Breast Cancer News and Research

Latest Breast Cancer News and Research

Winners of Paul Marks Prize 2009

Three young investigators who have taken significant steps toward advancing the understanding of cancer will be the recipients of this year's Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, a prize awarded biennially since 2001 to scientists under the age of forty-six by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

29 Sep 2009

NovoCure initiates newly-diagnosed GBM clinical trial

NovoCure, Ltd., a privately held medical device company focused on developing the Novo-TTF device, a non-invasive portable medical device for the treatment of cancer, announced the completion of a new funding round today. Key investors in this round included Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Index Ventures.

29 Sep 2009

Estrogen withdrawal may play a significant role in joint pain during breast cancer treatment

Aromatase inhibitors, the same drugs that have buoyed long-term survival rates among breast cancer patients, also carry side effects including joint pain so severe that many patients discontinue these lifesaving medicines. New University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research, however, has uncovered patterns that may help clinicians identify and help women at risk of these symptoms sooner in order to increase their chances of sticking with their treatment regimen.

29 Sep 2009

Researchers recommend hormone therapy prior to mammogram screenings

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) are recommending that menopausal women on hormone therapy (HT) continue their treatment prior to having their annual mammogram screenings. These recommendations appear as an editorial in the current on-line issue of Journal of the North American Menopause Society.

29 Sep 2009

Congressional reception raises awareness about breast cancer in young adult women

Testing for breast cancer risk was the subject of remarks by two featured speakers at a recent congressional reception on Capitol Hill. The event generated momentum to pass the EARLY Act and raise awareness about breast cancer in young adult women.

29 Sep 2009

Research reveals prophylactic mastectomy is on the rise

A new study of New York State data finds that the number of women opting for surgery to remove the healthy breast after a cancer diagnosis in one breast is rising, despite a lack of evidence that the surgery can improve survival.

28 Sep 2009

Pfizer to commence Phase 3 trial of oral c-Met and ALK inhibitor

Pfizer Oncology announced today that it will initiate a global, Phase 3 clinical trial of its investigational oral c-Met and ALK inhibitor, PF-02341066, versus standard of care chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying the ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinases) fusion gene, who have progressed on one prior treatment with a platinum-based chemotherapy.

26 Sep 2009

NIH calls for identifying better methods to predict the risk of developing breast cancer

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common non-invasive lesion of the breast, presents unique challenges for patients and providers largely because the natural course of the untreated disease is not well understood. Because most women diagnosed with DCIS are treated, it is difficult to determine the comparative benefits of different treatment strategies versus active surveillance, meaning systematic followup.

25 Sep 2009

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to raise public awareness about breast cancer

A sea of pink t-shirts will stretch from Athens to Bologna to Frankfurt to Zurich to Antwerp today in an effort to raise public awareness about breast cancer. In five cities across Europe, breast cancer survivors, their families, friends, supporters and advocates will join forces in a show of strength, courage and solidarity.

25 Sep 2009

The Adiana permanent contraception system supported by UK's NICE

Hologic, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostics, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, today announced the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), in its updated guidance for hysteroscopic sterilization, supports the use of Hologic's Adiana((R)) permanent contraception system.

25 Sep 2009

Axial Biotech's SCOLISCORE AIS Prognostic Test now available in the U.S.

Axial Biotech, Inc., a company personalizing spine care through the development of molecular diagnostics, announced today that its SCOLISCORE(TM) AIS Prognostic Test is now being made available to spine specialists in the United States. SCOLISCORE is a saliva-based genetic test designed to predict the risk of progression of scoliosis, an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.

24 Sep 2009

Doctor from Dallas files civil case in the U.S. Supreme Court against BCBS

Dr. Dralves Edwards, a board-certified family physician in Dallas, today filed a civil case in the U.S. Supreme Court against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the contractor for Medicare.

24 Sep 2009

Research study links cancer to excess body weight

At least 124,000 new cancers in 2008 in Europe may have been caused by excess body weight, according to estimates from a new modelling study. The proportion of cases of new cancers attributable to a body mass index of 25kg/m2 or more were highest among women and in central European countries such as the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.

From The University of Manchester 24 Sep 2009

Scientist reveals that selecting optimal radiation dosage for a patient is possible

An international group of scientists has taken the first step on the road to targeting radiotherapy dosage to individual patients by means of their genetic characteristics, a radiation oncologist told Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 - ESMO 34, in Berlin today (Thursday September 24). Professor Dirk de Ruysscher, from Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, said that his team's work might provide the basis for personalised radiotherapy in which, with a simple blood test, doctors may be able to select the optimal radiation dose for a particular patient.

24 Sep 2009

PNNL Department of Energy researcher earns prestigious NIH Director's New Innovator Award

An analytical chemist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has been recognized with a National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award. The award will support Wei-Jun Qian's drive to make new research and clinical diagnostic tools that are dramatically more sensitive, reliable and faster than current technologies.

24 Sep 2009

Court rules in favor of Eli Lilly for Evista's method-of-use patents

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana today upheld Eli Lilly and Company's (NYSE: LLY) method-of-use patents on Evista(R) (raloxifene HCl tablets). In the case of Eli Lilly and Company v. Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., the court ruled in favor of Lilly on all accounts for these method-of-use patents, including the patent doctrines of obviousness, enablement, and inequitable conduct.

24 Sep 2009

Cook Medical launches next-generation IVC filter delivery system for treating pulmonary embolism

Physicians can now navigate even the most tortuous anatomy with greater speed and safety with the next-generation inferior vena cava (IVC) filter delivery system introduced today by Cook Medical at TCT 2009. The release of the NavAlign™ delivery system marks the 20th anniversary of Cook’s first IVC filter and further advances the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE), a life-threatening condition caused by blood clots in the lungs that affects thousands of Americans annually.

24 Sep 2009

BREVAGen test offers precise breast cancer risk assessment

Perlegen Sciences, which develops genetic tests that correlate genetic variation to disease risk and drug response, announced today that its BREVAGen™ breast cancer risk stratification test is now clinically available in select U.S. markets. Perlegen plans to add sales areas to make the test available nationwide over the next few months.

24 Sep 2009

Advanced Biohealing announces growth strategy to expand its product line

Advanced BioHealing, Inc. (ABH), a leader in commercializing the promise of regenerative medicine, announced a strategic growth plan designed to continue the transformation of this former start-up into the leading international regenerative medicine company.

24 Sep 2009

The ThermoDox and MR-HIFU program shows great promise for treating life-threatening cancers

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHI) and Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN) today announced that their joint research program to evaluate ThermoDox® in combination with MR-HIFU (Magnetic Resonance guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) as a combination therapy to non-invasively treat difficult cancers has successfully completed the feasibility stage.

23 Sep 2009