trials investigating the potential benefits of cannabinoids on the outcomes of breast cancer patients are warranted.
Overall, cannabinoids have been shown to block cancer cell proliferation and reduce cancer cell migration in all breast cancer subtypes.
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the most commonly investigated cannabinoid, has been found to reduce both the rate of tumor growth and the overall number of developing tumors in HER2-positive breast cancer through the reduction of cell proliferation and by increasing cancer-cell death. Some studies have also shown cannabinoids to decrease the formation of blood vessels within the tumor, which inhibits cancer growth.
https://www.cancertreatmentreviews.com/article/S0305-7372%2812%2900139-9/abstract
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2012.06.005
{This article is old - 2012 - but the topic was kind of interesting. There is a charge to access the full journal at this website.}
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VD3 mitigates breast cancer aggressiveness by targeting V-H+-ATPase
Author links open overlay panelhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...
Lumpie, please let me know if I duplicate anything, that’s what happened to me yesterday
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Salinomycin is an antiparasitic drug.
Salinomycin inhibits breast cancer progression via targeting HIF-1α/VEGF mediated tumor angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo
Author links open overlay panelJayantDewanganaSonalSrivastavaaSakshiMishraaAmanDiva
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/...0 -
Trump's Plan To Lower Your Hospital Costs: Here's What You Need To Know
President Trump signed an executive order Monday (6/24/2019) that he says would make such comparisons easier, and make the pricing process more transparent.The order directs agencies to draw up rules requiring hospitals and insurers to make public more information on the prices they hammer out in contract negotiations. Also, hospitals and insurers would have to give estimates on out-of-pocket costs to patients before they go in for nonemergency medical care. But just how useful the effort will prove for consumers remains unclear. If the executive order leads to finalized HHS rules, proponents say it could encourage competition and lower prices. Other health care analysts say much depends on how the administration writes the rules over the next several months — rules that govern what information must be provided and in what format. Trump's executive order already is running into opposition from some hospitals and insurers who say disclosing negotiated rates could drive up costs.
Interesting Q&A follows the introduction.
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Interesting article about hospital pricing. It is all smoke and mirrors. Hospitals price things with magic words and insurance companies adjust the prices with different magic words. And poof! there is the amount you still owe.
Comparing prices on healthcare for individual services also is an interesting idea. It assumes that we buy our healthcare one illness or surgery at a time -- or perhaps it assumes we SHOULD buy it that way. Which is ridiculous, because we are whole people and should have our health considered as a whole bodily and mental being, and not as bits and pieces to be returned to the factory for a tune-up, one at a time.
Another assumption is that people actually CAN comparison shop, or that it is a good idea to shop on price. I have 2 hospitals in my town that provide cancer care. One is in the top 20 on the country for cancer care, and the other is not even on the list. Which one should I go to? Should I make that decision based on the cost of care or on the expertise?
And what about the people who have no cancer center close to them? Or hospital that is qualified to do knee replacement? What competition is there for their business? They will go to whatever hospital they can manage in their lives, even if it's a 90 minute drive each way. Rural American lives this way.
In the meantime, today I got a letter from the insurance company saying my base rate is going up another 12.6% for next year. Year after year I have double digit increases in rate. And still, ridiculously, every day I am grateful I have health insurance, that somehow the republicans have not managed to pry out of my hands yet. Because this year's care for me will likely exceed $150,000. And I hit my out-of-pocket maximum for the year months ago.
Sorry for the rant. I know that's not really the point of this thread. Just call me skeptical that new rules or executive order will actually improve healthcare in the US.
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Senate Committee OKs Act to End Surprise Billing
Core focus of the "Lower Health Care Costs Act" is price transparency
A bipartisan bill focused on eliminating surprise medical bills and lowering patients' out-of-pocket costs passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in a 20-3 vote on Wednesday.
A core focus of the "Lower Health Care Costs Act" is price transparency, said Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
....he, along with ranking committee member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), agreed that the best solution is to pay out-0f-network doctors in hospitals the median contract rate that in-network doctors are paid for those same services in a particular geographic area -- a strategy dubbed "the benchmark solution."
While Alexander noted that the benchmark solution was deemed the most effective approach to lowering healthcare costs by the Congressional Budget Office, he said he was open to continue working on the bill to see if it could be improved.
Alexander outlined other measures included in the current bill:
- Mandating that healthcare facilities offer a summary of services after discharge, and requiring that hospitals send all medical bills within 45 days
- Directing doctors and insurers to give patients price quotes on their expected out-of-pocket costs for care
- Helping to bring biosimilars to market faster by leveraging a "transparent, modernized and searchable" patent database
- Keeping the FDA drug patent database system up to date in order to accelerate generic product development
- Banning the abuse of "citizen petitions" which can "unnecessarily delay drug approvals"
- Closing a loophole that enables drug companies to retain exclusivity and prevent less expensive drugs from coming to market by making insignificant tweaks to old drugs
The bill would also increase prescription drug competition by eliminating "gag clauses" in insurance contracts, and by banning pharmacy benefit managers from charging more for a drug than they paid for it,it would target several public health challenges, such as supporting state and local efforts to raise vaccination rates, efforts to prevent and curb obesity, and expanding healthcare technology to better serve rural communities, as well as enforce mental health parity laws.
The bill would also expand mandatory funding for community health centers and four additional programs "to ensure that 27 million Americans who rely on these centers for primary care and other healthcare can continue to access centers close to home,"
...amendment to the bill ...also wrapped in two other measures; one that would raise the minimum age for purchasing any tobacco product to 21 from 18, and another that would ban anti-competitive practices in generic drug development such as sample-blocking.
An amendment to require insurance companies to post information regarding network adequacy, based on the insurers last interaction with a provider, was also approved by the committee, along with the FAIR Drug Pricing Act, an amendment that calls for transparency from pharmaceutical companies that plan to raise prices of their products.
Alexander said he aims to hold a floor vote on the bill before the end of July.
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MountainMia: yes. There are so many problems.... outrageous out of pockets, even with "good" insurance...access to facilities, especially for those in rural areas....the fact that, for many of us, our health insurance is wrapped up with our jobs, so if we lose our jobs, we lose our insurance. Not to mention that, if lifetime limits come back, many of us are proverbial toast. Lots of issues that need to be addressed.
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Banned Antibacterial Tied to Osteoporosis—
Associations strongest in postmenopausal women
The antibacterial chemical triclosan was tied to deleterious bone changes in women, according to researchers in China.
In an analysis of over 1,800 adult women, high exposure to triclosan was associated with a nearly 2.5-fold increased chance of developing intertrochanteric osteoporosis...
An endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), triclosan is a chemical with antibacterial properties that was commonly used in household items such as soap, mouthwash, and hand sanitizers. Along with a slew of similar chemicals, the FDA banned triclosan from being used in over-the-counter soaps in 2016 and hand sanitizers in April 2019. Despite the current ban, the chemical may still be found in other daily products not regulated by the FDA, such as clothing (athletic wear) and contaminated water.
the authors reported that women who fell into the highest tertile of triclosan exposure also had significantly lower bone mineral densities (BMDs) compared with women in the lowest exposure group...
When the analysis was restricted only to premenopausal women, there were no associations between any degree of triclosan exposure with BMD in any area of the body.
Primary Source
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
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SHARE Report Back from ASCO on Metastatic Breast Cancer
Webinar
Dr. Linda Vahdat, medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology and Clinical Director of Cancer Services at Norwalk Hospital, will summarize research presented at ASCO 2019 focusing on metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Vahdat will also discuss her current research in triple negative metastatic breast cancer.
{This webinar was presented 6/25/2019. If you register, the recording opens up.}
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This website has a calendar of events that you may be interested in. It includes webinars! https://thestormriders.org/ Some conferences do live streaming.
I’ve put some webinars on my calendar and will be attending the breast cancer conference in Seattle in September. Lots of interesting stuff!
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