Cancer Research Lab

High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation does not improve overall survival when used as consolidation therapy after response to induction therapy in women with metastatic breast cancer, Canadian researchers report.

One small controlled trial has suggested there are improvements in overall survival after two courses of high-dose chemotherapy supported by autologous stem-cell transplantation, compared with standard-dose chemotherapy, the authors explain in the January 1st issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Statin use is not associated with an increased or decreased risk of breast cancer, according to a population-based, case-control study published in the January 1st issue of Cancer.

“Findings that statins inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro and in rodents have raised interest in whether the use of statins might decrease a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer,” Dr. Gaia Pocobelli, of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues write. Conversely, other studies in which rodents were exposed to high doses of statins showed increases in several types of cancer.

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Requiring even a small co-payment dramatically reduces the likelihood that women will get regular mammograms to detect breast cancer, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Screening rates from 2001 through 2004 were nearly 11 percent lower for women who had to contribute a co-pay as low as $12, compared to women whose breast X-rays were free, researchers from Brown and Harvard universities found.

They surveyed more than 366,000 women aged 65 to 69.

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Surgeon characteristics, such as gender or country of training, appear to influence whether a women with breast cancer will receive adjuvant radiotherapy, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute for February 6.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality considers radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery (BCS) as a quality of care indicator, yet many do not receive this treatment, comment Dr. Dawn L. Hershman and colleagues from Columbia University in New York. The goal of the present study was to determine whether surgeon-related factors play a role in the receipt of post-BCS radiotherapy.

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Infections at the incision site are common after breast surgical procedures, especially after cancer-related breast surgery, and these infections result in more than $4,000 extra hospital-related costs per patient, according to research reported in the January Archives of Surgery.

Dr. Margaret A. Olsen of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis and colleagues retrospectively studied 949 women who underwent mastectomy or breast reconstruction procedures between 1999 and 2002 at a hospital affiliated with Washington University.

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As a treatment for breast cancer, radiotherapy, even modern regimens, appears to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute for March 7.

Earlier reports have indicated that radiotherapy regimens used in the 1970s elevate cardiovascular risk, but it has been less clear if more recent regimens also increase the risk.

“Apart from the clear benefits of adjuvant radiotherapy, physicians should still be aware of the potentially increased risk of cardiovascular disease following specific radiotherapy regimens in long-term breast cancer survivors,” senior author Dr. Flora E. van Leeuwen, from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, and colleagues note.

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Some breast cancers that are not detected using mammography or ultrasound, can be seen when magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is employed, according to findings from a study of women with genetic or familial risk.

The interim results of the HIBCRIT (High Breast Cancer Risk Italian Trial) are reported by Dr. Francesco Sardanelli of the University of Milan and associates in the March issue of Radiology.

These findings demonstrate that “the addition of MR imaging to the screening regimen for high-risk women may enable detection of otherwise unsuspected breast cancers,” Dr. Sardanelli said.

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Despite carrying a price tag of $50,000 or more for 1 year of treatment, trastuzumab (Herceptin) is cost-effective as adjuvant therapy for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, according to the findings of two studies appearing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology for February 20.

“In the subgroup of patients with HER2-positive, high-risk breast cancers, trastuzumab enhances the clinical advantage of adjuvant chemotherapy at a cost generally considered appropriate for the added value that trastuzumab produced,” Dr. Nicola Lucio Liberato, lead author of the first study, said in a statement.

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U.S. health regulators have approved GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s oral medication Tykerb for patients with advanced breast cancer after other treatments have failed, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Tykerb (lapatinib) is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of HER2 and epidermal growth factor receptor. It blocks the intracellular HER-2/neu protein, whereas Herceptin (trastuzumab) blocks HER-2/neu on the outside of cancer cells.

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A new study suggests that drinking a single alcoholic beverage daily may increase a woman’s risk of developing invasive breast cancer by 9 percent.

Drinking just over two drinks daily may increase their breast cancer risk by 32 percent, Dr. Shumin M. Zhang of Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues found.

“Moderate alcohol consumption increases your risk of breast cancer,” Zhang said “If you drink alcohol, you should think about the risks and benefits, there is a risk definitely.”

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