Breast Cancer: January 2007 Archives

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A genetic "signature" that consists of 186 genes combined together can predict the risk of breast cancer recurrence in women with the disease, a new study found.

And the same set of genes also predicts the recurrence of prostate cancer, lung cancer and medulloblastoma, the most common form of childhood brain cancer, the researchers said.

"This is very impressive data that will hopefully be able to predict which patients can benefit or not benefit from certain types of treatment," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La., who was not involved with the study. "Whether this can be taken into the direct clinical arena will remain to be seen."

Clinical Trial Evaluating Myocet® in Breast Cancer Enrolling Patients

A Phase III clinical trial (last phase prior to FDA review) evaluating the investigative chemotherapy agent Myocet® (liposomal encapsulated doxorubicin) in addition to standard therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer is now enrolling patients.

Metastatic breast cancer refers to cancer that has spread from its site of origin to distant sites in the body. Standard therapy for metastatic breast cancer often includes chemotherapy, with or without hormone therapy or targeted therapy. Doxorubicin is a commonly used chemotherapy agent in the treatment of breast cancer. However, side effects from doxorubicin can be severe, including irreversible damage to the heart.

Women who inherit one damaged copy of a gene called PALB2 have double the risk of developing breast cancer. And children who inherit two damaged copies have a newly identified serious disorder linked to childhood tumours, according to the findings from two papers published by scientists in Nature Genetics*.

A Cancer Research UK funded team at The Institute of Cancer Research looked for faults in the PALB2 gene in 923 women with breast cancer and a family history of the disease, not caused by the known breast cancer genes BRCA1 or BRCA2. The team also looked for faults in the PALB2 gene in 1084 healthy control women. Their discovery could eventually help identify women at greater risk of developing breast cancer. Understanding more about the specific genetic faults that lead to the disease will hopefully help with improving prevention, diagnosis and "tailor-made" treatment in the future.

Cancer treatment in Scotland appears to favour women over men, who face longer waits and delays in treatment, a leading doctor has warned.

Figures on cancer waiting times show that 88.2 per cent of breast-cancer patients are starting treatment within the two-month target from urgent referral by their doctor. But waiting-time for targets in urological cancers, including prostate and testicular cancers, hit only 67.5 per cent.

Dr David Love, joint chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs committee, said men might be the unintended victims of high-profile campaigns which have lobbied successfully to improve breast-cancer care.

The gender "bias" is most marked in the Borders. Up to 100 per cent of breast-cancer patients start treatment within two months, but for urological cancers, achievement of the target falls to a low of 54.5 per cent.