Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org
Comments
-
Not as dramatic, but more upbeat reading...
Dozens of non-oncology drugs [have newly discovered ability to] kill cancer cells
Researchers tested approximately 4,518 drug compounds on 578 human cancer cell lines and found nearly 50 that have previously unrecognized anti-cancer activity. These drugs have been used to treat conditions such as diabetes, inflammation, alcoholism, and even arthritis in dogs.,,
The surprising findings, which also revealed novel drug mechanisms and targets, suggest a possible way to accelerate the development of new cancer drugs or repurpose existing drugs to treat cancer.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200120113130.htm -
UW-Madison professors create revolutionary GPS device to help surgeons find breast cancer tumors during removal
Before the SmartClip, for the last 70 years, when doctors biopsy a breast cancer tumor, they also insert a little clip at the center of the tumor. But when it comes time to remove the tumor, surgeons can't see where that clip is...
In order for the surgeons to know where the tumor is, right before surgery a radiologist has to mark the area with a wire [which is stressful for patients].
The SmartClip is streamlining the breast cancer removal process. It can be placed during biopsy weeks or months before surgery, cutting out an additional procedure and possible scheduling conflicts with the radiology department.
-
Alcohol Consumption, Cigarette Smoking, and Risk of Breast Cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers: Results from The BRCA1 and BRCA2 Cohort Consortium
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; Published OnlineFirst December 2, 2019; doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-19-0546
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2020/01/21/1055-9965.EPI-19-0546.abstract
-
A Trickster Enters the Fight Against Metastatic Cancers - Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/custom-media/a-trickster-enters-the-fight-against-metastatic-cancers/?mvt=i&mvn=5f65a57f546f4dcca5ab47f6dfda6a55&mvp=NA-SCIEAMERLIVE-11237933&mvl=HomePopular
-
Lumpie, are you ok and just taking a break? Just wondering if things a reasonably OK with you
-
Karenfizedbo15: you are so thoguhtful to be concerned! Doing pretty well here actually. Recent scans were stable - yeah! I've just slowed down a bit. Had *a lot* going on on the personal side. Needed some down time over the holidays. Kinda got overwhelmed with the amount of (good) info (some of it repetitive) coming out of San Antonio. And after that... seems like there is a lot of stuff that is either of marginal value or such early bench science that ... i have to try not to get disillusioned about how long it will take to turn into anything actionable. Did I mention that my washer died? How's that for all over the board? Thanks for checking in!
-
Yes Lumpie, i noticed that you were MIA about ten days a little back and wa worried too. Glad your scans are stable!
-
Thanks for the update Lumpie and all you do here!
I googled confidence interval for dummies and I still don't understand what it means. Does anyone happy to have an easy explanation? I wish my local community college had a class on how to interpret medical studies.
from the BRCA study link above...
Results: For both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, none of the smoking-related variables was associated with breast cancer risk, except smoking for more than 5 years before a first full-term pregnancy (FFTP) when compared with parous women who never smoked. For BRCA1 mutation carriers, the HR from retrospective analysis (HRR) was 1.19 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02–1.39] and the HR from prospective analysis (HRP) was 1.36 (95% CI, 0.99–1.87). For BRCA2 mutation carriers, smoking for more than 5 years before an FFTP showed an association of a similar magnitude, but the confidence limits were wider (HRR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.01–1.55 and HRP = 1.30; 95% CI, 0.83–2.01). For both carrier groups, alcohol consumption was not associated with breast cancer risk.
Conclusions: The finding that smoking during the prereproductive years increases breast cancer risk for mutation carriers warrants further investigation.
-
2019whatayear - thanks!
Regarding confidence intervals... as you note, it is a statistics term. I actually took stats not too long ago - but it is hardly my strong suit. Long story short.... and probably over simplified.... if you have a bell curve (not sure if I can insert a pic but it comes right up if you google it), the confidence interval states how confident you are that all relevant values are in the part of the graph where you think they should be. At least for scientific research, the confidence interval is almost always between 95% and 99%. The higher the number, the more confident you are about your results. So with a 95% confidence interval, you are 95% confident that the values fall where expected. For peer reviewed, scientific research, the confidence intervals are going to be very high. 95% or higher. I think I usually see 95%.
