Breast Cancer

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Women who said they used an NSAID (usually aspirin or ibuprofen) regularly for 5 years or more had a 40% lower risk of breast cancer than those who did not report such use, Dr. Randall E. Harris and his colleagues at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

CHICAGO--Although aspirin's role in cancer prevention remains controversial, two recent studies (see "Long -term Aspirin Use Reduces Colon Cancer Risk, Study Shows" and "Regular Aspirin Use May Lower Breast Cancer Risk") show a reduced risk of colorectal and breast cancer with long-term aspirin use.

WASHINGTON--Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and its National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) co-sponsors have presented First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton with the Government Leadership Award for her outstanding initiative in launching efforts to educate women about mammography.

The incidence of invasive breast cancer among women age 65 years or older is twice that among those age 35 to 44 years,

NEW YORK--The National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO) has just released the 1995/96 edition of the NABCO Breast Cancer Resource List. This year's 70-page List, supported by an educational grant from Glaxo Wellcome Inc., includes more than 2,000 books, brochures, videos, hotlines, and support groups useful for women and health professionals.

In the United States, efforts to reduce mortality from breast cancer focus primarily on secondary prevention (ie, early detection

Combinations of the new agent, Taxotere (docetaxel), and Navelbine (vinorelbine), and Taxotere plus Adriamycin (doxorubicin) have both demonstrated activity in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, according to research presented

SILVER SPRING, Md-In addition to recommending approval of Taxotere (docetaxel) at its most recent meeting (see " Panel Recommends Taxotere Be Approved for Advanced Breast Cancer"), the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) also voted on two other new drug applications and heard a presentation on a new imaging agent.

Patients are often critical of quality -of -life programs because health -care professionals developed them with little

Breast cancer is a disease that not only has a high prevalence and mortality but also profound psychological and psychosocial ramifications. Women with breast cancer fear death and face complicated medical decisions and concerns about their body image, sexuality, and relationships.1

BETHESDA, Md-Scientists from the National Cancer Institute have found a specific mutation, 185delAG, in the breast cancer 1 gene (BRCA1) in almost 1% of DNA samples from a study group of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jews. This is the first time that scientists have been able to show that the gene mutation is present at measurable levels not only in high-risk families but also in a specific group of the general population.

G-CSF has been available since 1991 for use in patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy/ABMT, and while it has been shown to effectively reduce the risk of febrile neutropenia, its cost effectiveness has been open to question. In this small retrospective study, five indicators of the consumption of health care resources were examined in stage III/IV breast cancer patients who received high-dose chemotherapy with ABMT or peripheral stem cell support. The study covered the time periods before and after the availability of G-CSF. The results showed that patients who received G-CSF had reductions in length of hospital stay of 20% (the purged marrow group) and 17% (nonpurged group), compared with similar groups that did not receive the growth factor; the shortest lengths of stay were seen in the peripheral stem cell group, all of whom received G-CSF. Other findings, including number of days the ANC fell below 500, total days of G-CSF use, and total days of antibiotic use, are presented. [ONCOLOGY 9(Suppl):107-110, 1995]

The 1992 metaanalysis of adjuvant therapies after surgery in early breast cancer summarizes the most extensively studied of all cancer treatments via randomized controlled trials. This study found overall benefits with use of adjuvant therapies, and their expanded use outside the clinical trial setting was assumed to be effective and implied to be cost effective. Thus, the primary remaining questions are which form of adjuvant therapy to use and how to identify which patients are unlikely to benefit. In British Columbia, the effectiveness of adjuvant therapy outside the clinical trial setting was reassuringly similar to the metaanalysis efficacy. Our decision analysis model of hypothetical cohorts of women with early breast cancer confirmed that the efficacy of adjuvant treatment is the primary determinate of its incremental cost effectiveness. Future cost-effectiveness and quality of life assessments should move from hypothetical cohorts assessed via models to prospective data collected within clinical trials or integrated health delivery system. [ONCOLOGY 9(Suppl):129-134, 1995]

MALVERN, Penn-Centocor, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in cancer products, has launched a major new employee wellness program, including breast cancer screening with a mobile mammography van. The program was initiated after company representatives attended the Industries' Coalition Against Cancer (ICAC) conference in Ft. Lauderdale this spring.

