Tag Archives: breast cancer

Connecting Minds from Across the Globe

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Guest post by Myra Biblowit, President & CEO of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Myra-Biblowit_Headshot_2015As the most common cancer in women worldwide and the second most common cancer overall, breast cancer remains a fact of life.

The latest data released in 2012 showed that nearly 1.7 million women around the globe were diagnosed and incidence rates are on the rise. It is the leading cause of cancer death in the world’s poorest countries.  If we do not put a stop to this epidemic, 13 million people will lose their lives to breast cancer in the next 25 years.

That prognosis, however, does not have to become our reality.  At the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, we know how to bring an end to cancer. The answer: Research.

Why Research

It is because of research that we have learned more about breast cancer in the past two decades than in the last 500 years.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of physicians and scientists, we have learned that breast cancer is not just one but many diseases, we have advanced our understanding of the inherited risk of breast cancer and developed precision medicine and individualized therapies to put an end to one-size-fits-all treatment.

When BCRF was founded just over 20 years ago, a breast cancer diagnosis inspired fear and little hope. Scientific understanding of the nature of the disease and how it moved through the body was still nascent. Investigations on prevention strategies were fledgling, screening methods were limited and treatment options were few.

Since 1993, BCRF has raised $575 million in critical funding for cancer research worldwide to fuel advances in tumor biology, genetics, prevention, treatment, metastasis and survivorship. This year, BCRF is the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world. Every hour of research we fund improves outcomes and saves lives.

We have made research our mission because investing in research produces real results.  BCRF funded researchers have been deeply involved with every major breakthrough in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.  Deaths from breast cancer have dropped 30 percent over the last 20 years.  If diagnosed early, a breast cancer diagnosis has a 90 percent survival rate vs. the 65 percent survival rates in the 1970s. That is real progress.

Research is revolutionizing our understanding of cancer, answering questions critically important to patients and transforming lives every days as women and men get the help they need. The breakthroughs that have been achieved from breast cancer research are also helping to inform other cancers including ovarian, cervical, and melanoma. Today, with science and technology working hand in hand, we are closer to prevention and cure than ever before.

A world free of cancer is possible. Research is the key to making that hope a reality. Partnering with the Nature Publishing Group is a critical step towards further elevating BCRF’s scientific leadership in cancer research.

Collaboration is Key

At the Foundation, we have underscored the critical tenet of collaboration in research for over two decades—across institutions and disciplines. We support 240 scientists on five continents working around the clock on solving one of the world’s greatest health problems. The launch of our open access journal, npj Breast Cancer, in partnership with Nature Publishing Group in June 2015 is a great step towards fostering and further expanding this model of knowledge sharing. The research published in this journal is free to access immediately upon publication, and can be easily shared, meaning that it is accessible to clinicians and patients as well as researchers.

This October, BCRF will host two key research symposia connecting scientists from around the world. The Symposia, in New York and Boston, will highlight progress made in breast cancer research while addressing topics that are top of mind in the field.

On October 29, more than 180 researchers will gather 1,000 guests at the New York Symposium and Awards Luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria titled “Progress in Killing Drug-Resistant Cancer Cells.” Panelist Dr. Joan Brugge of Harvard Medical School will be honored with the Jill Rose Award for her distinguished work to advance understanding of the molecular and cellular biology of breast cancer. Dr. Suzanne Fuqua of Baylor College of Medicine and Dr. Vered Stearns of Johns Hopkins will also serve on the panel moderated by BCRF Scientific Director Dr. Larry Norton and BCRF Scientific Advisory Chairman Dr. Clifford Hudis—both of whom also serve at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and as the Editors-in-Chief of npj Breast Cancer.

On October 23, the Boston Research Symposium and Luncheon held in memory of noted breast surgeon Dr. Carolyn Kaelin, will gather more than 300 guests. The discussion, titled “Understanding Women’s Risk for Breast Cancer and Other Cancers,” will feature panelists Dr. Judy Garber of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Nadine Tung of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, moderated by Chairman of BCRF’s Scientific Advisory Board Dr. Clifford Hudis.

