Researchers in the Wistar Institute have identified a key gene (KLF17) involved inside the spread of breast cancer throughout the body. They also demonstrated that expression of KLF17 together with another gene (Id1) known to regulate breast cancer metastasis accurately predicts whether the illness will spread towards the lymph nodes. Previously, the function of KLF17 had been unknown.
Deaths of most breast-cancer patients are the result of metastasis, a complex, multi-step, and poorly understood process. “Identifying the gene that suppresses the spread of tumor cells along with the mechanisms by which this suppression occurs can lead towards the discovery of new markers of metastasis and potential targets for cancer prevention and remedy,” says Qihong Huang, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Wistar Institute and senior author of the study.
In this study, which appears inside the October on-line concern of Nature Cell Biology, Huang and colleagues introduced a genetic screen targeting 40,000 mouse genes into mammary tumor cells that do not usually spread, and then transplanted those cells towards the mammary fat pads in mice where they would be expected to remain. By way of RNA interference (RNAi) technology, they then reduced the expression of a metastasis-suppressor gene in 5 mice, one of which developed lung metastases in seven weeks. RNA retrieved from the metastasized cells corresponded to KLF17.
To determine whether KLF17 played a comparable role in human breast-cancer metastasis, the researchers knocked down KLF17 expression in a tagged human-breast-cancer cell line and then transplanted these cells along with a manage group still expressing KLF17 into mammary fat pads of mice. Within eight to 10 weeks, lung metastases developed in the KLF17-deficient cells, whereas the control cell set did not metastasize, demonstrating that knockdown of KLF17 expression also promotes the spread of human breast-cancer cells.
The researchers also had been interested specifically in genes whose expression were increased in KLF17 knockdown cells but decreased in KLF17 overexpressing cells or vice versa. In collaboration with Professor Louise C. Showe, Ph.D. at the Wistar Institute, they found the considerable genes that met these criteria. Amongst them, the gene Id1 was found to be up-regulated in KLF17 knockdown cells and down-regulated in KLF17 overexpressing cells. Recent findings recommend that Id1 is deregulated in various types of cancers and is crucial inside the development of embryonic stem cell like phenotypes in cancer cells.
To further investigate the interactions of KLF17 and Id1, the Huang lab scanned a DNA segment of mouse Id1 and found two potential KLF17 binding sites. To examine the effect of Id1 upregulation in tumor metastasis in vivo, the team generated tagged mouse and human cell lines expressing mouse or human Id1, respectively. Following transplantation back into the mice, lung metastasis developed from Id1-upregulated cells but not in controls, demonstrating that Id1 expression promotes tumor metastasis in vivo.
Further characterization of KLF17 is an ongoing subject of study for Wistar researchers. “We are continuing to examine ways to activate KLF17 along with the methods by which that process slows or prevents cancer metastasis,” Huang says.
The lead author on the study is Wistar’s Kiranmai Gumireddy, Ph.D. Study investigators also included Professor Louise C. Showe, Ph.D.; and Anping Li, from the Wistar Institute; Andres J. Klein-Szanto, M.D.; from Fox Chase Cancer Center; and Phyllis A. Gimotty, Ph.D., Dionyssios Katsaros, M.D., Ph.D.; George Coukos, M.D., Ph.D.; and Lin Zhang, M.D.; from the University of Pennsylvania.
The project was supported by the Breast Cancer Alliance, Pardee Foundation, V Foundation, Commonwealth Universal Research Foundation of the Pennsylvania Department of Wellness, the National Cancer Institute, as well as the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.
The Wistar Institute is an international leader in biomedical research with special expertise in cancer study and vaccine development. Founded in 1892 as the very first independent nonprofit biomedical analysis institute in the country, Wistar has long held the prestigious Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute. The Institute works actively to ensure that study advances move from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as potential. The Wistar Institute: Today’s Discoveries Tomorrow’s Cures.
The National Institute of Environmental Wellness Sciences (NIEHS), component of the National Institutes of Health, has many reasons to celebrate this October as it recognizes Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The NIEHS Sister Study began recruiting ladies for this landmark study in the course of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October 2004 and this October has reached a milestone. It has recruited nearly 51,000 females from all walks of life, whose sisters had breast cancer, to participate in this long-term study which is focusing on uncovering environmental and genetic factors that influence breast cancer risk. These sisters and researchers have joined together in a long-term commitment to assist prevent breast cancer.
