The Breast Cancer News Update: May 17

Today's breast cancer news addressed risk, a potential new device for detecting margins during breast cancer surgery and the Avastin FDA appeal.

First, the National Cancer Institute updated its Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool for Asian and Pacific Islander American women. The risk factors remain the same, but the weighting and calculations have been adjusted. Tests of the new model revealed that the previous model overestimated risk for Chinese and Filipino women, and most other Asian and Pacific Islander groups. Hawaiian women, however, have higher breast cancer rates than Caucasian women.

Researchers in Virginia have discovered a new biomarker for determining risk of recurrence. Unlike OncotypeDX and MammaPrint, which evaluate tumor cells, the new five-gene signature evaluates immune system cells at the tumor site. Future studies will be conducted to validate the findings.

In surgery news, the Boston Business Jounral reports that the FDA has granted an expedited review of the MarginProbe System, which detects cancerous cells at the margins during breast cancer surgery.

Finally, Genentech recently released an advance summary of the evidence and arguments it will present at the FDA Avastin hearing. For more on the history of the FDA dispute, visit the news section of our Avastin page.

Check back tomorrow for more news updates from LATESTBreastCancer.com.