On the pulse...for people affected by breast cancer

On the pulse

Cancerkin’s News…
Hyde Park Walk…
Our Hyde Park walk on Sunday 13th June is fast approaching but there is still time to register your entry. If you, or someone you know would like to get involved please email l.newton@cancerkin.org.uk for more information.

In the News…
Trials of breast cancer prevention vaccine set to begin…
A vaccine designed to deter the risk of breast cancer amongst young healthy women could go to clinic trial stage within the next two years. The jab, which has so far only been tested on animals, has impressed doctors so much that there is a high possibility that in the future GPs could offer the vaccine to women before they reach their mid 40s- an age when the risk of breast cancer rises.

Vincent Tuohy an immunologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, believes “that breast cancer is a completely preventable disease” and that these drugs" will provide substantial protection". The vaccine attacks a certain protein found in the majority of breast cancer cells as well as in the mammary glands of women who are breastfeeding; as a result, the jab would only be available to those who are not going to breastfeed in the future.

The trial injected 12 mice at the age of 2 months; 6 with the vaccine and 6 with a sham vaccine. All the mice were bred to be prone to breast cancer. At the 10 month period those who had received the sham vaccine had developed cancerous tumours and those who had received the protein vaccine were all clear. However, despite these figures, as with all new testing there are sizeable risks to be considered. Furthermore previous studies have shown that between 50-70% of human breast cancer cells carry the alpha-lactalbumin protein the vaccine targets – figures that suggest the jab would not destroy all of a patient's breast cancer cells.
Read the full article here

A blood test that can spot cancer before it develops…
Proteins, known as antigens are produced from cancerous cells, triggering the immune system to produce large amounts of autoantibodies. A new revolutionary blood test is said to recognise the initial signals of such a process, through monitoring the activity of a person’s immune system and the analysis of just 10ml of a patient’s blood. Research has even suggested that such signals can be detected up to 5 years before a tumour is spotted, giving doctors and patient’s vital time to fight the disease.

Professor John Robertson, a breast cancer specialist who for the past 15 years has led a team of clinicians working on the research in Nottingham and Kansas said “The earliest cancer we have seen is a cancer that has been screen detected, and yet biologically that’s late in the road of cancer development…We are starting to understand carcinogenesis in a way that we have never seen before — seeing which proteins are going wrong, and how the immune system responds. It’s as if your body is shouting ‘I’ve got cancer’ way before a tumour can be detected.” The research involved 8,000 patients and the test, known as EarlyCDT-Lung, is due to be introduced in Britain early next year.
Read the full story here


A preventative solution to the hair loss debate…?
The fear of hair loss is common amongst most women who undergo chemotherapy. Indeed only two weeks ago I reported on the risks of permanent hair loss from the chemotherapy drug, Taxotere. Chemotherapy drugs target fast-growing cells, in a bid to stop cancer reproducing at a rapid rate. Hair follicles are second only to bone marrow, in terms of their regenerative capacity, and so their growth and function is severely inhibited when in contact with a chemotherapy drug. Philip Kingsley, whose wife Joan had cancer, has suggested wearing a cool cap during treatment. Cool fluid to be pumped through the soft silicone cap which constricts the tiny capillaries that feed the hair, reducing the amount of drugs reaching the follicles. The drawback is that it can be uncomfortable and most patients can only tolerate it for about 20 minutes. Read more here

Lauren Newton 4th June 2010
l.newton@cancerkin.org.uk