“What an amazing group of ladies we have enrolled in this study. Every single one of them should be congratulated for their commitment to participating in study to assist identify factors that lead to breast cancer,” said Dale Sandler, Ph.D., chief of the Epidemiology Branch at NIEHS and principal investigator of the Sister Study. “We have exceeded our recruitment goal and I’m thrilled using the diversity of age, race, ethnicity and education represented in the cohort.”
The women come from all 50 states as properly as Puerto Rico, and include ladies with different ethnic, educational and employment backgrounds. Since the study began in 2004, 50,884 women have enrolled including 4,438 African-American girls, two,631 Hispanic females, and 1,160 ladies from other racial/ethnic groups. The study also contains 8,230 girls aged 65 and over, and 7,212 having a high school degree or less. All of the females inside the study have a sister who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Researchers hope to uncover clues about causes of breast cancer and other diseases by comparing girls who develop breast cancer or other conditions while in the study to those who remain disease-free.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to our participant volunteers who worked so hard to recruit girls into the study and to our partner organizations that lent us their support,” added Lisa DeRoo, Ph.D., lead investigator of the study. These organizations included the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Sisters Network, the Intercultural Cancer Council, the Love/Avon Army of Girls, the Breast Cancer Network of Strength, and many much more local and national groups interested in breast cancer and women’s well being.
Sandler points out that sustaining the same level of enthusiasm as the project moves forward is going to be the next challenge. “What we require now is for everyone to realize this is really a 10-year study and that the work is really just beginning,” Sandler said. The participants are asked to complete a yearly one-page update by mail, e-mail or phone. They are also asked to share more detailed information about adjustments in their health, jobs, and lifestyle every two or three years.
“Improvements in breast cancer survival depend on study participation so that we can learn why breast cancer begins and what controls cancer behavior,” stated Lisa Carey, M.D., medical director of the University of North Carolina Breast Center. “The Sister Study will need to have its participants to stay involved and to respond to inquiries about their well being and experiences, especially if they are diagnosed with breast cancer.”
Sandler adds, “Just like women everywhere, some females who joined the Sister Study will, unfortunately, be diagnosed with breast cancer or other conditions while they are portion of the study. It is by comparing those who develop breast cancer to those who do not that we is going to be able to learn what might lead to breast cancer.”
The volunteers in the Sister Study are at increased risk since they already have a sister who has had breast cancer. So far, approximately 900 participants have reported getting breast cancer since the study began.
The study collects additional information about their diagnosis and therapy from those sisters and their doctors. Such details are critical components of the study that will aid determine the role that factors, such as occupational and environmental exposures, lifestyle, diet, stress, and genes might play in remedy outcomes and illness risks, and allow researchers to identify risk factors for specific types of breast cancer.
Participants, such as Jean Peelan in Florida, who has been participating in the study since its 2004 inception, recognize the value of the study and plan to stay involved. “Continuing to participate inside the Sister Study has been such an honor. I feel very good that I am contributing to this incredible study, making such a difference, to ensure that my six granddaughters may not have to face breast cancer in their future.”
The study has already reported some preliminary findings about how factors such as weight and perceived stress may influence health, and investigators are beginning to use the biological samples participants contributed to learn how some genetic factors may affect breast cancer risk. The researchers point out key outcomes on gene-environment interactions may be just a few years away.
Under the direction of Clarice Weinberg, Ph.D., chief of the Biostatistics Branch at the NIEHS, the researchers are also using the Sister Study as a way to greater comprehend early-onset breast cancer.
They hope to enroll about 1,600 families, where there was a sister who was under the age of 50 when they had been diagnosed with breast cancer, to participate in an offshoot of the Sister Study called the “Two Sister Study.” The sister with breast cancer and her parents will be invited to participate along with the sister who is already part of the Sister Study.
“With women’s participation in analysis like the Sister Study as well as the Two Sister Study, we hope to be one step closer to providing far better care to females with breast cancer and finding the causes of the illness,” stated Susan Love, M.D., president of the Dr. Susan Love Investigation Foundation.
