Taxol Drug Does Not Treat Common Breast Cancer

According to an Associated Press report based on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine today, the widely used chemotherapy drug Taxol does not work for the most common form of breast cancer and helps far fewer patients than has been believed.
If further study bears this out, more than 20,000 women each year in the United States alone might be spared the side effects of this drug or similar ones without significantly raising the risk their cancer will return. That would be roughly half of all breast cancer patients who get chemo now.
In the study, Taxol did the most good for women who had overactive HER-2 genes — the target of the newer breast cancer drug Herceptin. These women were about 40 percent less likely to have a recurrence if they received Taxol.
Conversely, Taxol did not significantly help women whose tumors were HER-2 negative and were being helped to grow by estrogen. This is the most common form of the disease.
The differences were revealed by a new analysis of a study done in the 1990s, using modern genetic tools that were not available at that time.
"The days of 'one size fits all' therapy for patients with breast cancer are coming to an end," Dr. Anne Moore of Weill Cornell Medical College wrote in an editorial accompanying the study in today's New England Journal of Medicine. "Oncologists have a responsibility to their patients to be aware of this report."
The original study involved more than 3,000 women whose cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes but not widely throughout the body. This is the situation of about one-fourth of the 175,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. each year.
Researchers tested adding paclitaxel, sold as Taxol by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and now also in generic form. They gave it after surgery to remove the cancer and treatment with the chemo drugs Adriamycin and Cytoxan.
Taxol improved survival and became a new standard of care. But the drug frequently causes neurological side effects including numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. In the original study, 18 percent of women had this problem months and even years after taking Taxol.
The study was paid for by grants from the federal government and a breast cancer foundation.
To read the complete Associated Press report on the study, visit: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnqBJfw6XlNjK4sBpZTAP8PBIJ0QD8S6K0HG0


October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Bay State Parent magazine produced Think Pink: A Guide Devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness in the October issue. To read the article in the guide visit:http://baystateparent.com/

Bay State Parent magazine is also a sponsor of the American Cancer Society's 15th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk THIS Sunday, Oct 14. For more information, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?JServSessionIdr005=wunev07mg2.app26b&pg=entry&fr_id=3496&JServSessionIdr005=wunev07mg2.app26b

Women Who've Had A Sister With Breast Cancer Wanted for a Study

Women who've had a sister with breast cancer can make a difference in the fight against the disease by joining The Sister Study (http://www.thesisterstudy.org/), an important new nationwide effort to find the causes of breast cancer. Study directors are looking for 50,000 women, ages 35-74, who have not had breast cancer themselves, and who come from all walks of life.
Upon being accepted in the trial, the women will complete a questionnaire and then submit a health update each year over 10 years.
Researchers will compare study members who go on to develop breast cancer with those who do not develop the disease to learn about possible environmental and genetic causes for the disease, as well as ways to prevent breast cancer.
A major challenge in studying breast cancer and the environment has been the lack of useful data gathered before diagnosis about exposures and lifestyle factors. The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences will provide the funding needed to collect this important information. Two NIEHS scientists, Dale Sander, PhD, and Clarice Weinberg, PhD, are the principal investigators for the Sister Study.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women except for non-melanoma skin cancer, and while there's been great improvement in breast cancer treatments and survival rates, about 40,000 US women are still expected to die from the disease this year.
What causes one woman to develop the disease instead of someone else?

Researchers know that alcohol use, early onset of menstruation, and a few other factors may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer, but for more than half of the 215,000 new cases each year occur in women with no known risk factors.



Women who want to support The Sister Study of possible causes of breast cancer have three choices:
Enroll. Learn whether you are eligible at www.sisterstudy.org or call 1-877-4SISTER (877-474-7837).
Spread the word to encourage others to enroll.
Become a Sister Study volunteer in your community.
It's especially important that women from all races and ethnic groups, and those over age 60 participate, so the results of the study will help all women in the battle against breast cancer.



October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Bay State Parent magazine produced Think Pink: A Guide Devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness in the October issue. To read the article in the guide visit:http://baystateparent.com/



Bay State Parent magazine is also a sponsor of the American Cancer Society's 15th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Sunday, Oct 14. For more information, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?JServSessionIdr005=wunev07mg2.app26b&pg=entry&fr_id=3496&JServSessionIdr005=wunev07mg2.app26b

Study: Alcohol Can Increase A Woman's Risk for Breast Cancer

A new study found that all types of alcohol --wine, beer, and hard liquor — add equally to the risk of developing breast cancer in women.
Previous studies have shown a link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer, but there have been conflicting messages about whether different kinds of alcohol were more dangerous than others. The researchers, led by Dr. Arthur Klatsky of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, Calif., revealed their findings at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization, according to an Associated Report article. (To read the full article click here, http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iKaLptXF3J4J3GgWwY2ogYfUdbzA)

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Bay State Parent magazine produced Think Pink: A Guide Devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness in the October issue, which came back from the printers yesterday and should be at our favorite locations as early as this weekend.

The Bay State Parent magazine is also a sponsor of the American Cancer Society's 15th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Sunday, Oct 14. For more information, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?JServSessionIdr005=wunev07mg2.app26b&pg=entry&fr_id=3496&JServSessionIdr005=wunev07mg2.app26b

5 Things to Love About the 15th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Sunday, Oct. 14

1. It is the oldest and largest Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in the nation
2. Since 1993, more than 340,000 Massachusetts walkers have raised $33.2 million
3. In 2006, 88 cents of every dollar raised in Boston directly supported the American Cancer Society's fight against breast cancer. Net funds are devoted to research (40 percent), early detection (45 percent), and patient support (15 percent).
4. More than 50,000 breast cancer survivors are estimated to have walked in Boston.
5. The goal of this year's walk is to raise $3 million.

How You Can Help
1. Donate to the American Cancer Society. Mailing address is: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, 9 Riverside Road,Weston,02493-2281
2. Support a walker or team of walkers.
3. Walk yourself on Sunday, Oct 14. Rolling registration starts at 8 a.m. and continues until 10 at the Hatch memorial Shell at the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. There are two routes a 5.7 mile of a 3 mile For more information, visit http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&frid=3496

October Issue, Featuring a Special Think Pink Guide, at the Printers

Yesterday, the October issue of Bay State Parent magazine went to the printers. For the first time in the magazine's 11-year history, we have produced a guide devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness.