Breast Cancer

SAN FRANCISCO--Establishing clinical care guidelines for hereditary (BRCA1 or BRCA2) breast cancer is increasingly important for managed care organizations as well as private physicians, Susan Kutner, MD, said at the American Cancer Society Second National Conference on Cancer Genetics.

WASHINGTON--A highly publicized journal article about the rate of false positives in mammography distorts both the state of the field and the goals and methods of breast cancer screening, said Edward A. Sickles, MD, chief of the Breast Imaging Section, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).

The bisphosphonates have now joined an elite group of drugs that have annual sales greater than $1 billion. Although the major therapeutic target of these agents is osteoporosis, their use in cancer, particularly in osteolytic bone disease due to breast cancer and myeloma, is growing very rapidly. Pamidronate (Aredia), the only bisphosphonate currently approved for this indication in the United States, is now prescribed for the majority of patients with myeloma, as well as a substantial number of patients with breast cancer.

BETHESDA, Md--The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) has concluded that the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) was a risk-reduction and not a prevention trial. The panel specifically rejected the word prevention in recommending that the Food and Drug Administration approve Nolvadex (tam-oxifen citrate, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals) for "reducing a risk of breast cancer" in otherwise healthy women at high-risk of developing the disease. The drug is currently approved as adjuvant therapy for early and advanced breast cancer.

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla--Systemic chemotherapy has emerged as an integral part of the treatment of operable breast cancer. Now, researchers are investigating whether variations in the timing of chemotherapy may further influence patient outcomes.

LONDON--A multicenter clinical study has shown that a new noninvasive diagnostic modality, which measures electropotentials at the skin surface in the region of a suspicious breast lesion, helps physicians discriminate benign lesions from breast cancer.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark--Dako Corporation’s HercepTest was recommended unanimously for FDA approval by a joint committee of the Hematology and Pathology Devices Panel and Immunology Devices Panel, conditional on the company providing clear guidelines on how to conduct the test, so that laboratories can provide consistent results

SAN FRANCISCO--Susan Leigh, RN, a cancer survivor and oncology nurse, is telling a familiar story, but one that arouses her anger. Recently, a young woman with breast cancer went to the local library to research her disease. She was shocked to read in a medical text that her particular type of breast cancer had little hope of cure and was likely to be fatal in a few months.

The addition of the anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) to standard chemotherapy may increase the chances of a cure for women with breast cancer.

It’s a truism that we learn best when we get information from several senses," concludes a favorable review in the respected Journal of the National Cancer Institute of an interactive CD-ROM entitled "Be a Survivor: Your Interactive Guide to

In 1992, the FDA decided that silicone gel-filled breast implants would be available only through controlled clinical studies, despite the fact that they had been used for mammoplasty in millions of women around the world

Three oral 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) therapies have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or are in development for the treatment of patients with breast cancer: capecitabine, UFT, and 5-FU/eniluracil.

ATLANTA--Cancer programs and hospitals wishing to expand their services to include genetic counseling and testing should be aware that the staff and resource needs are intense, Constance Roche, MSN, RN, CS, said at a conference sponsored by the National Consortium of Breast Centers. Ms. Roche and Kevin Hughes, MD, who were instrumental in establishing the Lahey Clinic Risk Assessment Program, Peabody, Massachusetts, offered advice on establishing and operating such a program.

NEW YORK--Caring for a mother with advanced breast cancer can be a lot to deal with for a daughter. She has the tricky task of reversing roles with her mother. She may have a family of her own to care for--and there is the fear that she is at risk for cancer herself.

LOS ANGELES--Tamoxifen (Nol-vadex) may not prevent breast cancer recurrence in women whose tumors over-express the HER2 oncogene (also known as c-erbB-2), and such overexpression may be a predictor of responsiveness to chemotherapy, researchers said at the ASCO integrated symposium on HER2 in breast cancer.

Developed initially for the treatment of malignant melanoma, lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy have recently been introduced into the treatment of early breast cancer. In breast cancer patients, harvested

Developed initially for the treatment of malignant melanoma, lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy have recently been introduced into the treatment of early breast cancer. In breast cancer patients, harvested

Developed initially for the treatment of malignant melanoma, lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy have recently been introduced into the treatment of early breast cancer. In breast cancer patients, harvested

HOUSTON--More than half of the patients who present to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s emergency room have a complaint of dyspnea, Sandra Henke, RN, a thoracic oncology nurse at M.D. Anderson, said at the Center’s 2nd Annual Nursing Conference. "Even when there are other emergency symptoms, breathing difficulties are the most pronounced because they cause the most distress for the patient," Ms. Henke said.

The Center for Breast Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation have teamed up to offer a new 1-year fellowship for physicians interested in the multidisciplinary care of breast

PITTSBURGH--The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute’s Division of Behavioral Medicine and Oncology is seeking young women with breast cancer for a research study on helping families cope with cancer.

Women are more likely to start getting regular mammograms if health information is tailored to their personal concerns, according to the results of a Brown University study.

LONDON--Interim analyses of two randomized European trials of tamoxifen (Nolvadex) prophylaxis in healthy women have failed to show a significant reduction in the incidence of breast cancer, in contrast to the US Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT), which showed a 45% reduction with tamoxifen.

DALLAS--The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has announced the recipients of its 1998 postdoctoral fellowship grants, which total more than $1 million. In addition to these 10 new first-year grant recipients, the Komen Foundation currently funds 21 previously awarded fellowships throughout the United States.

LOS ANGELES--Avon’s Breast Cancer 3-Day is a new type of fundraising event--the first-ever multiday long distance walk. On October 23, 24, and 25, 1998, nearly 2,000 people in California will walk 50 to 60 miles (15 to 25 miles a day), beginning just south of Santa Barbara and ending just north of Malibu. Each participant has pledged to raise a minimum of $1,700 to support breast cancer awareness and education.

Researchers from the Pittsburgh-based National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) presented data on the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) during a plenary session of the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology

ATLANTA--The American Cancer Society is offering a "magalog," part magazine, part catalog, for women recovering from breast cancer and other cancers that involve treatment-related hair loss. Known as tlc (tender loving care), the nonprofit publication was created by Lana Leavitt Rosenfeld, an ACS volunteer.

PHILADELPHIA--The NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) has received a $1 million unrestricted grant from Genentech, Inc. The grant, provided over a 2-year period, will be used to support the development and expansion of the NCCN Oncology Outcomes Database with emphasis on breast cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

LOS ANGELES--For patients with refractory metastatic breast cancer, ideal therapy would offer palliation with ease of administration and limited side effects. The new agent capecitabine (Xeloda) can be taken orally at home, making it unique among currently available salvage regimens for metastatic breast cancer, Joanne L. Blum, MD, PhD, of Texas Oncology, Dallas, said at the 34th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Predisposition testing (ie, genetic testing that provides information about a person’s susceptibility to disease) is now available for several inherited forms of cancer. Individuals who are found to have an altered gene (eg, a