“Recruiting far more than 50,000 Sister Study participants in five years was a huge accomplishment for the NIEHS,” stated NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D. “Over the years, we’ve received substantial support from a sister NIH agency, the National Center on Minority Well being and Health Disparities, whose support enabled our researchers to develop unique strategies to recruit a diverse cohort. We appreciate the value that they and our many community partners and participants place on the promise of this study, and look forward to providing a lot more insight into how to prevent breast cancer and other diseases that are influenced by the environment.”
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of early breast cancer detection. To learn a lot more about the Sister Study and the Two Sister Study, visit http://www.sisterstudy.org, (for Spanish, visit http://www.sisterstudy.org/spanish/index1_spa.htm).
The NIEHS supports analysis to understand the effects of the environment on human well being and is portion of NIH. For a lot more information on environmental well being topics, visit our Web site at http://www.niehs.nih.gov.
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have demonstrated that a protein called NEDD9 may be required for a few of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer to grow. Their findings, based on the study of a mouse model of breast cancer, are presented in a recent problem of Cancer Analysis, available on-line now.
“For the initial time, we have been able to present evidence that directly demonstrates reduced levels of NEDD9 in a living animal that limit the appearance of aggressive metastatic breast cancer,” says co-author Erica A. Golemis, PhD, Fox Chase professor and co-leader of the Molecular Translational Medicine Program.
According to Golemis, the protein could serve as a biomarker, a molecule that could be detected to indicate the diagnoses of aggressive forms of breast cancer in the clinic. NEDD9 may also provide a target for some future therapeutic against metastatic cancer, Golemis says.
In 1996, the Golemis laboratory 1st identified NEDD9, a so-called scaffolding protein that forms part of a complex of molecules just inside the cell membrane. NEDD9 and related proteins collectively act as transmitters, relaying signals from the cell surface towards the cell interior to manage cancer cell growth and movement. Over the past three years, scientists from laboratories around the world have contributed to a body of evidence showing how excess amounts of the NEDD9 contribute to metastasis in a number of cancers, including melanoma, lung cancer, and glioblastoma.
“One thought is that producing excess NEDD9 gives tumors a selective advantage more than other cells,” Golemis says, “so we are trying to determine how NEDD9 may provide that advantage.”
To much better fully grasp the role of NEDD9 in breast cancer, the Fox Chase researchers studied a variety of mice, bred by colleagues in the University of Tokyo to lack the NEDD9 gene. These NEDD9 “knockout” mice had been then made to turn on an oncogene that induces breast cancer in mice, and compared to normal mice given the same treatment. While the NEDD9 knockout mice developed breast cancers, they did so a lot more slowly and less efficiently than normal mice, and with no the activation of the central protein pathways most responsible for cancer growth and metastasis. In fact, mammary tumor growth in the knockout mice showed marked genetic differences from the very moment premalignant lesions were detected, as compared to the normal mice.
“This was the first study able to address the question of what happens in breast cancer if this gene isn’t around,” Golemis says. “And the answer is that we see a much more moderate cancer development, which alone speaks volumes on the role of the protein in aggressive breast tumors.”
According to Golemis, the emerging body of study on NEDD9 shows that the protein forms an critical node inside the complex, interwoven pathways that dictate the fate of individual cells. These pathways regulate the entirety of a cell’s life, from how select genes are transcribed to form new proteins to how a cell divides or even dies.
“By their nature, cancer cells are evolutionary machines, constantly looking for ways to exploit these vast networks of protein signaling pathways that are an inherent portion of cell function,” Golemis says. “The far more we fully grasp these pathways, the better we will understand the ways cancer cells evolve to use those pathways, and how to stop them.”
Co-authors in this study include Fox Chase researchers Eugene Izumchenko, Ph.D. Mahendra K. Singh, Ph.D., Ilya G. Serebriiski, Ph.D., Richard Hardy, Ph.D., Joy L. Little, Ph.D., Andres Klein-Szanto, M.D., Denise C. Connolly, PhD, Olga V. Plotnikova, and Nadezhda Tikhymanova.
