Archive for the 'Breast Cancer' Category

Every year almost 40,000 women die from metastatic breast cancer, breast cancer that has spread out of the breast tissue to affect other organs in the body.

Breast cancer metastasizes in about 40 percent of breast cancer patients.

Researchers have now identified a marker called TMEM (Tumor MicroEnvironment of Metastasis) which may predict when breast cancer may metastasize.

Using this test, patients risk for metastasis could be designated as either high or low, and they would be treated accordingly. This could ensure that patients at high risk received the treatment needed as quickly as possible, and prevent over treating patients at low risk.

The test involves taking a tissue sample from the breast. Researchers found that patients who had a generally good outcome had a low TMEM count, while patients who went on to develop systemic metastases had a count of TMEM twice as high.

TMEM seems to indicate the ability of cancer to spread through the blood to affect organs at some distance from the breast.

In the United States, about 1 in 8 women will receive a diagnosis of breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer can occur as quickly as three years or as slowly as 10 years after the first diagnosis.

Inflammatory breast cancer makes up 1 to 3 percent of all breast cancer cases diagnosed yearly.

While most types of breast cancer advance quickly, this type is one of the fastest growing.

Unfortunately, it also has one of the highest mortality rates, when compared with other forms of breast cancer.

It has been found in women and men of all ages. In many cases this type of breast cancer is confused with other breast conditions, such as mastitis or infection.

However, because the cancer progresses so quickly and has such a high mortality rate, everyone should be aware of the symptoms and signs of the disease.

Signs and Symptoms of IBC

Unlike most types of breast cancer, this condition does not produce breast lumps or cysts that can be detected during a breast exam. IBC forms strings or sheets of cancerous cells, which can make the breast change in size or feel. Most women initially realize heaviness or swelling in one breast or both.

The breast may also become discolored or tender. Some IBC patients experience itching or pain, and the breast may become dimpled in appearance or rough.

Every year over two hundred thousand American women are affected by breast cancer, those with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) have an almost 100% ten year survival rate.

Research carried out in the University of Minnesota shows that increasingly women are choosing to have both breasts removed rather than risking the cancer spreading to the other breast.

Todd Tuttle M.D. looked at over fifty thousand patients who had cancer in one of their breasts over a seven year period.

Using the database of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results it was noted that over thirteen percent of sufferers chose to have surgery.

This is despite the fact that DCIS is fairly successfully treated by radiation therapy or hormone treatment. It is only if the cancer is particularly aggressive that the second breast is at risk also.

Tuttle stated that by surgically removing the healthy breast, a patient would not have any benefits regarding prognosis, but despite of this more women and in general younger females were opting to take that route.

In fact, the study showed that the increase in surgery for DCIS patients was nearly 200 per cent between 1998 and 2005. Tuttle, who is an associate professor of oncologic surgery, published his findings recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Recent data published in the Breast Cancer Research journal shows that black women are three times more at risk from a particularly destructive types of breast cancer than other races.

The disease, know as triple negative, causes more deaths because it cannot be treated with the commonly effective drugs that work on progesterone or estrogen.

The reason for this is that the cancer strain has no hormonal receptors for the latter or for the HER2 protein that also can usually be effectively helped.

The research carried out in Boston, looked at a total of over four hundred women suffering from breast cancer, divided into different race groups, nearly half of whom were obese. The spotlight was on tumors that are triple negative and have a pretty dire outlook.

The majority were treatable with tamoxifen or enzymes that convert androgens into estrogen. Over ten percent were HER2-positive, which can be hit with the drug Herceptin, which is the appropriate therapy.

Unfortunately twenty percent were triple negative meaning there are far less drugs and treatments available to cure or even increase life expectancy. This type of tumor was not affected by age or size, the main factor was race across the board.

It has been known to some considerable time that the numbers of African American women who die from breast cancer [breast cancer types]are considerably higher than those of white American women.

