On the pulse


Cancerkin’s news…


Hyde Park Walk update...

Cancerkin’s walk around Hyde Park Sunday 19th June is now just weeks away! We would like to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors who are supporting the event: GAM, an investment management firm who have kindly funded the printing of our T-shirts, Sainsburys who will be providing bottled water for our thirsty walkers, Ocean Spray who have donated cranberry juice and packets of cranberries to keep up energy levels and Floris who are supplying fabulous prizes for the three walkers who raise the most. Thank you!

We are still taking entries for the Walk so if you have not yet registered for the walk, there is still time to do so – just send in your registration form as soon as you can. To download an entry form, please visit our website, or you can request for a form to be sent to you in the post.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at anytime on l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk.


Internship opportunity at Cancerkin...

Are you or do you know of a bright, enthusiastic graduate who would be interested in working at Cancerkin? We are looking for such a candidate to begin an Accounts, IT and Office Manager internship starting in June. To find out more please visit the graduate talent pool website. To apply, please send a CV and covering letter, clearly stating why you want this internship and what you feel you can bring to the role, to v.todd@cancerkin.org.uk.


June lectures at Cancerkin

In June, Cancerkin is please to be holding two special events open to all patients and supporters.

On Monday 6th June from 3pm - 5pm, Mr Mohammed Keshtgar MBBS BSc FRCSI FRCSC(Gen) PhD, Consultant Surgical Oncologist at the Royal Free and Whittington Hospitals will be giving a lecture entitled ‘Breast cancer management: what the future holds’ here at the Cancerkin Centre. The lecture will be followed by a question and answer session.

Then on Tuesday 28th June from 11am – 1pm, Dr Anmol Malhotra MB BS BSc(Hons) MRCP FRCR, Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Lead at the Royal Free Hospital, will be talking about recent developments in breast imaging, before taking questions from the audience.

If you would like to attend either of these lectures or have any questions please contact Una on 0207 830 2323 or u.reynolds@cancerkin.org.uk.


In the news…

Breakthrough in triple negative research

Around one in six women with breast cancer in the UK are affected by triple negative breast cancer – that amounts to around 8,000 patients a year. This kind of breast cancer tends to be more aggressive and difficult to treat, as the cancers do not have hormone receptors of HER2 receptors. The lack of receptors means that tumours do not respond to targeted therapies such as Herceptin or hormone therapies like tamoxifen and treatment options for this group of patients are currently limited.

In an exciting new study published this week in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, US researchers have identified overactive genes in triple negative breast cancers which could provide a new drug target for such tumours. Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US have succeeded in identifying a pool of 15 genes that are required by triple negative breast cancer cells to grow. Although only in the early stages of their research, scientists think that the discovery of the genes could potentially lead to the development of the first targeted treatment for triple negative breast cancer.

Dr Caitlin Palframan, Policy Manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said of the study: “This research is very exciting as new treatments for triple negative breast cancer are urgently needed. There are limited treatment options available for this group of patients so a targeted treatment would be a real breakthrough. However, this is early stage research in mice and we look forward to seeing if this approach will prove effective in the upcoming clinical trials.”

To read an article in The Telegraph, click here, or to read more from Breakthrough Breast Cancer, click here.


New drug for advanced breast cancer

A new drug called Eribulin (or Havalen by its brand name) has now been launched in the UK after it was approved for use last month. The chemotherapy drug is designed to treat patients with advanced breast cancer and may be given to patients who have been given other treatments without success or who are unable to take two common types of chemotherapy drugs, amthrocycline and taxane.

Eribulin is a chemotherapy drug that is derived from chemicals found in sea sponges. The drug functions by binding itself to microtubules, structures that allow cell division. By binding the microtubules, the drug leaves cancer cells unable to divide and forces them to self-destruct. Other chemotherapy drugs also do this but but the way in which Eribulin works is currently unique.

Research into the drug suggests that Eribulin may help to extend the lives of breast cancer patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of their bodies. The recent phase III ‘EMBRACE’ trial into the drug examined 762 patients with metastatic breast cancer and found that women who were given Eribulin lived for a median of 13.1 months compared to women who were given a standard treatment recommended by their doctor who lived for a median of 10.6 months.

Dr Andrew Wardley, consultant medical oncologist and co-chair of the Breast Group at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, said: "Eribulin addresses an urgent need for new treatment options for women with advanced breast cancer who have previously received multiple treatments." Julia Frater, senior information nurse at Cancer Research UK, said: "It's really good to hear new treatments for breast cancer are being licensed and we look forward to seeing NICE's final appraisal decision. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in the UK so it's vital that we continue to look for different ways to treat the disease."
To read a Cancer Research UK press release, please click here.

Laura Smith 3rd June 2011