Funding for this analysis comes from grants from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Well being, Israel Cancer Association, Stanley Abersur Research Foundation, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Pew Charitable Fund, along with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
U.S. breast cancer deaths have declined by about 2% annually since 1990, according to an American Cancer Society report, the Los Angeles Times/Boston Globe reports. The report estimates that 192,370 ladies will likely be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and that 40,170 will die from it. According towards the report, breast cancer deaths amongst black girls have started to decrease at the same rate as white ladies but remain 40% higher.
The report used essentially the most recent information available to discern survival rates for women with breast cancer. It found that 89% are still living five years following diagnosis, 82% at 10 years following diagnosis and 75% at 15 years after diagnosis.
According towards the report, the incidence of breast cancer diagnoses began to grow by 1.6% annually in 1994 after holding steady since 1987. Many specialists believe the increase was tied to far more widespread use of hormone replacement therapy, which was shown in 2002 to increase the risk of breast cancer. From 1999 to 2006, the incidence fell by an average of 2% per year. The average decline was driven by a sharp decrease in diagnoses among 2002 and 2003, when a considerable percentage of ladies stopped using HRT, according to the Times/Globe. A number of the decline may well also be the result of decreased use of mammography during that period (Maugh, Los Angeles Times/Boston Globe, 10/1).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Everyday Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report can be a free service of the National Partnership for Females & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
? 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer investigation inside the United States, has awarded 94 new national study and training grants totaling $45,097,000 to 61 institutions nationwide in the second of two grants cycles for 2009. The grants go into effect beginning January 1, 2010.
For much more than 60 years, the American Cancer Society has funded research and training of well being professionals to investigate the causes, prevention, and early detection of cancer, as properly as new remedies, cancer survivorship, and end of life support for patients and their families. Since its founding in 1946, the American Cancer Society’s extramural research grants program has devoted about $3.4 billion to cancer investigation and has funded 42 researchers who have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Below are highlights of new grants.
Cancer Causes
Julian Sage, PhD, Stanford University has developed a mouse model of small cell lung cancer that may allow him to identify lung cancer stem cells. Those cells could provide an crucial platform for the development of a lot more successful techniques for early detection and new remedies.
Curtis Schneider, PhD, California Institute of Technology, working with Dr. Jackie Barton, will investigate whether the recently identified loss of DNA repair pathways in tumor cells may be exploited for both therapy and for diagnostics, and has devised a strategy to develop compounds that could mark cells in the colon before they progress to cancer.
Titia de Lange, PhD, Rockefeller University, a new ACS Analysis Professor, is studying the role of telomeres in cancer. Telomeres are the protective caps on the end of chromosomes that limit how many times the cell can divide. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells develop ways to maintain the length and function of telomeres so they survive no matter how many times they divide.
Nicole Neel, PhD, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, working with Channing Der, PhD, is focusing on ways to block the RalB protein which is a target of the KRAS oncogene which is present in much more that 90 percent of pancreatic cancers. RalB may be a key to allowing pancreatic tumor cells to metastasize.
Kyuson Yun, PhD, The Jackson Laboratory, is investigating whether a protein expressed at high levels in aggressive forms of many cancers including breast, colon and pancreas, may be specifically expressed in cancer stem cells in glioblastoma, probably the most common form of brain cancer. The study will provide a deeper understanding of the cancer stem cells and may provide insight into novel approaches to killing these cells.
Cancer Prevention
James F. Wharam, MB, BCh, BAO, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, is investigating whether a new type of health insurance – high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) – may threaten patients’ access to essential medical care by lowering screening rates. It will probably be the first study to examine this question on a national scale as well as the very first to use a cutting-edge, innovative method for detecting the populations most at risk.
Ellen P. McCarthy, MPH, Ph.D., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and her team will study the potential benefit of screening mammography in different clinical subgroups, particularly ladies age 75 and older, where optimal screening strategies for breast cancer are uncertain.
Six preventive medicine residency programs that offer special training tracks in cancer prevention and control had been funded. These renewable grants had been awarded towards the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, New York City Department of Health, University of California, San Diego, Griffin Hospital, and for the initial time, the California Department of Public Well being. The goal of this program is to increase the number of physician professionals in disease prevention and wellness promotion dedicated to changing the impact of cancer on both individuals and population groups.
