On the pulse


Cancerkin’s news…

Hyde Park Walk 2011 update

Registration is now open for Cancerkin’s annual sponsored Hyde Park Walk - your invitation and registration form will be in the post as we speak! This year’s walk will take place on Sunday 19th June 2011 at 10.30am.

We hope to make 2011 the biggest and most successful walk yet, so please spread the word to your families, friends, colleagues and schoolmates. The walk is a great fun event for people of all ages and fitness as you can walk, jog or run the 10k course twice round the Serpentine. We already have a number of teams signed up to who will be walking and fundraising together - why don't you set up a team too?

The Hyde Park walk is a very special occasion for many of our walkers, as every year all are invited to walk in honour or in memory of a loved one if they choose.

For more details and for extra registration forms, please visit our fundraising events page here.


Drama workshops coming soon…

Back by popular demand, Christine Fox will be holding weekly drama workshops beginning Friday 6th May from 10.30am to 12pm. Do you want to work creatively? Have fun? Explore ideas through music, drama games and improvisation? Maybe hone the acting skills last exercised at school? Well now’s your chance! There will be ten sessions to start with culminating in a possible performance for those who are interested. Please note that workshops will take place every Friday until 15th July, excluding Friday 24th June. To reserve a place, please call 0207 830 2323 or email Laura, at l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk.


Cancerkin wants you!

Cancerkin wants to recruit a new member to its team in the full-time role of patient co-coordinator. If you are a bright and enthusiastic individual with plenty of initiative and administrative experience, we would love to hear from you. You can find more details about the position on the ‘jobs with us’ section of our website www.cancerkin.org.uk. If you or someone you know is interested in applying, please forward a CV together with a covering letter saying why you want the job to info@cancerkin.org.uk.


In the news…


Future developments in breast cancer prevention

A review published this week in the Lancet Oncology Journal and composed by an international panel of cancer experts has concluded that women with an above average risk of developing breast cancer should be offered preventative measures and closer monitoring. It was agreed by the panel that if current trials into methods of predicting breast cancer risk are successful, certain drugs could be used for preventing breast cancer in women with an elevated risk, much in the same way as statins are given to those at risk of heart disease.

As stated in the report, there is strong evidence to suggest that drugs such as Tamoxifen are effective in preventing breast cancer in high risk women. The results of large international trials into this particular drug indicate that the risk of oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer is reduced by around a third in women at an increased risk of the disease. Other drugs including raloxifene, lasofozifene, arzoxifene and aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole and exemestane, also show positive results but require further investigation.

By finding ways to predict risk and therefore identify who may respond to such treatments, those who are most likely to benefit can be targeted. One of the strongest indicators of breast cancer risk is breast density as displayed on a mammogram. Those with dense breast tissue are around four times more likely to be at risk of the disease than those with the least dense tissue. This could therefore be used to determine who is at risk, as well as to indicate positive response to treatment, displayed by a reduction in breast density. Early trial results into Tamoxifen have shown that when the drug decreases breast density, cancer risk also decreases. As chair of the panel, Professor Jack Cuzick, explains: “if this is confirmed in long-term studies, breast density could become a powerful way to identify high-risk women who could benefit from preventive treatments.”

He added: “Although drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene are licensed in the US, we know that neither is widely used, mainly due to concern around the potential side effects, and an inability to predict breast cancer risk accurately. We hope that in the future it may be possible to assess women’s breast cancer risk as part of routine breast screening and offer personalised advice about risk reduction and medicines for preventing breast cancer.”

To read more about the review, please click here.


Laura Smith 1st April 2011
l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk