Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org
Comments
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For breasts that aren't dense, more frequent mammography might be the key. For dense breasts, mammography might not be enough. My tumor wasn't visible by mammogram. What good would it do me to have a hundred mammograms, none of which could show my tumor?
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I agree with Marijen. My choice. In 40 years with dense breasts, I never had a yearly mammogram that I wasn't called back for "further studies", which always included an ultrasound.
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The article on MRI's didn't mention 3D mammograms. From all quarters, those seemed to be widely praised. Perhaps they help bridge the gap. Mammography did not find my lump. I did. Plus, my breasts are extremely dense. So I do them annually but I've never put that much stock in them. For some reason, it doesn't bother me that much that I don't view them as being terribly effective for me. Maybe it should.
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Low doses of radiation promote cancer-capable cells: New research in mice helps to understand the risks around exposure to low doses of radiation, such as CT scans and X-rays -- ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/1907...0 -
Role of MEL-18 Amplification in Anti-HER2 Therapy of Breast Cancer
Resistance to HER2-targeted therapy with trastuzumab still remains a major challenge in HER2-amplified tumors. Here we investigated the potential role of MEL-18, a polycomb group gene, as a novel prognostic marker for trastuzumab resistance in HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer.
Conclusion: MEL-18 serves to prevent ligand-dependent ErbB heterodimerization and trastuzumab resistance, suggesting MEL-18amplification as a novel biomarker for HER2+ breast cancer.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/915108?src=wnl_edit_tpal&uac=210289DR&impID=2044252&faf=1
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2019;111(6):609-619.
{full journal article available}
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BMI and Hormone Receptor Status Influence Recurrence Risk in Patients With HER2+ Early Breast Cancer
- This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the impact of BMI and hormone receptor (HR) status on outcomes among patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer. Neither HR status nor BMI status alone was associated with recurrence. Among patients with a high BMI, HR-negative status was associated with an increased risk for recurrence.
- HR-negative patients and patients with BMI ≥25 may benefit from escalation approaches, whereas HR-positive patients and those with BMI <25 may benefit from a shorter duration of anti-HER2 adjuvant treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Our real-life data highlight a different risk of eBC recurrence after grouping patients by HR status and BMI. These results might help clinicians to identify correct treatment strategies. HR-/BMI≥25 patients might benefit from escalation approaches, while HR+/BMI<25 ones might be eligible for a shorter duration of adjuvant treatment with anti HER-2 agents.
https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/86607/56?elsca1=emc_enews_topic-alert
https://www.clinical-breast-cancer.com/article/S1526-8209(19)30081-3/pdf
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{Received the following from a colleague: }
HHS {the U.S. Health and Human Services Department} is revising its definition of Health Literacy and they are looking for public comments. Currently, health literacy is defined as:
"The capacity of individuals to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions"
However, the current definition focuses only on patient's knowledge or ability to understand. The proposed new definition would recognize that health literacy is a two-way communication. So, it is not just how information is understood but how well it is written and communicated to patients to allow them to ask questions and to make informed health care decisions. This is an important change to make health care more patient centered.
The following information was prepared by Helene M. Epstein, who has a link to a draft letter that can be slightly modified and be submitted:
{I noted a few typo's on this web page that you may wish to correct if you rely on the information when commenting.}
I hope many of you will consider to submit your comments. The deadline to respond to this Federal Register is August 5:
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Drug makers to pay $70 million over deals to keep cheap generics off the market
The settlements will also bar the companies from entering into similar deals.
Read in Ars Technica: https://apple.news/A3JG-c8XBQ4SOWe2uio_XbQ0 -
The big drug makers wont be able to keep cheap generics off the market once 3D becomes a reality. Hypothetically, people could print their own drugs at home.
This report focuses on 3D Printed Drugs volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall 3D Printed Drugs market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.
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Article | Published: 08 July 2019
Connecting blood and intratumoral Tregcell activity in predicting future relapse in breast cancer
Abstract
Regulatory T (Treg) cells play a major role in the development of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The origin of intratumoral Treg cells and their relationship with peripheral blood Treg cells remain unclear. Treg cells consist of at least three functionally distinct subpopulations. Here we show that peripheral blood CD45RA−FOXP3hi Treg cells (Treg II cells) are phenotypically closest to intratumoral Treg cells, including in their expression of CCR8. Analyses of T cell antigen receptor repertoires further support the hypothesis that intratumoral Treg cells may originate primarily from peripheral blood Treg II cells. Moreover, the signaling responsiveness of peripheral blood Treg II cells to immunosuppressive, T helper type 1 (TH1) and T helper type 2 (TH2) cytokines reflects intratumoral immunosuppressive potential, and predicts future relapse in two independent cohorts of patients with breast cancer. Together, our findings give important insights into the relationship between peripheral blood Treg cells and intratumoral Treg cells, and highlight cytokine signaling responsiveness as a key determinant of intratumoral immunosuppressive potential and clinical outcome.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325702.p...0 -
New 'don't eat me' signal may provide basis for cancer therapies
...Lastly, they implanted human breast cancer cells in mice. When CD24 signaling was blocked, the mice's scavenger macrophages of the immune system attacked the cancer.
Of particular interest was the discovery that ovarian and triple-negative breast cancer, both of which are very hard to treat, were highly affected by blocking the CD24 signaling. "This may be a vulnerability for those very dangerous cancers," Barkal said...
"There are probably many major and minor 'don't eat me' signals, and CD24 seems to be one of the major ones," Barkal said.
The researchers now hope that therapies to block CD24 signaling will follow in the footsteps of anti-CD47 therapies, being tested first for safety in preclinical trials, followed by safety and efficacy clinical trials in humans.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-07-dont-basis-cancer-therapies.html
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For those of us who suffer hot flashes, this would be fantastic
... the Reon Pocket ... slips into a pouch in a special T-shirt. The stealthy device doesn't condition the air as such. Rather, it sits at the base of your neck and uses the Peltier effect (where heat is absorbed or emitted when you pass an electrical current across a junction) to either lower your temperature by 23 [degrees Fahrenheit] or raise it by 14 [degrees Fahrenheit], all without bulk or noise. You could wear a stuffy business outfit on a hot day and avoid looking like you've just stepped out of a sauna.
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AI takes advantage of existing mammography scans to make a cancer diagnosis
Though it's a well-established fact that mammographies (mammograms) reduce breast cancer mortality rates, the high proportion of false-positive recalls associated with such screenings has accelerated development of AI-driven systems from IBM, MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and others. But these aren't perfect, either, because most models operate on a single screening exam.
This shortcoming motivated a team of researchers at New York University's Center for Data Science and Department of Radiology to propose a machine learning framework that takes advantage of prior exams in making a diagnosis ("Screening Mammogram Classification with Prior Exams "). They say that in preliminary tests, it reduced the error rate of the baseline and achieved an area under the curve (a metric indicating performance at all classification thresholds) of 0.8664 for predicting malignancy in a screening population.
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Liquid biopsy chip snares circulating tumor cells in blood drops from cancer patients
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a chip made of carbon nanotubes that can capture circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of all sizes and types, and can do so with far greater sensitivity than existing technologies. The unique design of the device makes it possible to easily identify and even culture the captured cells, which could make it possible to detect early-stage tumors, predict the course of a cancer, and monitor the effects of therapy.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190731114158.htm
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Integrated Analysis of TP53 Gene and Pathway Alterations in The Cancer Genome Atlas: Cell Reports
Highlights
- •TP53 mutation effects analyzed by five data platforms in 32 cancers/10,225 patients
- •More than 91% of cancers with TP53 mutations show loss of both functional TP53alleles
- •TP53 mutation affects genomic stability, global RNA, miRNA, and protein expression
- •Mutant p53 RNA expression signature helps prognostic predictions in 11 cancer types
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325930.p...0 -
Leukemia Survivors Share How Cancer Affected Their Mental Health | Tell A Stranger
We invited two strangers to tell their cancer survival story. How did cancer impact their mental health?
{Not BC, but some will relate to these cancer experiences and the cathartic nature of sharing one's story.}
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UC researchers unlock cancer cells' feeding mechanism, central to tumor growth
The findings could lead to new treatments by blocking tumor growth at its roots
Credit: Colleen Kelley / UC Creative Services
CINCINNATI–An international team led by researchers from the University of Cincinnati and Japan's Keio and Hiroshima universities has discovered the energy production mechanism of cancerous cells that drives the growth of the nucleolus and causes tumors to rapidly multiply.
The findings, published Aug. 1 in the journal Nature Cell Biology, could lead to the development of new cancer treatments that would stop tumor growth by cutting the energy supply to the nucleolus.
"The nucleolus is the 'eye' of the cancer storm that ravages patients' bodies. Being able to control the eye would be a true game-changer in cancer treatment," said Atsuo Sasaki, PhD, associate professor at the UC College of Medicine and one of the research team's lead investigators.
The nucleolus, located near the center of the nucleus, produces ribosomes. The discovery that cancerous cells have enlarged nucleoli occurred over 100 years ago, and studies have since shown that nucleolus enlargement results in significant ribosome increases, propelling protein synthesis to mass produce cancer cells, according to Sasaki. But, exactly how the nucleolus produces a massive amount of ribosome in cancerous cells has largely remained a mystery, he says.
"Nucleolus enlargement is a telltale sign of cancer, and its size has long been used as a yardstick to determine how advanced cancer is in patients," says Sasaki. "Now, our research team knows that the nucleolus quickly expands by devouring Guanosine Triphosphate, or GTP, a nucleotide and one of the building blocks needed for to create RNA, which is prevalent in cancerous cells."
"We were surprised to find out that among all types of energy that could be used for cell growth, it's GTP that spikes and plays the most crucial role in ribosome increases that are associated with nucleolus enlargement in cancer cells. We knew right away that this was a substantial discovery that would require a sweeping range of expertise to understand what it truly meant," Sasaki adds.
Sasaki says researchers saw an elevated level of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) in cancer cells, which accelerates GTP production and in turn fuels nucleolus growth. This is a major step toward solving the mystery surrounding nucleolus growth in cancer cells, he says.
To conduct the research, the multidisciplinary team zeroed in on the energy production pathways in malignant brain tumors and glioblastoma, the deadliest type of brain cancer, in animal models, followed by cohort studies for human specimens. The results showed a significant increase of GTP, which is a form of energy, in glioblastoma. Experts took a deeper look at brain tumor cells and determined that the significantly elevated level of IMPDH in cancer cells accelerates GTP production.
The close relationship between IMPDH and the nucleolus was discovered and prompted Sasaki's team to develop a new method of metabolic analysis, which enabled researchers to obtain critical data for demonstrating that GTP produced from IMPDH activities is used for the nucleolus's ribosome synthesis; this led to the discovery of a clear correlation between the suppression of glioblastoma cell growth and IMPDH inhibition, which prolonged animal models' lives.
"Thanks to our multinational cross-disciplinary collaboration and the team's hard work, we were able to unlock the mechanism through which cancerous cells hijack GTP metabolism to take control over the nucleoli. We are excited to continue our research on GTP for the development of therapies to annihilate the 'eye of cancer' in patients," Sasaki says.
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Co-collaborators on the study include Tomoyoshi Soga, PhD, Hideyuki Saya, MD, PhD, and Makoto Suematsu, MD, PhD, all of Keio University; Ralph DeBerardinis, MD, PhD, and Robert Bachoo, MD, PhD, both of UT Southwestern; Wataru Yasui, MD, PhD, Hiroshima University; Ichiro Nakano, MD, PhD, University of Alabama; Hiroaki Wakimoto, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School; William Young, PhD, UCLA; Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD, Northwestern University; Risa Kawaguchi, PhD, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan; and Ingrid Grummt, PhD, and Holger Bierhoff, PhD, of the German Cancer Research Center.
The work is supported in-part by a UC College of Medicine Research Innovation grant, Molecular Therapeutics Program UC-Brain Tumor Center grant, Mayfield Education and Research Foundation grant, Marlene Harris Ride Cincinnati grant, American Brain Tumor Association Discovery Grant, B*Cured research grant, Ohio Cancer Research grant and National Institutes of Health grants R21NS100077 and R01NS089815 (ATS).
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Katie Pence
katie.pence@uc.eduRelated Journal Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41556-019-0363-9
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Individualized Prediction of Survival Benefit From Post-Mastectomy Radiotherapy for Patients With Breast Cancer With One to Three Positive Axillary Lymph Nodes
- This analysis of the SEER database was conducted to develop a nomogram for prediction of the survival benefit from post-mastectomy radiotherapy among patients with breast cancer and one to three positive axillary lymph nodes. Independent predictors of survival were age at diagnosis, tumor grade, size, ER/PR status, and the number of positive nodes.
- The nomogram showed high accuracy for the prediction of survival at 5 and 10 years.
Conclusion: Besides the number of involved nodes, extra variables existed as predictors of survival outcomes in this cohort; therefore, the recommendation of PMRT or no PMRT requires comprehensive consideration. This clinically validated nomogram provided a useful tool that could aid decision making by estimating DSS and OS benefits from PMRT, useful in predicting 5- and 10-year DSS and OS for patients with one to three positive nodes after mastectomy.
https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/86890/56
http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/early/2019/07/17/theoncologist.2019-0124
doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0124
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Liquid Biopsy ID's Early Breast Ca Relapse
ctDNA in plasma samples detected return of disease 10.7 months earlier
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in ... blood samples following standard treatment for early-stage breast cancer detected patients' relapse nearly 11 months before clinical symptoms, a prospective U.K. study found.
At a median follow-up of close to 3 years, relapse-free survival was significantly worse for these early-stage patients when positive ctDNA was detected during post-treatment visits...In the cohort of 101 women with somatic mutations, relapse-free survival was also worse for those with positive ctDNA prior to treatment initiation...
...detection of ctDNA preceded clinical relapse by 10.7 months. "We hope that by identifying relapse much earlier we will be able to treat it much more effectively than we can do now, perhaps even prevent some people from relapsing... we will now need clinical trials to assess whether we can use these blood tests to improve patient outcome." the first of these studies have been launched and that plans for larger studies are in the works. The current study was conducted from 2011 to 2016 at five centers in the U.K....
Primary Source
JAMA Oncology
Source Reference: Garcia-Murillas I, et al "Assessment of molecular relapse detection in early-stage breast cancer" JAMA Oncol 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.1838.Secondary Source
JAMA Oncology
Source Reference: Karthikeyan S, Park BH "Circulating tumor DNA as a marker for disease relapse in early-stage breast cancer -- Bad blood" DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.2047.
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Early stage breast cancer and metastasis:
https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-019-5949-x
Rossano Lattanzio1,2*† , Manuela Iezzi2,3†, Gianluca Sala1,2, Nicola Tinari1,2, Marco Falasca4, Saverio Alberti5, Simonetta Buglioni6, Marcella Mottolese6, Letizia Perracchio6, Pier Giorgio Natali2 and Mauro Piantelli2
Abstract
Background: Phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCγ1) is highly expressed in human tumours. Our previous studies reported that both stable and inducible PLCγ1 down-regulation can inhibit formation of breast-cancer-derived experimental lung metastasis. Further, high expression of PLCγ1 and its constitutively activated forms (i.e., PLCγ1-pY1253, PLCγ1-pY783) is associated with worse clinical outcome in terms of incidence of distant metastases, but not of local relapse in T1- T2, N0 breast cancer patients.
Methods: In the present retrospective study, we analysed the prognostic role of PLCγ1 in early breast cancer patients stratified according to the St. Gallen criteria and to their menopausal status. PLCγ1-pY1253 and PLCγ1-pY783 protein expression levels were determined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays, and were correlated with patients' clinical data, using univariate and multivariate statistical analyses.
Results: In our series, the prognostic value of PLCγ1 overexpression was restricted to Luminal type tumours. From multivariate analyses, pY1253-PLCγ1High was an independent prognostic factor only in postmenopausal patients with Luminal-B tumours (hazard ratio [HR], 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–5.3; P = 0.034). Conversely, PLCγ1-pY783High was a remarkably strong risk factor (HR, 20.1; 95% CI, 2.2–178.4; P = 0.003) for pre/perimenopausal patients with Luminal-A tumours.
Conclusions: PLCγ1 overexpression is a strong predictive surrogate marker of development of metastases in early Luminal-A and -B breast cancer patients, being able to discriminate patients with high and low risk of metastases. Therefore, targeting the PLCγ1 pathway can be considered of potential benefit for prevention of metastatic disease.
Keywords: Breast cancer, Phospholipase Cγ1, Prognosis, Luminal subtypes, Menopausal status
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Factors Associated With Lymphedema in Women With Node-Positive Breast Cancer Treated With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Axillary Dissection
- The authors of this cohort study of 486 patients with node-positive breast cancer evaluated factors associated with lymphedema after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and axillary lymph node dissection. High BMI (HR, 1.04) and duration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy of >144 days (HR, 1.48) were associated with lymphedema symptoms. Duration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy of >144 days was associated with a 20% limb volume increase (HR, 1.79). Both the removal of ≥30 nodes (HR, 1.70) and a higher number of positive nodes (HR, 1.03) were associated with a 10% limb volume increase. There was a significant association between obesity and lymphedema symptoms.
- Obese women and those with a long duration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy may obtain the most benefit from enhanced prospective lymphedema surveillance.
doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2019.17420 -
Lumpie - have you run across any articles describing lymphedema on the opposite side? Both the lymphedema therapist and oncologist think it is very unusual, but it seems to be happening to me. I noticed swelling in the opposite arm about 1 1/2 months ago. The oncologist has put in an order for imagery of the chest. I do not know if they image axilla as well.
2009 ER+ left breast. 52 yrs. Lumpectomy, Sentinel node removal, negative. Radiation 6 weeks, tamoxifen 5 years. Dense lumpy left breast, normal right. Acupuncture offered at facility as part of integrative medicine. It really helped with anxiety/stress during radiation treatment.
2016 ER+ left breast. Probably a new cancer, but unknown. 4 rounds TC Aug-Oct 2016, Bi-lateral (my choice) Nov 2016, no reconstruction. 2 sentinel nodes remove, negative. Cold Capping using Chemo Cold Caps (DIGNICAP not available). Anastrozole 1 mg starting May 2017. Joint issues noticed immediately. Stopped Anastrozole after 3-4 months due to joint stiffness in. After several months of no AIs, fingers were feeling better. Started tamoxifen March 2018
10/2018 noticed stiffness and some trigger finger again. Was eating meat a lot more (daily) than normal. Usually 1-2 /wk. Have cut way back on the meat, seems to help, but one finger still very prone to trigger finger. Trigger finger seemed to be getting better, but now 4/2019 seems worse, is it the break from added turmeric to meals?
7/19/2019 - swelling in R-arm, opposite side from where lymph nodes removed. Noticed 6/18/2019. Could have been swelling earlier but wearing long sleeves. Trip to urgent care. They did ultrasound, concerned that there might be a clot, there was not. Started seeing lymphatic therapist 7/2/2019. Wearing sleeve and glove (loaners), went in for a fitting 8/2/2019. Sometimes therapists wraps affected arm, but hard to do anything, like wash hands, selef-massage.
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BlueGirlRedState:
I did a quick search and located this one. It's a bit old, but there doesn't seem to be much on the topic. It probably affects a relatively small subset of patients. Trunkal lymphedema is another variation that affects many of us. I'll keep my eyes peeled for more. Good luck!
Lymphatic abnormalities in the normal contralateral arms of subjects with breast cancer-related lymphedema as assessed by near-infrared fluorescent imaging
Published online 2012 May 3
Abstract
Current treatment of unilateral breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is only directed to the afflicted arm. Near-infrared fluorescent imaging (NIRF) of arm lymphatic vessel architecture and function in BCRL and control subjects revealed a trend of increased lymphatic abnormalities in both the afflicted and unafflicted arms with increasing time after lymphedema onset. These pilot results show that BCRL may progress to affect the clinically "normal" arm, and suggest that cancer-related lymphedema may become a systemic, rather than local, malady. These findings support further study to understand the etiology of cancer-related lymphedema and lead to better diagnostics and therapeutics directed to the systemic lymphatic system.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370966/
doi: 10.1364/BOE.3.001256
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This one is really old but does mention contralateral lymphedema...
Lymphedema in a cohort of breast carcinoma survivors 20 years after diagnosis
First published: 27 September 2001
BACKGROUND
To the authors' knowledge, there are no long‐term cohort studies of lymphedema, despite the substantial morbidity of arm swelling. The goal of this study was to identify prevalence of breast carcinoma–related lymphedema, time of onset, and associated predictive factors.CONCLUSIONS
This defined cohort, treated by axillary dissection 20 years ago, documents the high prevalence of lymphedema and its time course. Two significantly associated factors, both potentially controllable, are identified. The current study provides further support for treatments that limit lymph node dissection. The authors are prospectively evaluating patients undergoing sentinel lymph node biopsy.
https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(20010915)92:6<1368::AID-CNCR1459>3.0.CO;2-9
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Local Tissue Water in At-Risk and Contralateral Forearms of Women with and without Breast Cancer Treatment-Related Lymphedema
Published Online:24 Sep 2009
Background: Quantitative measurements to help detect incipient or latent lymphedema in patients at risk for breast cancer treatment-related lymphedema (BCRL) are potentially useful supplements to clinical assessments. Suitable measurements for routine use include arm volumes, arm bioimpedance, and local tissue water (LTW) determined from the tissue dielectric constant (TDC). Because BCRL initially develops in skin and subcutis, measures that include whole arms may not be optimally sensitive for detecting the earliest changes. Thus, there is also a need for a local measurement in which tissues most likely to demonstrate early lymphedematous changes can be more selectively assessed. The TDC method satisfies this criterion. Our goal was to use this method to compare arm-to-arm differences in LTW within and among women grouped as healthy normal (HN), diagnosed with breast cancer (BC), but prior to surgery and established unilateral lymphedema (LE).