Detection and Diagnosis of Cancer
Linda T. Nieman, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, will further develop and refine a new, non-invasive dual optical approach for identifying and localizing early stage bladder cancer. This approach has the potential to considerably add to the understanding of bladder cancer and to aid clinicians in detection and in assessment of therapeutic effectiveness for bladder cancer.
Cancer Treatment
Jennifer Cochran, PhD, Stanford University, is using a powerful technology called “directed evolution” to engineer designer proteins for use as therapeutic or diagnostic agents for cancer.
David Kadosh, PhD in the University of Texas Well being Science Center At San Antonio is studying the invasive properties of one of the major fungal pathogens, Candida, which could be lethal to immunosuppressed cancer patients.
Joseph Kissil, PhD, Wistar Institute is testing a series of potent drug candidates that interact with signal transduction pathways in cancer cells, which carry information critical to the functions and growth of cells and tissues.
Joan Garrett, PhD, Vanderbilt University, working with Dr. Carlos Arteaga, is studying the development of drug resistance in breast cancer, particularly in relation to a gene related to HER2, called HER3.
Michelle C. Fingeret, PhD University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, is studying the devastating effects on top quality of life of patients as they experience significant modifications to their physical appearance and bodily function following remedy for facial cancer; and is studying an intervention that may alleviate their suffering.
Hendrik van Deventer, MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will study a largely unstudied type of cell, called fibrocytes, which are critical for tumor metastasis. Dr van Deventer is exploring the possibility that two classes of drugs already in existence may block the function of the fibrocytes.
Cancer Survivorship
Qian Lu, MD, PhD, University of Houston, will test the cultural sensitivity and efficacy of an expressive writing intervention, demonstrated to provide psychological benefit to cancer survivors, among Chinese-speaking breast cancer survivors. Asian Americans are the only ethnic group with an increasing rate of breast cancer.
End of Life Support for Cancer Patients and Their Families
Kevin L. Rand, PhD, Indiana University, is studying the dilemma patients face near the end of life in making healthcare decisions in pursuit of multiple, potentially conflicting goals. These include choosing aggressive treatments in hopes of surviving as long as potential, or minimizing the burden of illness; and spending much more time with loved ones and loved ones, by choosing less aggressive interventions.
The American Cancer Society’s research and training program emphasizes investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed proposals, and has supported groundbreaking study that has led to critical discoveries leading to a greater understanding of cancer and cancer treatment. Grant applications are ranked on the basis of merit by 1 of several discipline-specific Peer Review Committees, each of which consists of 12 to 25 scientific advisors or expert reviewers. The Council for Extramural Grants, a committee of senior scientists, recommends funding based on the relative merit of the applications, the amount of available funds, and the Society’s objectives. No member of the American Cancer Society’s Board of Directors or National Assembly may serve on a Peer Review Committee or as a voting member on the Council for Extramural Grants.
The Council for Extramural Grants also approved 74 analysis grant applications that could not be funded due to budgetary constraints. These “pay-if” grants represent function that passed the Society’s multi-disciplinary review process but go beyond the Society’s current funding resources, and which will be funded of additional monies become available. These grants serve as an important reminder that there continues to be promising analysis we would like to fund but cannot with our current resources.
Breast cancer therapy that’s customized for each patient’s personal genetic makeup is one step closer to reality, thanks to a new use for crime-lab technology pioneered at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). A team led by Petr Starostik, MD, chief of RPCI’s Clinical Molecular Diagnostics lab, is using CSI-type methods to multiply the reliability of testing that predicts whether a given patient will benefit from a first-line chemotherapy drug, or should avoid it and its harsh side effects. This innovation was funded through donations to RPCI.
According to Dr. Starostik, much better testing is 1 of the keys to “personalized medicine,” the long-sought solution towards the problem that many drugs turn out to be ineffective for up to 50 percent of those who take them. “So far, we know that personal genetic variations in tumors affect each and every patient’s response,” he says.
The Starostik team’s innovation is really a reliable, automated test for abnormal activity in the tumor-cell gene HER2, which marks patients who are unlikely to respond to the tumor-inhibiting compound Trastuzumab. While Trastuzumab is frequently prescribed, its side effects are harsh. Today’s HER2 tests often yield ambiguous outcomes, he says, partly due to the fact they rely on manual lab function and subjective visual analysis.