When reading high quality, peer reviewed research, I don't get real bogged down in the CI number. It is going to be high and it's not like I am going to (or able to!) re-do the math to confirm it.
I hope that helps.
PS: That's a good tip for your community college or local adult education program...or maybe even a library if they have classes, seminars or talks on topics!
-
Lumpie, so glad to hear you're doing pretty well! I also noticed you hadn't posted something here for a while, but I saw you were active on other boards.
Here's a new tidbit:
Could beta-blockers slow the spread of cancer?
New research from Monash University has suggested that anti-stress drugs, known as beta-blockers, could slow the spread of cancer in the body.
The study, which was published in Clinical Cancer Research, marks the first ever study marking that beta-blockers stop cancer cells spreading through the body in women with breast cancer.
http://www.pharmatimes.com/news/could_beta-blockers_slow_the_spread_of_cancer_1323268
-
Researchers uncover two-drug combo that halts the growth of [HER2] cancer cells
DALLAS - Jan. 23, 2020 - UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center researchers have discovered a two-drug combo [everolimus added to neratinib] that halts the growth of cancer cells that carry HER2 mutations.
The findings, published today in the journal Cancer Cell, were prompted by the observation that, after an initial response, patients with cancers harboring HER2 mutations eventually develop resistance to a promising new cancer drug [neratinib] currently in clinical trials...
Sudhan says the combination of neratinib and everolimus worked in cell lines, organoids established from patient-derived tumors, and in mice harboring HER2 mutant tumors. The next step will be testing this two-drug combo in humans.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/usmc-rut012320.php
-
Insurance Status Helps Explain Racial Disparities in Cancer Diagnosis
From blog of Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health:
A new NIH-funded study of more than 175,000 U.S. women diagnosed with breast cancer from 2010-2016 has found that nearly half of the troubling disparity in breast cancer detection can be traced to lack of adequate health insurance. The findings suggest that improving insurance coverage may help to increase early detection and thereby reduce the disproportionate number of breast cancer deaths among minority women.
-
Whew Lumpie, hope you managed to get the washer fixed / replaced? Can’t have you being so smelly we whiff you in Scotland!
It’s a bit of a thing when you are prolific and sound, so folk start to depend on you. That’s also too much and you need to be able to check out and have a breather!
-
Thanks for taking time to explain Lumpie.
I am going to contact my library and suggest a program on how to understand medical news/read medical studies.
:-)
-
Lumpie, you deserve all the breaks you want. We so appreciate you and all the wonderful information shared here.
-
Lumpie, thank you for taking a break when you need to. We sure appreciate all you do here and want you to take good care of yourself.
-
Night Shift Work-A Risk Factor for Breast Cancer
The case-control study was conducted from 2015-2019 in the Łódź region [in Poland]... Even after considering the effect of other possible cancer factors (like high BMI, smoking, early menstruation, late menopause, pregnancy history, age, place of living, education), the odds of developing cancer were twice as high in the group of shift workers (OR = 2.20 (95% CI: 1.57; 3.08)).
https://www.physiciansweekly.com/night-shift-work-a-risk-factor-for-breast-cancer/
-
Magnetized Particles Show Live Metabolic Activity of Breast Cancer
Researchers at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and the Department of Radiology at the University of Cambridge are now reporting in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they've used magnetized particles to image the actual metabolic activity of breast cancer tumors. This may provide a relatively accessible new way of categorizing tumors, allowing for more accurate decision making during diagnosis and subsequent treatment, saving lives in the process and minimizing unwarranted therapies.
