Second Breast Cancer's Early Detection Improves Survival Rates

According to MedPage Today, "Women who survived a primary breast cancer were 27% to 47% more likely to survive a subsequent breast cancer if it was detected in the early, asymptomatic stage than if it was already symptomatic ... , "Annals of Oncology."

Mammography was regarded as superior to personal breast exams for early detection and women who survived a prior breast cancer are encouraged to have regular mammograms as well as conducting personal breast palpations.

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Study Shows Circulating Tumor Cell Count May Determine High or Low Mortality Risk in Prostate Cancer Patients

According to a recent article in MedPage Today, "an elevated circulating tumor cell count at baseline identified patients with an increased mortality risk, Howard Scher, M.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues reported in the Feb. 11 issue of The Lancet Oncology.

Changes in cell count also predicted response to therapy and mortality risk, beginning as early as four weeks after treatment.

If corroborated in other studies, the findings could have implications for drug development.

"Multiple prospective randomized trials powered to show clinical benefit for patients are needed to show whether biomarkers such as circulating tumor cells are useful as measures of risk and as intermediate endpoints," the authors said."

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Smoking Increases Risks But Should Not Delay Lung Cancer Surgeries

Though still preliminary and not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, MedPage Today reports that studies have revealed those who were former smokers or are currently smokers, should not have necessary lung cancer resection surgery delayed due to their smoking histories.

Overall hospital mortality was 1.4% (109 deaths), but among never smokers the rate was 0.4% compared with 1.5% in smokers.

Patients who had stopped smoking more than a year before surgery still had a higher risk for perioperative mortality compared with never smokers, but the difference was no longer statistically significant (OR 2.5, 95% CI 0.82 to 7.6, P=0.17).

Among smokers, the rate of pulmonary complications including re-intubation, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and ventilation was 2.6% versus 2% among never smokers, Dr. Subramanian said.

But the increased risk of pulmonary complications diminished relatively quickly so that there was no statistically significant increase among those who stopped smoking a month or more before surgery.

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Unexpected Estrogen in Skin Lotions a Surprise for Breast Cancer Patients

According to a MedWatch Today article, breast cancer patients may unknowingly expose themselves to estrogen by using certain skin moisturizers, a breast cancer survivor reported here.

Laboratory analyses identified a half-dozen different products containing measurable levels of estriol and estrone, Adrienne C. Olson, Pharm.D., of Breastlink in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., told attendees at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

None of the products listed the estrogenic hormones among its ingredients.

"No one could tell from reading the ingredients that the products contained estrogenic hormones," she said.

Read the rest of the article at MedWatch.

High Error Rates for Outpatient Cancer Treatment

According to MedPage Today, "Outpatient chemotherapy treatment is riddled with mistakes, for both adults and children, researchers here found in a chart review."

The article went on to state, ""Improved communication between health care providers and families of patients with cancer about home medication administration may be an important first step for preventing frequent home medication errors among pediatric patients with cancer," they said.

They added that, for parents who are dosing their children at home, color-coding or marking lines on syringes has been shown to reduce mistakes. Demonstrating dosing techniques is also beneficial, the researchers said.

Dr. Walsh and colleagues noted that the error rates they found were substantially higher than in other studies that used different methods"

Most errors were the result of at-appointment changes in medication that differed from the original chemotherapy regimen ordered at the outset of the months'-long therapy.

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3-D Doppler May Reveal Malignant Breast Lesions

According to an article in MedPage Today, in a group of women with suspicious breast lesions, 3-D power Doppler assessment of lesion vascularity had a 100% sensitivity and 86% specificity, Gerald L. LeCarpentier, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, and colleagues reported in the November issue of Radiology.

If the results are borne out in larger studies, the imaging technique has the potential to spare some women from biopsies.

"Using speed-weighted 3-D power Doppler ultrasound, higher flow velocities in the malignant tumor-feeding vessels may be detected, whereas vessels with slower flow velocities in surrounding benign masses may be excluded," said Dr. LeCarpentier.

While additional study is required to confirm the potential, the small study using the hand-held 3-D Dopper device showed promise for the elimination of some surgical biopsies.

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Liver Cancer Survival Rates Predicted by Genes

In a study supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Cancer Institute, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, among others, it was found that in hepatocellular carcinoma, genetic analysis of the non-cancerous part of the liver can predict survival after surgery.

Gene-expression profiling of such tissue yielded gene signatures that were highly associated with both survival and late recurrence of the cancer, according to Todd Golub, M.D., of the Broad Institute, and colleagues.

On the other hand, the same approach applied to tumor tissue found no significant associations with survival, the researchers reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings support the notion that late recurrence of liver cancer is not caused by proliferation of cancer cells left behind after surgery, but to a "field effect" in a liver damaged by environmental factors, Dr. Golub and colleagues said.

The research needs further validation before it's ready for the clinic, they said, but it may allow doctors to identify patients at the highest risk for recurrence and intervene earlier.

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