Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org

Lisey

I think the stats speak clearly for themselves.  If you have scientific treatment, your odds of living longer are improved over Alternative treatment alone.  So if 30% get terminal cancer at 10 years on standard treatment, 50% would on alternative alone treatment.  Math is math.  Marijen was correct in posting the link.

marijen

Thank you Lisey. Miaomix I also would like the link on the ASCO Conference.

Somatic mutations in early onset luminal breast cancer

Giselly Encinas, Veronica Y. Sabelnykova, [...], and Maria Aparecida Azevedo Koike Folgueira

Additional article information

https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC5976478%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cb143f9db31d34f7979e008d61297ac51%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636716839964537822&sdata=qzfLbmLTD%2B7bJbxGW0go5bth9M2DFiFDhC%2BZ98eXL%2B8%3D&reserved=0

brigid_TO

I guess i will be the one to correct Miaomix on her stage 4 99% 5 year statement. Below is from July 2017- more than1 in 5 will be alive after 5 years. Heartbreaking but not 1%.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) states that the five-year survival rate after diagnosis for people with stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent.

That's all. Thanks

marijen

Better news anyways Brigid TO, Thanks.

Where Does Breast Cancer Spread?

Readabout the symptoms to watch for: https://www.verywellhealth.com/where-does-breast-c...

Excerpt

The most common first site of metastases was looked at in a 2013 study. Women with early stage breast cancer were evaluated to see what location was the most common first site of metastasis with their cancer. The breakdown was:

• Bones - 41 percent
• Lungs - 22 percent
• Liver - 7.3 percent
• Brain - 7.3 percent
• Other sites were the first location of metastasis in the remaining people

Lumpie

Ten Practice Changes That I Will Make After Attending ASCO 2018

https://www.practiceupdate.com/content/ten-practic...

"Editorial" from an MO. Only a few of these are re breast cancer - but it may be of interest to some.

Lumpie

There was some discussion above about 5 year survival rates. I thought I would post some statistical sources. The American Cancer Society say "Metastatic, or stage IV breast cancers, have a 5-year relative survival rate of about 22%." (cancer.org link below)

A fairly recent page on cancer.gov says "...researchers estimated that between 1992-1994 and 2005-2012, five-year relative survival among women initially diagnosed with MBC at ages 15-49 years doubled from 18 percent to 36 percent.... More than 11 percent of women diagnosed between 2000-2004 under the age of 64 survived 10 years or more.... one-third (34 percent) of women with MBC have lived for five years or more with the disease." (cancer.gov link below)

If we had better SEER data, we would know more about how we are really doing. Keep lobbying! Don't ignore Stage IV! There is a great discussion of why we don't have good numbers on how many people are living with stage IV here: https://www.change.org/p/seer-start-counting-all-p... (You can also sign the petition if you choose.)

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/unders...

https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/press-releases/...

JaBoo

Lumpie thank you for the editorial. One of the topics I discussed with my MO just yesterday and she told me the same.

I very much appreciate what you are doing here, posting so many good sources. Thank you.

mike3121

Thank you Lumpie, you are such a knowledgeable source for BC information. I don't see John Smith here anymore? He was also a great source regarding new treatments and trials. I read recently somewhere that the 5 year survival rate for bone mets only BC patients was 70%.

Wife Update: My wife is TNBC and has bone mets only. She endures miserable SE from Halaven but after the first 2 push infusions her calcium suddenly dropped from high 10.8's to an acceptable level of 9.7. PET scan soon so we will find out then. Her oncologist doesn't believe in TM's much.

santabarbarian

New to this thread and learned a lot reading today. Thank you so much Lumpie and everyone.

Santa Barbarian

Lumpie

Very glad to know that this forum is helpful to many who have chimed in!

Mike, I am not sure about John Smith and wife. Perhaps he or a friend will see your post and offer an update. Hope they are both doing well.

I'll be posting some interesting news/links I have recently located. My work schedule is pretty demanding right now so the timing may be a little erratic - sorry.

Lumpie

Researchers discover potential new approach to block growth of HER2 positive breast cancer

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180830/Researc...

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have identified an important new pathway by which HER2 positive breast cancers grow and have discovered that a dietary supplement called cyclocreatine may block the growth of HER2 positive breast cancer. Their findings were published today in Cell Metabolism.

August 30, 2018

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo...

Lumpie

Green tea prevent cancer cells from 'refuelling'

https://www.salford.ac.uk/news/articles/2018/green...

In research published in the journal Aging, a team from the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Salford, used metabolic phenotyping on cell lines of breast cancer stem cells and found that Matcha "shifted cancer cells towards a quiescent metabolic state" and stopped their spread at a relatively low concentration (0.2 mg/ml).

