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Breast Cancer

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WASHINGTON--The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) has announced its intention to lobby against congressional forces that want to reduce NIH funding. The coalition thus allies itself with professional societies that lobby Congress to increase federal funding for biomedical research.

PARIS, France--Radiation therapy is a reasonable alternative to mastectomy in women with stage IIIA and IIIB breast cancer who respond to aggressive chemohormonal therapy, a prospective trial conducted at the University of Michigan has found.

Like a colorblind coach who can see all the players but cannot tell who is friendly, x-ray mammography is effective in finding suspicious breast lesions but is not reliable in determining which ones are cancerous. Because of this uncertainty, about

LOS ANGELES--An aggressive 16-week, multidrug chemotherapy regimen afforded a survival advantage over six cycles of CAF (cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, and fluorouracil) in 646 women with receptor-negative, node-positive breast cancer, preliminary results of an Intergroup study have shown.

SAN FRANCISCO--Approximately 6% of all women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have had a previous diagnosis of breast cancer, Jeffrey G. Schneider, MD, said at the annual conference of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

BOSTON--Radical mastectomy is no longer routine for women with breast cancer, but the indications for breast conservation are still being debated by surgeons who fear the risk of breast cancer recurrence. At the 48th Annual Cancer Symposium, sponsored by the Society of Surgical Oncologists, a panel of physicians discussed patient selection criteria for breast conservation surgery.

SAN ANTONIO--Final excisional margin status proved to be the strongest predictor of local recurrence in a study of more than 300 breast cancer patients treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiation, Melanie C. Smitt, MD, said at the opening general session of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

TORONTO, Canada--Researchers have discovered that a high-fiber grain cultivated since the times of the ancient Egyptians may delay the growth of cancerous tumors. In studies conducted on rats, Lilian Thompson, PhD, of the University of Toronto, found that a component isolated from flaxseed reduced mammary tumor growth by more than 50%.

SAN ANTONIO--Three different regimens of vinorelbine tartrate (Navelbine) combined with established chemotherapeutic agents led to significant responses in up to 60% of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer, including previously treated patients.

PITTSBURGH--A study has begun to determine the effectiveness of tamoxifen (Nolvadex) in preventing osteoporosis in a group of women participating in the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT), coordinated by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP).

CHICAGO--Citing findings from radiological studies performed on more than 10,000 women, Paula Gordon, MD, suggests periodic ultrasound examination of the breast in addition to mammography for women at high risk of breast cancer and who have mammographically dense breasts.

PARIS, France--New ideas and applications for endocrine therapy in early breast cancer may provide a revolution in our thinking about the nature of the disease, said Dr. M. Baum, of The Royal Marsden Hospital, London. The efficacy of

SAN FRANCISCO--Women with breast cancer are at higher risk of developing a second gynecologic cancer than women who do not have the disease, Eva Chalas, MD, reported at a poster session of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists meeting. Close gynecologic monitoring in the first 3 years after a breast cancer diagnosis is essential, she said.

WASHINGTON--The National Institutes of Health, University of Utah, and Myriad Genetics, Inc. have resolved issues involving patenting of the BRCA1 breast cancer gene by agreeing that scientists from all three institutions should be named as joint inventors in current patent applications. The agreement also ensures that exclusive, worldwide commercial rights are retained by Myriad and its licensees, Eli Lilly and Company and Hybritech Incorporated.

SAN ANTONIO--Use of docetaxel (Taxotere) as palliative treatment of advanced breast cancer produced durable responses in almost 70% of patients, including three fourths of those with liver metastases, French researchers said at a

NEW YORK--The woman shyly lifted her sweater, and in halting English apologized for her old brassiere. The left cup was stuffed with a towel where her breast used to be. She had come to Cancer Care, Inc. in Manhattan for help.