Friday, May 20, 2011

The Breast Cancer News Update: May 20

It's the Friday breast cancer news weekly research wrap-up. Today we'll highlight some of the links to medical journal abstracts we added to the LATESTBreastCancer.com database this week.

Hormone therapy research: Fareston and Arimidex

A review from China, published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, concluded that toremifene (Fareston) is "an effective and safe alternative to tamoxifen" for adjuvant endocrine therapy. The authors analyzed four randomized trials with over 3,700 patients.

There were two Journal of Clinical Oncology studies involving aromatase inhibitors this week. The first found that patients respond differently to anastrozole (Arimidex) therapy depending upon body mass index (BMI). The second found that aromatase inhibitor use before surgery can reduce mastectomy rates. Both stories attracted media attention. Links to the research abstracts and news stories can be found on the anastrozole (Arimidex) page of our website.

Chemotherapy research: Taxol

An MD Anderson study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment found that the addition of paclitaxel (Taxol) to the doxorubicin (Adriamycin)/cyclophosphamide (Cytoxen) chemotherapy combination (AC) had no impact on locoregional control (LRC) in patients with node-positive breast cancer. Researchers concluded that the historically inferior LRC without paclitaxel may have been due to "an inadequate duration of systemic therapy and not due to the absence of paclitaxel."

Complementary Therapies: Vitamin D

A study published in Breast Cancer Research found that blood plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D "were not significantly associated with breast cancer risk" in a premenopausal population. Last month, the media reported that plasma levels of Vitamin D were associated with more aggressive tumors. This week's study and last month's news can be found on the Vitamin D page of our website.

Check back on Monday for a summary of the weekend breast cancer news. In the meantime, I'll send any important updates out on Twitter (@ann_latestbc).

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