Conclusions: The findings indicate that LTW of at-risk arms is not affected by breast cancer and that lymphedema does not significantly affect LTW of contralateral arms as measured with the TDC method. Further, based on the standard deviation of measured arm ratios, an at-risk/contralateral TDC ratio of 1.26 is suggested as a possible threshold for detecting preclinical or latent lymphedema.
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/lrb.2009.0008
https://doi.org/10.1089/lrb.2009.0008
{May require subscription to access full article.}
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BlueGirlRedState: It also occurs to me that if you have had a bilateral, even if they didn't (intentionally) biopsy or dissect lymph nodes on the contralateral/"good" side, there may have been intra/post operative injury to tissue and/or to the lymphatic system that could contribute to lymphedema.
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Compound found in red wine opens door for new treatments for depression, anxiety
Resveratrol, found in grape skin, shuts down depression-causing enzyme in brain
- Date:
- July 29, 2019
- Source:
- University at Buffalo
- Summary:
- A new study has revealed that the plant compound resveratrol, which is found in red wine, displays anti-stress effects by blocking the expression of an enzyme related to the control of stress in the brain.
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190729094553.htm
- http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2019/07/032.html
- {Not strictly BC but potentially related to SE's. As the article notes, consumption of alcohol carries various health risks, including addiction.}
- Adding reference for journal article:
- The antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of resveratrol: Involvement of phosphodiesterase-4D inhibition
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The Prognostic Significance of Preoperative Tumor Marker Elevation in Breast Cancer Patients
- The authors of this retrospective study evaluated the prognostic significance of preoperative elevations of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) levels in 149,238 patients with breast cancer in the Korean Breast Cancer Society Registry database. Preoperative CA 15-3 and CEA elevations had varying prognostic value according to breast cancer subtype. In patients with luminal A subtype, the CA 15-3- and CEA-elevated group had a hazard ratio of 2.14, while, in the group with luminal B subtype, the hazard ratio was 3.99 compared with patients with normal levels. In patients with the HER2 subtype, an elevated CEA level was the only independent prognostic factor. Neither CEA nor CA15-3 was a significant prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with triple-negative disease.
- Preoperative CEA and CA15-3 levels showed varying prognostic ability according to breast cancer subtype. Preoperative CA15-3 and CEA elevation are significant prognostic factors for luminal breast cancer, but they were not significant factors for TNBC
- These findings suggest the importance of careful surveillance in patients with luminal breast cancer and high preoperative elevation of tumor markers.
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Surviving Cancer Costs
One in 4 cancer survivors struggles to pay medical bills and 1 in 3 worries about medical bills, according to a CDC report.
{Brief commentary on the financial toxicity of cancer and link to CDC study on the topic.}
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2738563
doi:10.1001/jama.2019.9666
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6822a2.htm?s_cid=mm6822a2_w
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Annual Out-of-Pocket Expenditures and Financial Hardship Among Cancer Survivors Aged 18–64 Years — United States, 2011–2016
What is already known about this topic?
Many cancer survivors face substantial economic burden resulting from cancer and its treatment.
What is added by this report?
On average, cancer survivors had significantly higher annual out-of-pocket medical expenditures than did persons without a cancer history. Overall, 25% of survivors reported problems paying medical bills, and 33% reported worry about medical bills. Financial hardship was more common among the uninsured than among those with insurance coverage.
What are the implications for public health practice?
The population of cancer survivors is growing, and many struggle to pay for medical care. Evidence-based, sustainable strategies by providers, practices, and payers to reduce out-of-pocket costs could be an important component of high-quality cancer care.
{CDC report. See full article on CDC page.}
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6822a2.htm?s_cid=mm6822a2_w
citation for this article: Ekwueme DU, Zhao J, Rim SH, et al. Annual Out-of-Pocket Expenditures and Financial Hardship Among Cancer Survivors Aged 18–64 Years — United States, 2011–2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:494–499. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6822a2external icon
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https://youtu.be/hL8VvfVkv18