"By using metabolic phenotyping, we found that the tea is suppressing oxidative mitochondrial metabolism – in other words it is preventing the cells from 're-fuelling' and therefore they become inactive and die.

http://www.aging-us.com/article/101483

published: August 23, 2018

MuddlingThrough

Wow, Lumpie, I didn't even know what Matcha was! Very interesting. I think I want the cancer cells working and lively while I'm hitting them with Ibrance, though ???? A lot of this is way too complicated for me. However, this is very good information and I hope the researchers will absolutely figure out how to use this tea most effectively along with treatments or even instead of! Maybe along with future immunotherapy? It's exciting to see how many angles are being investigated which I hope and pray will converge into practical treatments (dare I say cures?) very soon.

MinusTwo

Lumpie - thanks for all the time you take to research & post. I was particularly interested in the HER2+ article & will be discussing that with my MO at my next appointment.

Lumpie

Muddling: Yes, lots of interesting research being done. I hope some of it will progress quickly!

Lumpie

Study Tracks the Evolution of Treatment Resistance in Metastatic Breast Cancer

November 7, 2017, by NCI Staff

Findings from a new study provide fresh insights into the treatment of women with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors are no longer responding to available treatments.

https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents...

Lumpie

LBBC: Conference on MBC - April 2018

Page provides links to recorded live stream from the conference. Topics include:

• Exercise & Breast Cancer
• Sexual Health & Breast Cancer
• Yoga & Breast Cancer
• Ask the Experts & Managing Symptoms and Side Effects
• Diet & Breast Cancer
• Clinical Trials, Hot Topics & Scientist Panel Discussion

https://metastatictrialtalk.org/2018/09/01/confere...

Lumpie

Study finds new clues to understand relapse in breast cancer

A large genomic analysis has linked certain DNA mutations to a high risk of relapse in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, while other mutations were associated with better outcomes... The knowledge could help predict which patients are most likely to have their cancer return and spread, and could help guide treatment decisions. The study appears Sept. 4 (2018) in the journal Nature Communications.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180904/Study-f...

Lumpie

Researchers reveal an unlikely protector against growth of metastatic breast cancer

"Many people study primary tumors and the assumption has been that metastases grow the same way. But our work suggests that, while inflammation can help tumor cells escape and land elsewhere in the body, if inflammation is there when they land, it keeps the cells in check. When inflammation is suppressed, the cells grow out."

Another study "uncovered a connection between metastasis and a common drug used to treat osteoporosis. In that study, the team found that bisphosphonates could affect bone marrow cells in a way that stopped the growth of breast cancer cells that had spread to the bones. However, they also found evidence that a specific protein - granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) - can help cancer cells overcome this effect. Women with high levels of G-CSF did worse on bisphosphonates than women with low levels of G-CSF."

paper published online in Nature Cell Biology on Aug. 27 (2108)

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20180827/Researc...

Lumpie

In one of the posts above, someone asked about links to live stream video from the 2018 ASCO conference. I think that I had a link at one time but I cannot locate it now. Here are a few links that may be helpful:

The ASCO conference page for Patient Advocates. It includes a information on....

• "2018 ASCO Annual Meeting Videos: Consider a 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting Videos subscription, which provides access to the Meeting presentations. A discounted rate is available exclusively for patients, survivors, and caregivers. Contact us for more information."

https://am.asco.org/patient-advocates

If you want to *purchase* access, you can do so here ($452!):

http://shop.asco.org/amslv18_2018-annual-meeting-v...

The ASCO YouTube page

https://www.youtube.com/user/ASCOcancer

ASCO social media links:

https://am.asco.org/arc/social-media

Here's a link to a few video interviews of "Best of ASCO® 2018 Miami Symposium." It's free, but I don't think that any are on Breast Cancer.

https://ecancer.org/conference/videos/1073-best-of...

Will post other interesting links if I locate any....

Heidihill

Lumpie, thanks for the links, especially the ones from the LBBC conference on MBC. Really good!

Lumpie

Axillary Dissection vs No Axillary Dissection in Patients With Breast Cancer and Sentinel-Node Micrometastases

Original source: The Lancet Oncology

https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/73090/56?elsca1=e...

This 10-year follow-up was designed to report outcomes with axillary dissection vs no axillary dissection among patients with early-stage breast cancer and positive sentinel lymph nodes (2 mm or smaller and no extracapsular extension). There was no difference in disease-free survival at 10 years between groups.These results indicate that omission of axillary dissection is safe in this population.

Lumpie

At Least 15 Men Near Ground Zero Have Breast Cancer

Many exposed to the WTC site appear to experience a greater cancer burden

Source: HealthDay

At least 15 men who worked near Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks have been diagnosed with breast cancer, a New York City law firm claims. Some studies have concluded that those exposed to the World Trade Center site, including firefighters and recovery workers, "will experience a greater cancer burden than would be expected from a demographically similar population," according to CBS.

