Cancer Care

Newswise — New research findings from a top clinical investigator at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) indicate the potential for more targeted treatment of ovarian cancer, which is expected to claim more than 15,000 lives nationwide this year, with 480 in New Jersey. The study, to be presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago later this month, looks at the effects of a mineral called selenium in combination with the standard treatment for the disease. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
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FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — Women with breast cancer who have a vitamin D deficiency at the time of diagnosis are more likely to have a recurrence or to die from their disease, a new study shows.

Surprisingly, the researchers also found that only 24 percent of the patients had adequate levels of vitamin D when they were diagnosed.

“This study found that vitamin D deficiency is very common among women with breast cancer, and it suggests that vitamin D deficiency is linked to poorer outcomes in these women,” Dr. Nancy Davidson, director of the breast cancer program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, said during a May 6 press conference. Davidson is president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
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These findings are surprising and represent the first positive study for Iressa in breast cancer, as well as for the entire class of drugs known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, said Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., the study’s principal investigator.

Cristofanilli will present the findings at the American Society for Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) upcoming annual meeting as an oral presentation.

“We initiated this study in 2003 with hopes of reducing the resistance to hormonal therapy,” said Cristofanilli. “There was a lot of preclinical work indicating that, in fact, resistance to hormonal therapy is strongly associated with an activated EGFR pathway. Also, EGFR over-expression has been associated with endocrine resistance. If there’s a double blockage of the EGFR and the estrogen receptor, you may achieve better control of the disease.”
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The percentage of breast-cancer patients choosing to have an entire breast removed is increasing, and it’s not entirely clear why, Mayo Clinic doctors say.

In 1990, the NIH said that for women with early-stage disease, a mastectomy (removing the entire breast) was basically equivalent to removing a lump from the breast combined with radiation therapy. That prompted mastectomy rates to fall for several years.

A study released yesterday found that the rate has started rising again, at least at the Mayo Clinic. Between 2003 and 2006, the percentage of women choosing mastectomy rose to 43% from 30%.
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In an experimental study, breast cancer survivors who experienced severe hot flashes underwent nerve block therapy to regulate their body’s temperature and found the number of occurrences was decreased dramatically, according to an article published in Thursday’s Lancet Oncology.

Within the study, the average number of hot flashes per week fell from about 80 to 8 and there was a marked decrease in nighttime awakenings, according to the Lancet.
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A new study has found that women who engage in physical activity are 25 per cent less likely to develop breast cancer. However, researchers also discovered that certain groups are more likely to see these benefits than others.

The findings showed that the type of activity undertaken, at what time in life it is performed and the woman’s body mass index (BMI) will determine how protective the activity is against the disease.
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