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An article published early online and in the December edition of The Lancet Oncology reports that if breast cancer patients who receive endocrine treatment develop hot flushes, vasomotor symptoms (such as cold and night sweats), and joint symptoms, then they have a lower likelihood of cancer recurrence. That is, the toxicity of the treatment is acting as an indicator of treatment success.

Researchers of the Netherlands cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital used the novel inhibitor AZD2281 to target breast cancer, in which the BRCA1-gene plays a role, in a genetically engineered mouse model. Treatment resulted in tumor regression and a strong increase in survival without signs of toxicity. The inhibitor, which recently entered trials in human cancer patients, thus seems to have therapeutic potential for BRCA-defective tumors.

IntroductionTo prospectively examine the relation of total, vigorous and non-vigorous physical activity to postmenopausal breast cancer risk. MethodWe studied 32,269 women enrolled in the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project Follow-up Study. Usual physical activity (including household, occupational and leisure activities) throughout the previous year was assessed at baseline using a self-administered questionnaire. Postmenopausal breast cancer cases were identified through self-reports, death certificates and linkage to state cancer registries. A Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the relative risk and 95% confidence intervals of postmenopausal breast cancer associated with physical activity. Results: During 269,792 person-years of follow-up from 1987 to 1998, 1506 new incident cases of postmenopausal breast cancer were ascertained. After adjusting for potential risk factors of breast cancer, a weak inverse association between total physical activity an

Clemson University researchers developing imaging agents to allow a new method of detecting breast cancers have received $180,000 from the Susan G. Komen Breast cancer Foundation. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. The new method allows for a combination of light and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) that may help researchers look at different parts of cells and tissues.

Normal-weight women who carry out lots of vigorous exercise are approximately 30% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who don't exercise vigorously. A study of more than thirty thousand postmenopausal American women, reported in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research, has revealed that a sedentary lifestyle can be a risk factor for the disease - even in women who are not overweight.

The widespread introduction of high throughput RNA interference screening technology has revealed tumour drug sensitivity pathways to common cytotoxics such as paclitaxel, doxorubicin and 5-FU, targeted agents such as Trastuzumab and inhibitors of AKT and PARP as well as endocrine therapies such as Tamoxifen. Given the limited power of microarray signatures to predict therapeutic response in associative studies of small clinical trial cohorts, the use of functional genomic data combined with expression or sequence analysis of genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) implicated in drug response in human tumours may provide a more robust method transferable across different expression platforms and patient cohorts to guide adjuvant treatment strategies in breast cancer.

In trying to find out why HER2-positive breast cancer can be more aggressive than other forms of the disease, UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have surprisingly discovered that HER2 itself is the culprit. By shutting down its own regulator gene, HER2 creates a permissive environment for tumor growth.

Aetna (NYSE:AET) is implementing a comprehensive plan to increase the quality of genetic diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. The company is guiding members and physicians to laboratories that meet national guidelines for genetic testing accuracy. Aetna also is funding research to understand the use of genetic tests in breast cancer treatment.

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a novel way in which breast cancer cells become resistant to tamoxifen, the world's largest-selling breast cancer prevention and treatment drug. They say the findings could provide a way to identify tamoxifen users who are no longer benefiting from the drug, allowing doctors to try another therapy option sooner.

Title: Why Tamoxifen Doesn't Always WorkCategory: health newscreated: 10/31/2008 2:00:00 amlast Editorial review: 10/31/2008