Now the highly respected International Journal of Cancer has published a report that may explain why just under 40% of African American breast cancer victims die compared to 33% of white American women.

Research carried out by the San Francisco-based University of California, indicates that an average higher blood pressure in African American women is the core of the mortality problem.

The research conducted by Dr. Dejana Braithwaite examined records of black and white breast cancer patients recorded from 1973 for the next 13 years up until 1986. They then did all investigations to find out what happened to these patients up until 1999.

They discovered that there was one correlating figure that when compared to the death rate showed a clear connection. Of the black women with breast cancer, over 43% were suffering from high blood pressure compared to just over 28% of white women.

Various Chinese herbs show a positive effect on women who are diagnosed with breast cancer.

By protecting your immune system, Chinese herbs contribute greatly to healing.

Most experts believe that Chinese herbs provide effective relief from the side-effects of chemotherapy [Herbal remedy].

Famous herbs to reduce the risk of breast cancer:

Kudzu: The root of this herb has been used as a food in some cultures. This herb contains isoflavone formononetin. The dietary isoflavones are associated with decreased risk of breast and uterine cancers.

Red clover: This is the best known anti-cancer herb. It contains four types of phytoestrogens, known as adaptogens that bind estrogen receptors on cells. They include: coumestans, lignans, resorcylic acid lactones and isoflavones.

Soy: This contains genistein and isoflavones daidzein. Genistein reduces angiogenesis, thus reducing the ability of cancer to grow and metabolize.

Flax seed: This herb is rich in lignans. Lignans not only binds estrogen receptors, but also produces compounds that can increase the excretion and elimination of endogenous estrogens.

Some other herbs that contain phytoestrogen include: Alfalfa, black cohosh, lentils, chickpeas, mung beans, etc.

Antioxidants to reduce breast cancer risk:

Antioxidant supplements or antioxidants remove free radicals to reduce the risk of malignant changes.

According to breast cancer researchers, the types of breast cancer, which are being detected by screening, has changed over the past decades.

There seem to be more cases of slow-growing tumours and oestrogen-receptor positive cancers nowadays than in the past. This could depend from various factors, including the fact that with the improved screening methods cancers are now detected earlier and cannot develop into fast growing tumours.

Other researchers deduce that tumours are becoming more hormone-dependant than in the past that is why many react positively to hormone treatments, such as tamoxifen, which prevent the tumour from reforming. There is also a higher survival rate in women with breast cancer as opposed to the past.

It has been suggested that the changes in our way of life could lead to the increase of hormone-dependent tumours in women who suffer from obesity, menopause conditioned by hormone treatment and the fact that women are having babies at an older age.

Although these factors could influence the change of tumour-types, further studies must be conducted in order to verify this data. It is still not clear whether there is an actual change in tumour types or if it is the method of screening which better detects certain types of tumours rather than others.

Are you aware of the fact that excess alcohol intake can increase cancer risk? Most of you might be unaware of the fact that even a drink or two of alcohol everyday can increase your cancer risk.

According to American Cancer Society, women who consume more than one drink in a day are at increased risk of developing cancer causing tumors in breast when compared with others (who don’t drink regularly).

Why alcohol consumption can raise risk of breast cancer?

Most of the doctors believe that alcohol mainly disturbs the metabolism of estrogen and makes your body sensitive to hormones. As a result, you can encounter various problems like development of cancer causing tumors and many more.

How alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer?

Some of the tumors in breast are mainly fueled with estrogen hormones and few are not. But, it is believed by most of the doctors that drinking alcohol whether it is beer or wine, increases the risk of causing more aggressive types of tumors.

Actually, most of the doctors categorize tumors in two types one is estrogen/progesterone-receptor positive (ERP/PRP) and estrogen/progesterone-receptor negative (ERN/PRN). So, women who regularly consume alcohol are at increased risk of developing ERP tumors, which are more aggressive, than who don’t drink.