Calcium and Vitamin D Reduces the Risk for Breast and Colon Cancer

Listen to Byron's Recap// Provide alternate content for browsers that do not support scripting// or for those that have scripting disabled. This audio file requires Macromedia Flash Player to play. Get Flash Weekly Health Podcast

View the Original article

Breast Cancer Drug Duo Wins Out in Study

HealthDay – 2 hrs 40 mins ago WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of two cancer drugs works better than one alone to improve survival in older women with a type of breast cancer that has spread, new research suggests.

The drugs -- anastrozole (Arimidex) and fulvestrant (Faslodex) -- are currently used individually to treat breast cancer, said researcher Dr. Rita Mehta, an associate professor of health sciences at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.

For the study, published Aug. 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine, about 700 postmenopausal women were assigned to Arimidex alone or to both drugs. Mehta looked at whether the combination improved their survival, and whether the cancer spread or not, which is termed progression-free survival.

"With the combination, there is a 20 percent improvement in progression-free survival and a 19 percent improvement in overall survival," Mehta said.

Put another way, those getting the combined treatment gained six months. They lived a median of 47.7 months (half lived longer, half less) while the solo-drug patients lived a median of 41.3 months.

The disease took 15 months to progress in the patients on both drugs, but just 13.5 on the solo drugs. Forty-one percent of the women taking Arimidex whose disease progressed later switched to Faslodex, which led the researchers to conclude that simultaneous treatment rather than sequential treatment brought about the benefits.

While other serious side effects were similar in both groups, three women in the combination-drug group died, which was possibly associated with the treatment.

The five-year study was supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, which makes both drugs.

All the women had hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, which requires estrogen to grow and accounts for more than 50 percent of all cases of breast cancer.

Arimidex, which is given orally, works by reducing the amount of estrogen the body makes. Faslodex -- an injectable drug -- blocks the action of estrogen on cancer cells.

Previous studies of combination hormonal therapy have been unsuccessful, Mehta said. But she decided to look at this pair because of the complementary way in which these two drugs work.

The findings are solid, said Dr. Joanne Mortimer, director of the Women's Cancer Program at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Duarte, Calif.

Although the study had drug company support, the company did not have input in conducting the study, she noted.

While the improvement in progression-free survival, 1.5 months, may not seem notable, the difference in overall survival is impressive, she said.

"Much more important to the patients is if they live longer," she said. ''Survival is the gold standard."

Adding Faslodex to Arimidex treatment would tack on about $700 a month, experts said. However, as both drugs are FDA-approved, insurance plans may cover the regimen. The dose of Faslodex used in this trial was less than the standard dose.

Several other regimens to help women with this form of breast cancer are under study, too, Mortimer said. "We are not sure how this

View the Original article

EU approves Afinitor for certain breast cancers

Swiss drug maker Novartis AG says it has received European approval to market Afinitor for treatment of women with the most common form of advanced breast cancer.

Afinitor is already approved to treat various tumors of the pancreas, kidney and brain.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the pill-based drug earlier this month for use in combination with Aromasin for postmenopausal women with recurring hormone receptor positive breast cancer lacking the protein HER2.

Novartis said Monday that the European Commission's approval was based on a trial of more than 700 patients showing those treated with the two drugs lived significantly longer before their disease progressed.

The company said recently its annual sales of Afinitor could rise above the $1 billion mark with the new approvals.

View the Original article

High-carb diet tied to breast cancer risk for some

Reuters – 3 hrs ago (Reuters) - Older women who eat a lot of starchy and sweet carbohydrates may be at increased risk of a less common but deadlier form of breast cancer, according to a European study.

The findings from a study of nearly 335,000 European women, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that sweets, French fries and white bread contribute to breast cancer - but they do hint at a potential factor in a little understood form of breast cancer.

Specifically, the study found a link between high "glycemic load" and breast cancers that lack receptors for the female sex hormone estrogen, so-called "ER-negative" breast cancers.

A high glycemic load essentially means a diet heavy in foods that cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, such as processed foods made from white flour, potatoes and sweets.