The new approach employs multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, which is widely used in applications ranging from the diagnosis of hereditary diseases towards the forensic identification of “genetic fingerprints”. Multiplex PCR is faster, more sensitive, easier to perform, and less costly than manual HER2 testing.
“Is personalized medicine achievable? I’m sure it is,” Dr. Starostik notes. “We just have to keep in mind that manual testing in this arena is impractical, no matter how skilled the lab personnel may be. But by taking advantage of powerful, new, automated tools, we can make more and more therapies specific to the genetic makeup of the individual and his or her tumor.”
According to new research from the American College of Surgeons (ACoS), two-thirds of women (66 percent) did not know about accreditation of breast care centers, what it means, and why it’s essential. However, right after providing females who were surveyed with an overview of the meaning of accreditation, they overwhelmingly (92 percent) find it to be an important aspect in choosing a breast cancer remedy facility.
To be “accredited,” breast care centers must follow a comprehensive and consistent set of standards for therapy. They must also support patients’ social and emotional needs. These centers are surveyed by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), an interdisciplinary consortium of leading patient care groups and professional medical societies involved in breast care. The NAPBC is administered by the ACoS and could be the most current good quality improvement program it offers. There are now more than 84 centers across the country already accredited through this program.
“What females don’t realize is where they choose to seek remedy can impact the care they receive and, ultimately, the results they achieve,” stated David Winchester, MD, FACS, medical director for the College’s cancer programs. “It’s important for the approximately 250,000 ladies diagnosed within the U.S. with invasive and non-invasive breast cancer every year to know about the advanced remedy and guidance provided by accredited centers, such as expert staff and support that continues even for the duration of follow-up care.”
The study, conducted by KRC Research on behalf of ACoS, found that even a majority of girls (59 percent) who had personal experience with breast cancer – whether themselves or by means of a close friend or family member admitted they were not aware or sure if breast cancer treatment centers could be accredited.
Though awareness was low across the board, additional survey outcomes found younger girls had been drastically less knowledgeable than their older counterparts; 74 percent of females under the age of 45 had been not conscious or sure if breast cancer remedy centers might be accredited compared with 58 percent of females ages 45 and older.
Centers that seek accreditation must adhere to rigorous requirements including the following:
— All physicians are board certified or are inside the process of getting board certified.
— Nurses have specialized knowledge and training in breast cancer and diseases.
— Patients are treated by a multidisciplinary team of medical specialists and specialists.
— Patients and their families receive continued support for the duration of and after treatment to help them cope with the disease.
— The center continuously collects breast cancer information on indicators involved in breast cancer.
— The center provides information about clinical trials and new treatment options.
— Patients have access to a “patient navigator,” a person who serves as their primary contact and guide all by way of her treatment and follow-up care.
Additional findings from the survey showed females viewed board certification of physicians to be probably the most crucial requirement when it comes to accreditation. Secondly, the specialized knowledge and training of nurses was another appealing requirement. Ninety-six percent stated nurses having specialized knowledge and training in breast cancer and other breast diseases was an essential requirement.
Not surprising was the importance females (practically 95 percent) placed on the continuous study and data collection done when it comes to breast cancer diagnosis and therapy.
About the Survey
This survey was conducted by KRC Study on behalf of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) regarding perceptions of accreditation of breast cancer therapy centers. The national survey was conducted via telephone among a random sample of 500 adult ladies, age 18 and older. The estimated margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points. The survey was conducted September 11-14, 2009.
About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to boost the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have substantially influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an critical advocate for all surgical patients. The College has much more than 74,000 members and will be the largest organization of surgeons in the world.
About the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC)
NAPBC is a consortium of national, professional organizations dedicated to the improvement of the good quality of care and the monitoring of outcomes for patients with diseases of the breast.
It’s well-known that it is good for your waistline, but did you know that exercise can also lower your overall risk for developing cancer? That’s the message Lisa Druxman – founder of Stroller Strides, a program that helps new moms get back in shape soon after having a baby – wants to convey to area residents during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is taking place this October.
According to a recent study conducted by the American Association for Cancer Research, regular physical activity has consistently been associated with reduced risk of certain cancers – including breast cancer – in ladies. Researchers think that exercise’s influence on factors including hormone levels, immune function and body weight may explain the link.