-
Why eating yogurt may help lessen the risk of breast cancer
One of the causes of breast cancer may be inflammation triggered by harmful bacteria suggest researchers. Scientists advise consuming natural yogurt, which contains beneficial bacteria which dampens inflammation and which is similar to the bacteria found in breastfeeding mothers. Their suggestion is that this bacteria is protective because breast feeding reduces the risk of breast cancer. The consumption of yogurt is also associated with a reduction in the risk of breast cancer.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200124073857.htm
-
key being NATURAL yogurt
-
Help me out with a definition of "natural yogurt." How is that different? What makes it "natural?"
-
According to my google it is plain yogurt. No added anything
-
Honestly, I was hesitant to post the yogurt article, because it's just about a paper speculating on the reason *why* yogurt seems to reduce bc risk (published in the journal "Medical Hypotheses"). But articles based on that paper popped up in a lot of places sounding like there was new yogurt evidence (which I did not see) so I posted a link to the article that seemed clearest. If you want to look at potentially relevant yogurt studies, the food for breast cancer site references several: https://foodforbreastcancer.com/foods/low-fat-yogurt.
-
Thanks, whatayear. Plain it is, along with berries and some ground flaxseed for me. Alas, it didn't keep me from getting cancer! Nor did all the other reasons I woulda been pegged as "low risk."
-
I raise a fist in anger on your behalf Mountain Mia! IF only we could return our cancer like a pair of shoes to the store. Yeah, these boobs just didn't work out, I would like to return them and get my clean bill of health back.. tyvm!
-
Single dose of psychedelic drug eased cancer patients' anxiety, depression for years
Nearly five years after a group of cancer patients were given a single dose of a psychedelic drug [psilocybin] to ease depression and anxiety, new research finds that many of them are still feeling the positive effects...
Dr. Stephen Ross, director of addiction psychiatry at New York University's Langone Medical Center who led the 2016 study and co-authored the new research, said the results of the latest study are "mind-boggling."
-
Natural Body Protein Found to Suppress Breast Cancer Metastasis
A protein naturally produced in the body has been found to suppress breast cancer metastasis in animal models of human tumors, according to a research study ("The RNA-binding protein AKAP8 suppresses tumor metastasis by antagonizing EMT-associated alternative splicing") led by a team at Baylor College of Medicine. The team also found that high levels of this protein, AKAP8, predicts a better survival for breast cancer patients. Their work appears in Nature Communications. The findings show that AKAP8 inhibits metastasis by interfering with the production of proteins that promote metastatic behavior in cells and suggest strategies that may help treat metastatic cancer in the future.
https://www.genengnews.com/news/natural-body-protein-found-to-suppress-breast-cancer-metastasis/
-
Novel Drug May Reverse Breast Cancer Hormone Therapy Resistance
SFX-01 – inspired by a natural plant-derived compound called sulforaphane, which was first discovered in cruciferous vegetables such as rocket, broccoli and kale – has recently been shown in a clinical trial to delay the progression of incurable secondary breast cancer in women whose disease has already developed resistance to hormone therapy.
In a new study led by Dr Bruno Simões, Dr Sacha Howell and Professor Rob Clarke at the University of Manchester, researchers investigated the effect of SFX-01 alone, or in combination with tamoxifen or fulvestrant, in patient samples and in mice to understand how the drug works and how it can be best used to treat breast cancer.
They found that SFX-01 reduced the ability of specialized cells called breast cancer stem cells to form tumors in mice, with the drug also reducing the ability of breast cancer cells to form secondary tumors in the mice's lungs. -
A targeted therapy for triple negative breast cancer may lie [in] existing drugs
- Researchers identified two proteins -- mutant tumor protein 53 (mtp53) and poly-ADP-Polymerase (PARP) -- that are present and interacting with DNA during the replication process in [most] patients with triple negative breast cancer.
- Suppressing these proteins through a combination of existing PARP-inhibiting therapies [talazoparib and temozolomide] could be an effective way to interrupt the development of triple negative breast cancer cells and offer the first targeted treatment for this form of the disease.
