Breast Cancer Information

Denosumab Improves BMD in Breast Cancer Patients Taking Aromatase Inhibitors (1/5/2009)
Researchers from the United States and Canada reported that the fully human monoclonal antibody, denosumab (Amgen), consistently increases bone mineral density (BMD) in women with non-metastatic breast cancer receiving long-term treatment with aromatase inhibitors. These results were presented at the 2008 annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) December 10-14, 2008.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy Improves Outcomes for Breast Cancer Patients with Isolated Tumor Cells or Micrometastases (1/5/2009)
Adjuvant chemotherapy reduces recurrences and improves disease-free survival at five years for patients with early breast cancer who have isolated tumor cells or nodal micrometastases detected upon sentinel lymph node dissection. These results were recently presented at the 2008 annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

CYP2D6 Gene Variants May Affect Responses to Tamoxifen Among Breast Cancer Patients (1/5/2009)
Among postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, those with certain variations in the CYP2D6 gene derived little benefit from tamoxifen (Nolvadex®); based on these findings, researchers at the Mayo Clinic recommend CYP2D6 testing for postmenopausal women being considered for adjuvant tamoxifen therapy. These results were presented at the 2008 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Atypical Hyperplasia Increases Risk of Breast Cancer in Younger Women (12/31/2008)
Women under the age of 50 who have atypical hyperplasia of the breast are nearly seven times more likely to develop breast cancer than women in the general population, irrespective of family history. These results were presented at the 2008 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Small HER2-positive Breast Cancers Have an Increased Rate of Recurrence (12/31/2008)
Researchers from the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and collaborators in Belgium and Austria have reported that women wit T1a,bNOMO breast tumors (less than 0.5 cm) have a fivefold increase in relapse compared with patients who have tumors that are hormone receptor-positive or triple negative. The details of this study were presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on December 13.