“For ladies who are not currently participating in a regular fitness routine, this is actually a compelling reason for them to start,” said Druxman. “The most critical elements are to break a sweat and to do so on a consistent basis, which means most days of the week.”
Druxman says the following additional tips, provided by the MayoClinic:
-Limit Alcohol: Analysis indicates that a link exists in between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. The type of alcohol consumed seems to make no difference, however. To protect yourself from breast cancer, consider limiting alcohol to less than one drink a day or avoid alcohol completely.
-Maintain a Healthy Weight: Women who weigh more than is appropriate for their age and height have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. This is really a prime reason, Druxman says, that establishing a healthy weight should not be strictly an aesthetic pursuit.
-Regulate the Fat in Your Diet: A surefire way to maintain a healthy weight is to follow a low-fat diet, which studies have shown can result in a slightly decreased risk of invasive breast cancer in females. For a protective benefit, limit fat intake to less than 35 percent of your every day calories and restrict foods high in saturated fat.
Post-menopausal ladies who engage in moderate to vigorous exercise have a reduced risk of breast cancer. This comes from researchers writing the open access journal BMC Cancer who investigated the link among breast cancer and exercise.
“With an estimated 182,460 new cases diagnosed within the United States in 2008, breast cancer is recognized as probably the most widespread cancer affecting U.S. women” says Dr. Tricia M Peters from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, who headed up an international team of researchers. Vigorous exercise has been hypothesized to reduce cancer risk for some time. However, this new study is 1 of the very first prospective investigations to look at the importance of various intensities of exercise at different stages in an individual’s life.
Over 110,000 post menopausal women had been asked to rate their level of physical activity at ages 15-18, 19-29, 35-39, and in the past 10 years. It was found, more than 6.6 years of follow up, that ladies who engaged in more than 7 hours per week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise for the last ten years were 16% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who were inactive. However, no link was observed between breast cancer risk and physical activity in females who were active at a younger age.
Dr. Peters concludes, “Our findings could assist inform the mechanisms of the physical activity-breast cancer relationship. With breast cancer still claiming so many lives, all the information of potential preventive measures we can get is vital”.
Notes: Intensity and timing of physical activity in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer risk: the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study Tricia M Peters, Steven C Moore, Gretchen L Gierach, Nicholas J Wareham, Ulf Ekelund, Albert R Hollenbeck, Arthur Schatzkin and Michael F Leitzmann BMC Cancer (in press) http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmccancer/
Article Opinions:1 posts The number of women with cancer in 1 breast who opt to have the other breast preventively removed — identified as a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy — far more than doubled from 1995 by means of 2005 in New York state, based on a study published Monday in the journal Cancer, the Los Angeles Times reports. There is no evidence that having a preventive mastectomy improves survival, based on lead author Stephen Edge, a professor of surgery and oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Edge stated, “We aren’t making a value judgment that this is good or bad.” He added, “But it’s an essential trend. The concern is the fact that we have women performing this out of a gut reaction” without having sufficient counseling about threat.
According towards the study, nearly five,000 New York females opted for the contralateral procedure throughout the evaluation period. The study showed that rates of the procedure were steady among women who had never ever had cancer but had a higher risk of developing the illness. According to the Times, healthy ladies may well choose to have each breasts removed if they have a strong family members history of breast cancer or if they test positive for the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene mutations, which boost the threat for the disease.
Todd Tuttle, chief of the Surgical Oncology Division at the University of Minnesota and author of a comparable 2007 study, said it really is unclear why contralateral prophylactic mastectomies have increased. He noted that there now is really a much better understanding about genetic risks and an increased availability of gene testing, as well as substantial improvements in mastectomy and breast reconstruction methods.
Tuttle stated there’s a concurrent trend of females picking mastectomy more than the less-invasive choice of a lumpectomy, in which only the tumor is removed. He said, “Throughout surgery, there’s such an enormous push to do procedures which have much less scarring, the shortest surgery, the shortest recovery,” adding, “That is accurate for every thing except breast cancer” (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 9/29).
Reprinted with type permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You are able to view the whole Daily Women’s Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Day-to-day Women’s Health Policy Report is a free of charge service of the National Partnership for Females & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
? 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.