- The findings may also reclassify triple negative breast cancer as a different form of the disease that can be treated by combining already existing therapies.
https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/asrc-att012920.php
-
I had this technique for my lumpectomy. It was called a savi scout. It was inserted just like a tumor marker during biopsy a day or two before my surgery.
Categories
- All Categories
- 679 Advocacy and Fund-Raising
- 289 Advocacy
- 68 I've Donated to Breastcancer.org in honor of....
- Test
- 322 Walks, Runs and Fundraising Events for Breastcancer.org
- 5.6K Community Connections
- 282 Middle Age 40-60(ish) Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 53 Australians and New Zealanders Affected by Breast Cancer
- 208 Black Women or Men With Breast Cancer
- 684 Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer
- 1.5K Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
- 455 Caring for Someone with Stage IV or Mets
- 260 High Risk of Recurrence or Second Breast Cancer
- 22 International, Non-English Speakers With Breast Cancer
- 16 Latinas/Hispanics With Breast Cancer
- 189 LGBTQA+ With Breast Cancer
- 152 May Their Memory Live On
- 85 Member Matchup & Virtual Support Meetups
- 375 Members by Location
- 291 Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer
- 177 Singles With Breast Cancer
- 869 Young With Breast Cancer
- 50.4K Connecting With Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis
- 204 Breast Cancer with Another Diagnosis or Comorbidity
- 4K DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
- 79 DCIS plus HER2-positive Microinvasion
- 529 Genetic Testing
- 2.2K HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer
- 1.5K IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)
- 3.4K IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)
- 1.5K ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
- 999 Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
- 652 LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)
- 193 Less Common Types of Breast Cancer
- 252 Male Breast Cancer
- 86 Mixed Type Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
- 189 Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care
- 488 Second or Third Breast Cancer
- 1.2K Stage I Breast Cancer
- 313 Stage II Breast Cancer
- 3.8K Stage III Breast Cancer
- 2.5K Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- 13.1K Day-to-Day Matters
- 132 All things COVID-19 or coronavirus
- 87 BCO Free-Cycle: Give or Trade Items Related to Breast Cancer
- 5.9K Clinical Trials, Research News, Podcasts, and Study Results
- 86 Coping with Holidays, Special Days and Anniversaries
- 828 Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
- 101 Family and Family Planning Matters
- Family Issues for Those Who Have Breast Cancer
- 26 Furry friends
- 1.8K Humor and Games
- 1.6K Mental Health: Because Cancer Doesn't Just Affect Your Breasts
- 706 Recipe Swap for Healthy Living
- 704 Recommend Your Resources
- 171 Sex & Relationship Matters
- 9 The Political Corner
- 874 Working on Your Fitness
- 4.5K Moving On & Finding Inspiration After Breast Cancer
- 394 Bonded by Breast Cancer
- 3.1K Life After Breast Cancer
- 806 Prayers and Spiritual Support
- 285 Who or What Inspires You?
- 28.7K Not Diagnosed But Concerned
- 1K Benign Breast Conditions
- 2.3K High Risk for Breast Cancer
- 18K Not Diagnosed But Worried
- 7.4K Waiting for Test Results
- 603 Site News and Announcements
- 560 Comments, Suggestions, Feature Requests
- 39 Mod Announcements, Breastcancer.org News, Blog Entries, Podcasts
- 4 Survey, Interview and Participant Requests: Need your Help!
- 61.9K Tests, Treatments & Side Effects
- 586 Alternative Medicine
- 255 Bone Health and Bone Loss
- 11.4K Breast Reconstruction
- 7.9K Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 2.7K Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
- 775 Diagnosed and Waiting for Test Results
- 7.8K Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 50 Immunotherapy - Before, During, and After
- 7.4K Just Diagnosed
- 1.4K Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
- 5.2K Lymphedema
- 3.6K Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment
- 591 Pain
- 3.9K Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After
- 8.4K Surgery - Before, During, and After
- 109 Welcome to Breastcancer.org
- 98 Acknowledging and honoring our Community
- 11 Info & Resources for New Patients & Members From the Team