Sunday Seven: Seven ways breast cancer research is on a roll
Posted Oct 1st 2006 10:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Research, Sunday Seven
If we made no further progress in breast cancer research from this day on, the number of women dying from breast cancer five years from now would still drop substantially because we've progressed so much over the past few years, says MD Eric Winer in the October 2006 issue of Oprah magazine. Winer, director of the Breast Oncology Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is right. There has been a lot of progress. Breast cancer research is on a roll. And here are seven reasons why.
- Research has paved the way for hormonal drugs that starve tumors of estrogen -- so for women who are estrogen and progesterone positive, drugs like Tamoxifen may be the key for protection against a return of breast cancer.
- Targeted drug Herceptin can cut the risk of recurrence by 50 percent in women whose tumors produce too much HER2 protein. And while Herceptin was once believed to be effective mostly in women with advanced-stage breast cancer, studies now show it is also effective for early-stage disease when combined with traditional chemotherapy.
- When Herceptin fails to work in late-stage disease, experimental targeted drug Tykerb becomes an option for HER2 positive women.
- Researchers are close to pinpointing who exactly will benefit from chemotherapy with tests that analyze gene activity and can predict a likelihood of recurrence. One such test -- Oncotype DX -- is already offering promise.
- Improved imaging options are offering doctors more than one way to look inside the breast. Although mammograms are still the standard screening tool, digital tests are catching more cancers in certain women -- and other imaging techniques are under study. One day, doctors may be able to view cross sections of the breast in 3D format to determine breast cancer that may not be recognized on mammogram.
- Genetic counseling and testing is emerging as a standard option for women who choose to consider likelihood of gene mutations, likelihood of breast cancer recurrence, and likelihood of additional cancer diagnoses. And for women with a family history of breast cancer, genetic testing can help in determining the need for regular monitoring and potential prophylactic measures.
- Scientists have recently discovered a fast-growing type of tumor, called basal-like breast cancer, which is more prevalent in African-Americans. It may be one reason African-Americans are more likely to die-- and die at a younger age -- than their white counterparts.
Clearly, breast cancer research is rolling right along. And hopefully -- for the sake of women everywhere -- its momentum will stay strong.
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