The study, conducted by Isabelle Romieu of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, looked at nearly 335,000 women who took part in a long-running European study on nutrition factors and cancer risk.

Of these, 11,576 developed breast cancer over a dozen years. Overall, there was no link between breast cancer risk and glycemic load, as estimated from diet questionnaires the women completed at the study's start.

But the picture changed when the researchers focused on postmenopausal women with ER-negative cancer. Among women in the top 20 percent for glycemic load, there were 158 cases of breast cancer, versus 11 cases in the bottom 20 percent - a 36 percent higher risk.

ER-negative tumors account for about one-quarter of breast cancers. They typically have a poorer prognosis than ER-positive cancers because they tend to grow faster and are not sensitive to hormone-based therapies.

Christina Clarke, a research scientist at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California in Fremont, and a consulting assistant professor at Stanford University, said the results are interesting because so little is known about what cases ER-negative breast cancers. Most breast tumors have their growth fueled by estrogen.

"This study gives us a really important clue for future research," said Clarke, who was not involved in the study.

Diets with a high glycemic load are associated with a bigger secretion of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. High insulin levels, in turn, have been linked to certain cancers, possibly because insulin helps tumors grow.

The current findings hint at a role for "insulin pathways" in ER-negative breast cancer, Clarke said, adding that more research definitely needs to be done.

She noted that while there is no single factor in any woman's risk of breast cancer, the findings offer more incentive to eat a balanced diet that limits refined carbohydrates in favor of healthier fare - like lean protein, vegetables, "good" fats and high-fiber grains.

"Really, you want to avoid these (high glycemic load) diets anyway," she added. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/MZY2qw

(Reporting by Amy Norton; Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)

View the Original article

FDA Gives Nod to New Breast Cancer Drug

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the use of the drug Afinitor (everolimus) for use by women with a particular form of advanced breast cancer.

It's the first time that a drug from this class of medications, called mTOR inhibitors, has been approved for this disease, the FDA said. Afinitor is already used to fight advanced kidney and neuroendocrine tumors, as well as a handful of rarer cancers.

The medicine is only approved for use by postmenopausal women battling an advanced form of estrogen-sensitive tumor known as hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Even then, Afinitor should only be used after such patients have already experienced a recurrence or progression of the tumor following prior treatment with Femara (letrozole) or Arimidex (anastrozole), the FDA said.

Adding Afinitor -- which has proven effective for other cancers -- to therapy might help these patients, the agency said.

"Afinitor is another example of the value of continuing to study drugs in additional types of cancer after their initial approval," Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release.

According to the FDA, approval was based on a clinical trial involving 724 postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer that had spread despite prior treatment with Femara or Arimidex. All of the women also took the standard breast cancer drug Aromasin (exemestane) during the trial.

The trial found that adding in Afinitor boosted average progression-free survival (the time the women lived without any progression of their tumor) by 4.6 months compared to women taking an inactive placebo.

There was a downside to using Afinitor, however: According to the FDA, side effects included rash, fatigue, diarrhea, loss of appetite and mouth ulcers. These effects were more common in women aged 65 or older, so the agency says older patients should be monitored more closely if they take Afinitor.

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, commented on Afinitor's approval.

"It is exciting that there continues to be advances in treating breast cancer that are allowing patients to survive longer, even in the face of metastatic disease," Bernik said. "The improved treatment for advanced-stage breast cancer offers women hope that a treatment to completely stabilize, or even eradicate the disease, might be achievable within their lifetime."

The drug is marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., based in East Hanover, N.J.

More information

Find out more about breast cancer at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

View the Original article

Afinitor Approved for Advanced Breast Cancer

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Afinitor (everolimus) has been approved in combination with the drug exemestane to treat postmenopausal women with advanced hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The newly approved combination is sanctioned for women whose cancer has progressed or returned despite previous use of the drugs letrozole (Femara) or anastrozole (Arimidex), the agency said in a news release.

Breast cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death among women, is expected to be newly diagnosed in an estimated 226,870 women this year and cause about 39,510 deaths, the FDA said.