SEATTLE-A group of breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen (Nolvadex) outside of clinical trials had up to a 60% reduction in their risk of developing cancer in the contralateral breast and no increased risk of ovarian or endometrial cancer, report Linda S. Cook, PhD, and her colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

BETHESDA, Md-The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) has announced the winners of the 1995 Rose Kushner Awards for Writing Achievement in the Field of Breast Cancer, sponsored by the AMWA and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals.

DNA sequence analysis of the p53 gene may provide information about the response to therapy for breast cancer patients,

CHICAGO-Ten years ago, breast cancer was a subject women did not often read about in magazines or see on TV. Races had not yet been run, and a pink ribbon was still just a pink ribbon. Then in 1985, three organizations created what was then called Breast Cancer Awareness Week, and the public's demand for information about breast cancer was first recognized.

Available data show that women tend to overestimate their risk of developing breast cancer. Available models allow for the rapid identification of women who are at increased risk for breast cancer, along with a quantitative

NEW YORK--Avon's Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade, which has raised $10 million through the sales of its $2 pink ribbon pin, has now introduced a pink-enameled ballpoint pen. The new pen, which bears the ribbon motif on its clip, will be available in October, 1995, at a cost of $3.

NEW YORK--Early detection of breast cancer may be improved when CA 15-3 and tissue polypeptide-specific antigen (TPS) are used in conjunction with mammography and palpation, Vivian Barak, PhD, of Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, said at the 12th Annual International Conference on Human Tumor Markers.

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa--Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Inc.'s Taxotere (docetaxel) has received approval from the Canadian Health Protection Branch for use as second-line treatment of advanced breast and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The new drug submission was based on clinical trials involving more than 800 patients worldwide.

DALLAS--Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast has recently generated much excitement as a means of improving the specificity of mam-mography and thus reducing the number of negative biopsies, Steven E. Harms, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center, said in an interview with Oncology News International.

WASHINGTON--Breast cancer leads the list of diseases for which malpractice claims have been filed in the last decade, according to a study from the Physician Insurers Association of America. Of 117,000 claims filed since 1985, about 2,500 involved breast cancer.

NEW YORK--The identification of prostate-specific antigen immunoreactivity (IR-PSA) in some cases of breast cancer has raised the possibility that PSA could be used as a biochemical marker for prognosis of breast cancer.

Endocrine therapy has been shown to be effective therapy for women with all stages of breast cancer, and the nonsteroidal antiestrogen tamoxifen is being evaluated as a potential preventive agent for this disease. Kimmick and Muss review the use of endocrine therapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. They discuss the basis for endocrine therapy and potential mechanisms of endocrine resistance, currently available and new agents, as well as new areas of investigation. I would like to highlight a few practical points regarding the use of endocrine therapy in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer and some key areas of research.

This year approximately 200,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. Primary surgical treatment plus adjuvant therapy will cure two-thirds of these patients. The remainder, unfortunately, will experience disease recurrence at varying intervals after surgery.

Hormonal manipulation is currently the mainstay of palliative care for metastatic breast cancer because it is well tolerated and produces significant responses in approximately one-third of unselected patients. Tamoxifen, a nonsteroidal antiestrogen, is currently considered first-line therapy. Second-line agents include progestins and aromatase inhibitors.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla--Breast cancer litigation is "a world whose activity is sometimes built upon old science, no science, or junk science," said Kenneth Kern, MD, of Hartford Hospital and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington. In a presentation at the 12th Annual International Breast Cancer Conference, Dr. Kern offered the audience a "road map" for entry into that world.

BALTIMORE--Breast cancer is preventable, says Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Jonathan Samet, MD. "But we don't yet know how to do it."