Breast Cancer

PARIS -- Collaborative groups set out to confirm potential benefits of anticancer therapies to treat women with breast cancer A new international study for women with HER2-positive breast cancer is open for enrollment.

TORONTO -- Canadian experts say they are offering a free test to Jewish women to determine if they have a strong chance of getting ovarian and breast cancers. Women's College Research Institute experts in Toronto said the test helps identify three mutated breast cancer genes frequently found in Ashkenazi Jewish people, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported Saturday. One of every 44 Ashkenazi Jewish people has the genetic mutation, said Steven Narod of the of Toronto's Women's College Research Institute.

Chemotherapy helped cure Melinda Dutton's breast cancer, but it left her with a badly damaged heart. Bruce Ogden, who survived prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, lives with feminizing changes to his body from drugs he took to block testosterone that would have accelerated the malignancy. And Sally Coplin is almost totally deaf and can't produce saliva. Radiation treatment caused that, even as it rid her nasal passages of spiderweb-like tumors.

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. -- Sanofi-aventis and GEICAM (Grupo Espanol de Investigacion en Cancer de Mama) announced today that for women with high-risk node-negative early stage breast cancer adjuvant treatment (post surgery) with Taxotere(R) (docetaxel) Injection Concentrate as part of the TAC regimen (Taxotere(R), doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide) was associated with a significant improvement in Disease Free Survival (DFS) compared to a standard FAC regimen (5-Fluorouracil, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide) in the GEICAM 9805/Target-0 study.

As part of its vision to realize a world without breast cancer, Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R) is encouraging people to show their true colors by participating in Passionately Pink for the Cure(R), a simple national fundraising program that inspires breast cancer advocacy and honors those affected by the disease.

The investigational chemotherapeutic agent eribulin mesylate (E7389) demonstrated activity in a heavily pretreated population of women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a multi-center Phase II clinical trial. The study also suggests that eribulin mesylate has a manageable tolerability profile, with a low incidence of Grade 3 (severe) and no Grade 4 (disabling or life-threatening) neuropathy. These data (abstract #1084) will be presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on Monday, June 2 from 2 to 6 p.m.

SAN MARINO, Calif. -- Epeius Biotechnologies announced today the promising results of an on-going United States-based Phase I/II study of Rexin-G for metastatic breast cancer that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy (J Clin Oncol 26:14509, 2008). This clinical trial employed intra-patient dose-escalations of Rexin-G given i.v. two to three times a week for 4 weeks, with doses ranging from 2 x 10e11 cfu to 6 x 10e11 cfu per week.

In women at increased risk for breast cancer, adding a screening ultrasound examination to routine mammography revealed 28 percent more cancers than mammography alone. However, the additional ultrasound exam substantially increased the rates of false positive findings and unnecessary biopsies, according to an American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) study published in the May 14, 2008 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association. This ACRIN study enrolled 2,809 women at increased risk for breast cancer at 21 sites and 2,637 of these women were eligible for analysis.

BASEL, Switzerland -- Patients with breast or colorectal cancer, two of the world's most common cancers, can expect further treatment advances with Avastin(R) (bevacizumab) and Herceptin(R) (trastuzumab) following new data that is being presented at the 44th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago at the end of May. Around 30,000 medical experts will attend the meeting which is the premier event for cancer therapy worldwide.

More breast cancer patients are undergoing mastectomies, reversing a trend in which women were choosing less extensive surgeries that let them keep their breasts, a new study suggests. The change appears to be driven by the increased use of MRIs, or magnetic resonance imaging, according to researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who reported their findings Thursday. If an MRI finds cancer in more than one area, doctors might suggest removing the entire breast, instead of just the original lump.