Lumpie

Case Report Describes 4 Breast Cancer Cases Post Transplant

case report published recently in the American Journal of Transplantation.

https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/73276/56?elsca1=e...

...reported four cases of breast cancer transmission to transplant recipients from a single organ donor. The donor had no relevant medical history and donated her kidneys, lungs, liver, and heart. ...four recipients developed donor-derived breast cancer, which was proven by DNA microsatellite. As a result of the donor-derived breast cancer, the double-lung recipient, left-kidney recipient, and liver recipient died. After diagnosis of the breast cancer in the right-kidney recipient, the patient underwent transplant nephrectomy, his immunosuppression was stopped, chemotherapy was initiated, and despite having widely metastasized disease he achieved complete remission.

"This extraordinary case points out the often fatal consequences of donor-derived breast cancer and suggests that removal of the donor organ and restoration of immunity can induce complete remission," the authors write.

Lumpie

Breast Pathologic Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Nodal Positivity Rate

Original source: JAMA Surgery

• This study evaluated a large cancer database including 30,821 patients with cT1/cT2 N0/N1 breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical resection. Those with cT1/cT2, cN0 ERBB2-positive or triple-negative breast cancer who achieved a breast pathologic complete response had less than a 2% rate of axillary nodal positivity.
• Patients with cN0 ERBB2-positive or triple-negative breast cancer and who have an excellent response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy have an extremely low rate of nodal positivity at surgery, which supports the consideration of omission of axillary surgery in these patients.

{Note: ERBB2-positive is HER2+}

Lumpie

Limitations in the Effect of Screening on Breast Cancer Mortality

Original source: Journal of Clinical Oncology

https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/72949/56?elsca1=e...

Recent observational studies have concluded that programmatic screening has had a minor effect on breast cancer mortality rates. This apparent contradiction might be explained by the use of aggregated data in observational studies. This study assessed the long-term effect of screening using individual-level data. The study authors found that screening had a clear long-term beneficial effect with a 20% reduction in breast cancer–associated mortality in the invited population.This 20% reduction effect was, by nature, restricted to breast cancer deaths in women who could potentially benefit from screening.PURPOSE - Randomized, controlled trials showed that screening reduces breast cancer mortality rates, but some recent observational studies have concluded that programmatic screening has had minor effect on breast cancer mortality rates. This apparent contradiction might be explained by the use of aggregated data in observational studies. We assessed the long-term effect of screening using individual-level data.CONCLUSION - Screening had a clear long-term beneficial effect with a 20% reduction in breast cancer-associated mortality in the invited population. However, this effect was, by nature, restricted to breast cancer deaths in women who could potentially benefit from screening. Our study highlights the complexity in evaluating the long-term effect of breast cancer screening from observational data.

Lumpie

Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Breast Cancer: Innocent Bystander or Important Player?

Original source: Cancer Treatment Reviews

https://www.practiceupdate.com/C/72788/56?elsca1=e...

• Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are related to poor prognosis in breast cancer. TAMs promote breast cancer cell growth, invasion, and metastasis preclinically.
• TAMs mediate treatment resistance in breast cancer and are a potential therapeutic target in patients with breast cancer.

JaBoo

Lumpie, I have to thank you again for your work here. It´s trully helpful what you share...

Esp. your today´s post of "Axillary Dissection vs No Axillary Dissection in Patients With Breast Cancer and Sentinel-Node Micrometastases" is interesting for me, as I had 4 sentinnel nodes removed and one had micrometastazes. The article really gives me peace of mind. Wow, no difference to ALDN at 10 years.

Lumpie

Much Touted For Cancer, 'Precision Medicine' Often Misses The Target

https://khn.org/news/is-precision-medicine-the-ans...

Doctors and hospitals love to talk about the patients they've saved with precision medicine, and reporters love to write about them. But the people who die still vastly outnumber the rare successes. In a large study published last year in Cancer Discovery, precision medicine failed to help 93 percent of the 1,000 patients who signed up for the study. At the most recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology — the largest cancer meeting in the world — researchers presented four precision-medicine studies. Two were total failures. The other two weren't much better, failing to shrink tumors 92 percent and 95 percent of the time. The studies received almost no news coverage.

Some experts say that such testing should be available to everyone with advanced cancer, because no one can predict which individual might have a rare mutation that can be targeted with a new or experimental drug. When patients respond to these drugs, they tend to do very well, and some survive much longer than expected.

{This article was also published in the New York Times.}

Lumpie

JaBoo, You are most welcome and thanks for your feedback. Very glad to know this has provided some peace of mind!