A University of Michigan study reveals in detail how breast cells produce new cells that are predisposed to become malignant, unless they receive the protective action of the CHFR gene. CHFR expression is missing in more than a third of breast cancers. Analysis of this gene is also a hot area of interest among scientists trying to explain colorectal, stomach, lung and other forms of cancer........

Scientists have discovered a new family of agents that inhibit the growth of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells. The finding, described today at a meeting of the Endocrine Society, has opened an avenue of research into new drugs to combat estrogen-dependent breast cancers. "This cell-based study is exciting because it suggests these compounds are likely to be effective in tumors that remain dependent on estrogen for growth but are resistant to current therapies," said principal investigator David J. Shapiro, a professor of biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois........

A tiny modification called methylation on estrogen receptors prolongs the life of these growth-driving molecules in breast cancer cells, as per research by researchers at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute. The results are reported in the May 9, 2008 issue of the journal Molecular Cell. Most breast cancers contain estrogen receptors, which enable them to grow in the presence of the hormone estrogen. Their presence can determine whether tumors will respond to the estrogen-blocking drug tamoxifen........

According to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, mammography, the gold-standard for breast cancer screening and early detection, has shown to significantly reduce the risk of being diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in women over the age of 80, an age group currently without clear guidelines recommending regular screenings........

A drug that targets the cell surface receptors that play an important role in many types of cancer can bring about significant tumour regression in breast cancer after only six weeks of use, a scientist told the 6th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-6). Dr. Angel Rodriguez, from the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA, said that the work demonstrated for the first time that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor lapatinib could decrease tumour-causing breast cancer stem cells in the primary breast cancers of women receiving neoadjuvant treatment (treatment given before the primary surgery for the disease)........

The use of MRI is effective in differentiating the blood supply to medial and lateral breast tumors, which is important in therapy planning and prognosis as per a research studyconducted by scientists at the University of Miami in Miami, FL and the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel. Blood supply of medial tumors is mainly through the internal mammary vessels while lateral tumors may be supplied by both the internal or lateral mammary branches........

An international research consortium under the leadership of researchers of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) has shown that a common gene variant increases the risk of developing breast cancer. In roughly five to ten percent of breast cancer cases there is a family history of breast cancer- i.e., hereditary and, thus, genetic factors play a role here. Alterations in the genes known as BRCAI and BRCAII are a major cause of familial breast cancer - these are responsible for roughly 25 percent of such cases........

Women whose breast cancer came back after therapy had almost twice as much estrogen in their blood than did women who remained cancer-free despite therapy with anti-estrogen drugs in a majority of the women as per scientists as per a research findings reported in the recent issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research........

A new test that examines large sections of the sentinel lymph node for genes expressed by breast cancer could reduce the risk of recurrence and multiple surgeries, doctors say. The GeneSearch Breast Lymph Node Assay, manufactured by Veridex, L.L.C., a Johnson and Johnson company, is being used at the Medical College of Georgia to examine half of the tissue in the sentinel lymph node, the first place breast cancer typically spreads. The sample represents more than 10 times the amount of tissue examined in traditional biopsies........

Women who live in Chicago's gentrifying neighborhoods are more apt to receive a late diagnosis of breast cancer than women who live in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, University of Illinois at Chicago scientists have found. The surprising finding is as per a research findings reported in the recent issue of the Annals of Epidemiology........

Psychological interventions for cancer patients do more than just ease emotional distress - they directly improve health, new research suggests. A study of 227 patients with breast cancer observed that those who participated in a psychological intervention program were rated as having better health by a research nurse a full year after the program started........

The NICE guidelines on follow-up for patients with breast cancer need urgent revision, warn experts in this weeks BMJ. More than 1.2 million women and men worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and it is now recognised as a chronic disease that can recur even after 20 -30 years. Survival continues to improve, so new cancers are now more common in a number of patients than recurrence because the therapys of the first cancer are so effective. However, follow-up protocols still vary widely both within and between countries and are not always evidence based........

Despite a 1990 consensus recommendation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that lumpectomy plus radiation was the therapy of choice for early stage breast cancer, the United States continues to have the highest rate of mastectomy surgery among industrialized countries. Why would a person knowingly undertake a far more severe form of therapy when a lesser one would suffice? A recent survey shows that only 74 percent of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS) chose breast-conserving surgery even though 82 percent of their physicians had recommended the procedure........

The positive results of the first nationwide clinical study showing the benefits of an antiangiogenic agent in breast cancer therapy are reported in the Dec. 27 issue of the New England Journal (NEJM). The study with Avastin showed the biggest improvement in metastatic breast cancer ever reported in a chemotherapy-based clinical trial. It nearly doubled the time between initiation of chemotherapy for metastatic disease and progression of the breast cancer tumors........

Cone-beam breast CT provides exceptional tissue contrast and can potentially reduce examination time with comparable radiation dose to conventional 2D mammography, as per a new study by a team of scientists from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Cone-beam breast CT employs a large area x-ray beam in conjunction with a flat panel x-ray detector to scan and generate 3D images of the breast. The scanner is placed below a table on which the patient lies prone with the breast protruding through an opening. Only the breast is exposed to radiation resulting in improved image quality and sparing the rest of the patients body from unnecessary radiation exposure. The scan can be completed in less than one minute with a single complete rotation of the x-ray tube-detector gantry around the breast. Unlike conventional CT, the patient is not moved through the gantry during scanning........