Before our scientists take the stage for these public events, they will take part in a scientific meeting, a tradition that’s been in place since 2003. Conceived by Scientific Director Dr. Larry Norton, the conference presents the opportunity to explore important topics in breast cancer research, with a program carefully chosen by BCRF’s Scientific Advisory Board. This year’s meeting, held at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will feature a series of presentations and lively discussion from BCRF-supported experts on the prevailing challenges of drug resistance and strategies to improve outcomes through novel combination therapies and precision medicine. These scientific meetings have historically inspired new collaborations and scientific discourse that accelerate discovery, and we are confident that the outcomes of this year’s meeting will be no different in taking us to our ultimate goal of better prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

Join us. Help fuel the research of today needed to save lives tomorrow. Visit bcrfcure.org.

Visit the npj Breast Cancer website to find out more.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is committed to being the end of breast cancer by advancing the world’s most promising research. Founded by Evelyn H. Lauder in 1993, BCRF-funded investigators have been deeply involved in every major breakthrough in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. In 2015, BCRF will award $48.5 million to support 240 researchers at leading medical institutions internationally, making it one of the largest non-governmental funders of breast cancer research in the world. By investing 91 cents of every dollar directly in its mission, BCRF remains one of the nation’s most fiscally responsible nonprofits. BCRF is the only breast cancer organization with an “A+” from CharityWatch, together with Charity Navigator’s highest rating of four stars 13 times since 2002. Visit www.bcrfcure.org to learn more.

 

 

 

New classification system proposed for breast cancer types

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Since the late 1970s, clinicians have distinguished breast cancers types according to the presence or absence of certain receptors that sit on the surface of these tumor cells. Depending on the receptors found—namely, the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)—a doctor can get a better sense of the prognosis and which treatments might work.

Now, a study published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation proposes a new conceptual framework that classifies breast cancers based on whether the cells possess receptors for other molecules, such as androgen and vitamin D. Under this system, current cancer subtypes would be stratified into one of four groups.

“I’m very excited about this paper,” says Jorge Reis-Filho, a pathologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York who was not involved in the research. He adds that the proposed classification system could point to new therapies for breast cancers previously categorized as unlikely to respond to treatment.

In the new study, researchers sought to explain some of the diversity observed in human breast tumors by obtaining a more detailed understanding of normal breast cell subtypes. “I approached this question like an evolutionary biologist trying to figure out the ancestry of a species,” says study co-author Tan Ince, a pathologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Ince and his team scanned samples of normal breast tissue for proteins expressed in a “bimodal” or on/off pattern—highly expressed in some cells but completely absent in others. The researchers focused in on the handful of proteins that displayed this pattern. They subsequently characterized 11 previously undescribed subtypes of luminal cells—one of the two major epithelial cell types found in mammary glands—that each expressed distinct combinations of these proteins.

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A bend in the river for cancer genomics

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People can be forgiven for thinking that the messages coming out of the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Chicago this week seem to conflict. Finishing up today, the meeting hosted nearly 17,000 scientists, exhibitors and guests and had several talks expounding the dizzying pace of genome technologies being applied to cancer diagnosis and treatment. At the same time, some speakers warned of the challenges inherent in doing cancer ‘omics.’

A plenary talk Sunday evening by Elaine Mardis of the Genome Institute at Washington University in St Louis covered her group’s ongoing work to characterize individual patients’ tumours using what she calls deep digital sequencing, which looks at the whole-genome sequence from a patient and his or her cancer and then resequences and verifies individual mutations in DNA and RNA recovered from multiple biopsies. Her methods can show not only differences between cancer cells and normal cells but also how cancer cells change and evolve over time and in response to treatment. She has published recently on this for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and for myelodysplastic syndromes that can progress to AML.

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Genentech, 23andMe to study genetic response to breast cancer drug

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Personal-genomics company 23andMe, based in Mountain View, California, and biotechnology firm Genentech, based in San Francisco, are recruiting patients with breast cancer to study genetic predictors of how well they respond to the drug Avastin (bevacizumab).

Genentech’s Avastin is approved to treat several cancers, but in November, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked approval to use the drug in certain breast cancers that have metastasized, or spread beyond the initial site of the tumour. The decision came in light of studies done after the drug’s 2008 approval for breast cancer that found, the FDA said, “only a small effect on tumor growth without evidence that patients lived any longer or had a better quality of life compared to taking standard chemotherapy alone — not enough to outweigh the risk of taking the drug.”

Genentech said at the time that it would look for potential biomarkers that could identify the groups of patients with breast cancer who would be most likely to benefit from taking the drug.

23andMe has been turning increasingly towards research studies as consumer demand for its services has plateaued.

23andMe is seeking DNA donations from individuals with metastatic breast cancer who have taken Avastin; in return, it will grant them access to its genome-profiling service. Patient groups are supporting the study.

 

Boston study: Many household and beauty products contain suspect chemicals

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Ruthann Rudel walks up to the shelf in a Cambridge Rite Aid pharmacy and picks up an “Arm and Hammer Essential Naturals” deodorant stick .  The bright yellow package has jaunty lettering and a green leaf on the label and announces that it offers “Aluminum Free — Paraben Free Natural Protection.”

Tinker Ready photo

Ruthann Rudel

But, Rendel – a scientist who studies chemicals in everyday products– said she checked the ingredients before buying it and was surprised to find triclosan.

“It’s way worse than paraben,” she said of the antibacterial additive. Triclosan is a hormone mimic under review by the FDA, which reports that it improves some products but offers little improvement over conventional soaps and body washes.

Rudel is part of a team that has been looking much more systematically into the presence of suspect or untested additives and ingredients in everyday products. In a peer-reviewed paper published today in the journal “Environmental Health Perspective,’’ she and her fellow researchers from the Silent Spring Institute in Newton report that tests of everyday household products found traces of 55 different hormone disruptors, as well as chemicals linked to asthma, many not listed on the label.

And, they didn’t  just stick to the shampoos, sunscreens and cat litter in CVS. They also had a shopping trip at Whole Foods and tested what one might expect to be bonefide natural products. Of the 44 “alternative” products they tested, 32 included their target chemicals. All of the “conventional products” had some of the target chemicals.

“It is impossible to control exposure to them,” Rudel said. “Everyone is exposed.”

They looked at 50 different product types, including make-up, sunscreen, wet mops, perfume, vinyl shower curtains, hand sanitizer, diapers and glass cleaner.

At the Whole Foods store next door to the CVS, lotions and shampoos have names like “Nature’s Gate” and products come with a label that promises “the safest, most natural body care product.”

“Even if you pick these alternatives, you are still going to be exposed to a pretty large number of our target chemicals,” Rudel said.

Still, more than fifteen years after the book Our Stolen Future laid out the possible risks of hormone mimicking chemicals, the impact on human health remains unclear.  Animal studies link the substances with breast cancer; data from humans is harder to come by.

“Most of these endocrine disruptors are very, very difficult to study in humans,” Rudel said.  “There are so many different chemicals, we don’t know how to measure all the exposures, we don’t’ know how to add them up or which ones are acting together.”

Tinker Ready photoIt may be years before the full impact of hormone disruptors is well understood. In the meantime, Rudel thinks that some people may not want to take their chances. There are ways to avoid them – by using soap and water instead of chemical cleaners. And in some cases, like triclosan, they don’t offer much of a benefit, so it won’t be much of a loss.

The abstract concludes: “Common products contain complex mixtures of EDCs (endocrine disrupting compounds) and asthma-related compounds. Toxicological studies of these mixtures are needed to understand their biological activity.

For epidemiology, findings raise cautions about potential confounding from co-occurring chemicals and misclassification due to variability in product composition. It appears that consumers can avoid some target chemicals—synthetic fragrances, BPA, and regulated active ingredients—using purchasing criteria. More complete labeling would enable consumers to avoid the rest rest.”

At some point, the impact on human health will be clearer, Rudel said.

“Scientists are working hard to understand what endocrine-disrupting chemical we need to be concerned about.”

Endocrine Disruptors and Asthma-AssociatedChemicals in Consumer Products

Robin E. Dodson, Marcia Nishioka, Laurel J. Standley, Laura J. Perovich, Julia Green Brody, Ruthann A. Rudel

https://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104052

Online 8 March 2012