Afinitor -- already sanctioned for uses including treating certain forms of advanced renal cell carcinoma -- was clinically evaluated for the new use among 724 people with advanced breast cancer. People who took the combination drug had a 4.6-month improvement in the average time to disease progression or death, compared to those who took a placebo.

The most common side effects among those taking Afinitor were mouth ulcers, infection, rash, fatigue, diarrhea and loss of appetite.

Afinitor is marketed by Novartis, based in East Hanover, N.J.

More information

The National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer.

View the Original article

FDA approves Novartis drug Afinitor for breast cancer

Reuters – 6 mins ago (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it has approved Novartis AG's drug Afinitor to treat women with a certain type of breast cancer.

The drug is the first in a class known as mTOR inhibitors to be approved for post-menopausal women with advanced hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Afinitor, also known as everolimus, is designed to be given in combination with another drug, Aromasin, to treat women whose cancer has recurred or progressed after treatment with two other therapies.

A late-stage trial showed that patients who received Afinitor plus Aromasin had a 4.6 month improvement in the median time to disease progression or death over those receiving Aromasin plus a placebo, the FDA said.

Afinitor is already approved to treat patients with certain other types of cancer.

(Reporting By Toni Clarke; editing by Carol Bishopric)

View the Original article

Study Ties Infant Birth Weight to Mothers' Breast Cancer Risk

"mod_id":"mediasocialchromepromos","facepile":1,"property":"news","learnmore_path":"/activity-learn-more/","moduleConf":YAHOO.Media.Facebook.ModuleConf

View the Original article

Can Fertility Treatments Influence Later Breast Cancer Risk?

background:url(http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/a/5b/a5ba32682eb601fb573b57542c19b9c1.png);width:115px;height:25px;margin-left:50px;margin-top:7px

View the Original article

Kiwaii to sponsor San Francisco Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

Share: Tweet04
Jul
2012Kiwaii 100% True New Zealand Spring Water to sponsor Avon Walk, San Francisco.

(1888PressRelease) July 04, 2012 - Kiwaii 100% True New Zealand Spring Water is pleased to announce that it is a proud sponsor of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, July 7-8 in San Francisco.

The Avon Walk covers nine cities across the country, covering 39.3 miles over a weekend and raises significant awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. Since 2003, efforts of 150,000 Avon Walk participants, more than $440 million has been raised and donated to breast cancer programs.

"At Kiwaii, our focus never strays from the health and well-being of our customers," President and CEO Lou Savant said. "We're extremely proud to be able to help a cause as vital as the Avon Walk. With every step along their 39-mile journey, the Avon walkers are doing their part to make a difference for people living with breast cancer. We're proud to do our part to support them."

Kiwaii's artesian spring water is sourced from the pristine Blue Spring, in Putaruru, New Zealand. Kiwaii is bottled in a state-of-the-art facility under certified organic and kosher conditions - validation of the care and purity that goes into every bottle, as well as the company's commitment to providing consumers with the healthiest, most natural water on the market.

Kiwaii is available in several northern California retailers, including Whole Foods Markets, Andronico's Markets, Mollie Stone's Markets, Draegers Market, Nugget Markets and New Leaf Community Markets.

About Kiwaii 100% True New Zealand Spring Water
Kiwaii 100% True New Zealand Spring Water originates from a single trusted source-the magnificent Blue Spring in Putaruru, Waikato, New Zealand. Kiwaii is bottled in a state-of-the-art, certified organic and kosher facility in Waikato, New Zealand. The natural properties and purity of the Blue Spring give Kiwaii a smooth, clean taste unlike any other water. For more information call 1-877-4KIWAII or visit kiwaii.com.

Corporate Contact
Louis Savant
Premium Healthy Spring Water, Inc.
1866 Leithsville Road #310
Hellertown, PA 18055
1-877-4KIWAII (454-9244)
lou (

View the Original article

Exercise Won't Affect Breast Milk, Baby's Growth: Study

'modId':'mediasocialchromefriends','isPreLoad':0,'enableMediaTabEvent':0,'pageSize':12,'numFriends':null,'notificationCount':0,'property':'News','learnMorePath':'/activity-learn-more/','friendbarNotification':'1','friendbarRollup':'0','moduleConf':YAHOO.Media.Facebook.ModuleConf,'friendIdList':

View the Original article

Seattle pool allows topless breast cancer survivor

A Seattle breast cancer survivor whose breasts were surgically removed has gained the permission to swim topless at a city pool.

But Jodi Jaecks wants to make sure her privilege is also extended to other breast cancer survivors who want to swim comfortably.

"Initially when I heard about the reversal, I was elated. Then it came that it wasn't a policy change, it was just an exception for me. Then I was quite deflated. It seemed like it was a reaction that it was just meant to appease me," the 47-year-old said Thursday.

Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Christopher Williams announced Wednesday that he was giving Jaecks an exception to the department's clothing policy.

"Our original concern stems from our responsibility to accommodate the needs of all our patrons. In this case, I see nothing that might alarm the public," Williams said in a statement. He was reacting to an article about Jaecks that was published in The Stranger weekly newspaper, which also ran a picture of her topless.

Parks spokeswoman Dewey Potter said Thursday that Williams has decided to create a committee made up of cancer survivors, parks staff, King County health representatives and others to come up with a new policy.

Until a new policy is written, Williams will review on a case-by-case basis requests from people who have had surgery and want to swim.

After enduring two surgeries, rounds of chemotherapy and the surgical removal of both her breasts in March 2011, Jaecks wanted to turn to swimming to regain her strength. But swimsuit tops proved too uncomfortable, and nerves on her chest remained tender, Jaecks said.

So she asked the manager at her city pool if she could swim topless this past March. Eventually, she heard from the head of the aquatics department, who told her she couldn't.

"And that's when they said it was a policy that they required gender-appropriate clothing ... regardless if I had nipples or whatever," Jaecks said.

Potter said pool staff was following city policy. But she said it was "unfortunate" the issue didn't get to Williams' attention until now.

Jaecks hasn't swum topless yet. She is planning a swim Monday. Her exception extends only to adult lap hours.

She plans to meet with Williams next week and ask that her exception be extended to anyone who survived breast cancer.

Jaecks said cancer patients shouldn't be made to feel self-conscious by asking for special permission.

View the Original article

Breast Milk Blocks HIV Transmission in Mice, Study Finds

Flesh Eating Bacteria Victim Gets Skin Grafts Previous
Common Cold Virus Attacks Cancer, Study FindsNext
Cooked Squid Inseminates Woman’s Mouth

TopLeave a Reply

Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

XHTML: You can use these tags:
View the Original article

Human Breast Milk May Block HIV, Mouse Study Finds

HealthDay – Thu, Jun 14, 2012 THURSDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- Human breast milk seems to kill HIV and block its oral (through the mouth) transmission, according to a new study conducted in mice.

The findings suggest that it may be possible to isolate the compounds in breast milk that destroy HIV and use these to combat the virus that causes AIDS, the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine researchers said.

More than 15 percent of new HIV infections occur among children. Left untreated, only 65 percent of infected babies survive until their first birthday, and less than 50 percent reach the age of 2, the study authors pointed out in a news release from the University of North Carolina Health Care.

While breast-feeding by HIV-infected mothers is believed to cause a large number of HIV infections in infants, most breast-fed infants do not become infected, despite prolonged and repeated exposure to the virus, researchers have found.

In order to investigate this contradiction, the UNC researchers used humanized mice, which have a fully functioning human immune system and can be infected with HIV in the same manner as humans.

The mice did not become infected when given HIV in whole breast milk from women without HIV, according to the report published June 14 in the online journal PLoS Pathogens.

"This study provides significant insight into the amazing ability of breast milk to destroy HIV and prevent its transmission," senior author J. Victor Garcia, a professor of medicine in the UNC Center for Infectious Diseases and the UNC Center for AIDS Research, said in the news release.

The research could lead to new ways to prevent HIV transmission, the study authors suggested.

"No child should ever be infected with HIV because it is breast-fed. Breast-feeding provides critical nutrition and protection from other infections, especially where clean water for infant formula is scarce," Garcia said. "Understanding how HIV is transmitted to infants and children despite the protective effects of milk will help us close this important door to the spread of AIDS."

It is important to note that research conducted on animals does not necessarily produce the same results in humans.

More information

The New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center has more about pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.

View the Original article

UK govt: No health risk from faulty breast implant

A top British medical expert says faulty French-made breast implants do not pose any long-term health problems to women even if they rupture.

The implants made by the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese were pulled from the market last year in several countries amid fears they could rupture and leak silicone into the body.

Around 47,000 British women are believed to have been given the PIP implants, which were filled with industrial, rather than medical-grade, silicon. The government asked Bruce Keogh, medical director of Britain's National Health Service, to launch an investigation last December to assess what threat, if any, the implants posed to the woman's health.

Keogh studied the 240,000 implants of differing brands that have been given to 130,000 women in England and looked at data from other countries including France and Australia. On Monday, he said that studies showed the PIP implants were more likely to rupture than other brands, but do not pose a long-term risk to the health of the women who have them.

He said repeated tests in several countries showed that the implants are not toxic.

"Therefore we do not believe they are a threat to the long-term health of women who have PIP implants," he said. "We have, however, found that these implants are substandard when compared to other implants and that they are more likely to rupture."

Countries have differed in how they treat women with the PIP implants.

France has said it will pay for some 30,000 French women to have their implants removed.

The U.K. government has agreed to remove any implants put in by the National Health Service, such as those for cancer patients, but said women who had the surgery done privately have to have those clinics remove the implants.

Australia's medical watchdog, however, said health officials have found no evidence that the PIP implants had an increased risk of rupture in Australian women.

In the Czech Republic

View the Original article

Some 8,000 French women have faulty breast implants removed

"Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of the PIP breast implant company, leaves inside a gendarmerie car the Appeal Court, after asking a judge to release him from jail pending appeal in March 2012 in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence. French health authorities said that nearly 8,000 French women had followed a government recommendation to have faulty breast implants removed. (AFP Photo/Boris Horvat)" title

View the Original article

Fitness May Boost Survival for Women With Breast Cancer

"background-image:url('http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/JzwDUQEjJkO_sUJkGpJkpA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTcwO3B5b2ZmPTA7cT04NTt3PTcw/http://l.yimg.com/os/388/2012/05/27/sufc-01-jpg_043836.jpg');" width

View the Original article

Breast MRI Best at Tracking Response to Chemo: Study

HealthDay – 31 mins ago WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Getting chemotherapy before breast cancer surgery can mean the difference between a mastectomy or a breast-conserving lumpectomy, experts say.

And new research shows that getting an MRI during the first round of chemo can help predict quickly if the cancer will respond to the treatment.

MRI works better than clinical examination of the tumor, the standard way to assess how well the chemotherapy is working, said researcher Dr. Nola Hylton, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging at the University of California, San Francisco.

Although many doctors order an MRI after all rounds of chemotherapy are finished, Hylton's team did MRIs before, during and after a chemo cycle, and also when all of the chemotherapy was finished.

"What we are trying to do is fine-tune MRI so it can be a more sensitive measure of whether people are responding

View the Original article

Study unpicks gene changes behind breast cancer

"background-image:url('http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/oJpYIGrSfP_iuYO6kw6chQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzAwO2NyPTE7Y3c9NDUwO2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0xMjc7cT04NTt3PTE5MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2012-05-17T161235Z_1_CBRE84G191300_RTROPTP_2_US-CANCER-BREAST-GENETICS.JPG');" width

View the Original article

Exercise May Boost Survival in Breast, Colon Cancer Patients

background:url(http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/a/5b/a5ba32682eb601fb573b57542c19b9c1.png);width:115px;height:25px;margin-left:50px;margin-top:7px

View the Original article