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national cancer institute

Aspirin, ibuprofen effective in protecting against breast cancer

Regular use of ibuprofen and aspirin inhibits the formation and growth of breast cancer, according to data published in the Proceedings for the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The data, taken from the National Cancer Institute?s (NCI) Women?s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study, concluded that weekly doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had a significant effect in reducing the risk of breast cancer.
?These results suggest that even women at high risk for breast cancer may be protected by taking NSAIDs,? explains Randall Harris, M.D., Ph.D., lead investigator of the study, professor of the division of epidemiology and biometrics at the Ohio State University. ?However, before usage guidelines for NSAIDs can be implemented, additional studies are needed.?

Study Questions Frequent Follow-Up for 'Probably Benign' Mammograms

Of the nearly 30 million American women who undergo screening mammograms every year, up to 11 percent receive “probably benign” test results — and therefore are asked to come back for a follow-up mammogram in three to six months. But according to a new study by UC Davis researchers, such frequent re-testing may be unnecessary. The study appears in tomorrow’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The UC Davis researchers examined the mammography records of nearly 60,000 women enrolled in the national Women’s Health Initiative project, one of the largest preventive health studies in the United States. Among the women who had probably benign mammograms, only 1 percent went on to develop breast cancer within two years, the investigation found.

Metastasis Gene May Be Useful for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer

By analyzing the genes that are active in tumor cells, scientists may be able to predict whether the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, is likely to spread from its original site. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in collaboration with surgeons at the Liver Cancer Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai, report in a study published in Nature Medicine* that they have identified a pattern of gene activity that is unique to hepatocellular carcinoma cells that spread, or metastasize. Knowing whether a tumor is likely to metastasize can help physicians decide on the best treatment strategy for a patient.

Tea complements drugs in fight against colon cancer

A new study has found that consumption of moderate amounts of green or white tea might provide a protection against colon tumors about as well as a prescription drug, sulindac, that has been shown to be effective for that purpose. The research was just published in the journal Carcinogenesis by scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, in studies funded by the National Cancer Institute. It may suggest some optional approaches to cancer prevention or therapy, especially for people who have trouble with the side effects that can be associated with regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, such as sulindac or aspirin.

Gene Mutation Exacerbates Eye Defect in Inherited Glaucoma

While studying mice with a mutant gene whose counterpart causes inherited glaucoma in humans, researchers have discovered a second gene mutation that worsens the structural eye defect that causes this type of glaucoma. The newly discovered gene mutation affects production of L-DOPA. The researchers suggest that it might be feasible to prevent glaucoma by administering L-DOPA, which is used in treating Parkinson’s disease.

An Aspirin a Day Keeps the Colorectal Polyps Away

A national study indicates that patients who have had previous colorectal cancer and take 325 milligrams of aspirin each day — the equivalent of one adult aspirin — may lower the risk of developing new colon polyps by 35 percent. Polyps appear to be precursors to most colorectal cancers. The double-blind study randomly assigned half of the 635 patients who previously had colorectal cancer to an aspirin treatment group. The other half received a placebo or sugar pill. The results of the study will be published in the March 6, 2003, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Oral drug turns on silenced genes, turns off cancer

Oral administration of a drug that inhibits a process known as DNA methylation results in a reduction in the size of malignant tumors in mice, according to a team of researchers led by scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. The drug, called zebularine, accomplishes its tumor-whittling by turning on tumor suppressor genes that have been turned off by methylation.

Iron overload gene tied to colon cancer increased risk

Researchers have found that people with gene mutations associated with abnormally high iron levels are 40 percent more likely than others to develop colon cancer. A report of the research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute today (Jan. 15) found the cancer risk greater in mutation carriers who are older or who consume high quantities of iron.

Hormone Therapy Associated With Increased Breast Density

A new study suggests that the use of combination hormone therapy is associated with a modest increase in breast density, which is a known risk factor for breast cancer. The findings appear in the Jan. 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The degree of breast-cancer risk that is associated with breast density is greater than that associated with almost all other known breast-cancer risk factors. A previous analysis of data from the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions (PEPI) Trial, a randomized trial looking at the effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy (estrogen alone or estrogen plus three different progestin regimens) on breast density, showed that some women who used combination estrogen/progestin therapy experienced an increase in breast density. However, the analysis did not look at the magnitude of that increase.

New gene therapy boosts immune system to cure cancer in mice

Using a novel gene therapy approach that boosts the body?s immune system, a researcher has cured cancer in laboratory mice. In experiments reported in the Dec. 15 issue of Cancer Research, Chung Lee and colleagues at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University applied the gene therapy technique to render immune cells insensitive to transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), a powerful, naturally occurring substance in the body called an immunosuppressor that enables cancer cells to evade surveillance by the immune system. The approach boosted the mice?s immune system, which virtually eliminated cancerous tumors in the animals’ lungs and prostate gland.

‘Dose Dense’ Chemo Improves Survival in Breast Cancer Patients

A new clinical trial has shown that reducing the interval between successive doses of a commonly used chemotherapy regimen improves survival in women whose breast cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. While previous research has evaluated the use of various forms of “dose dense” chemotherapy, this is the first major controlled study to show a clear survival benefit for women with node-positive breast cancer.

Hormone breast cancer risk normalizes after stopping pills

Researchers confirmed that a daily, combined dose of estrogen and progestin increases breast cancer risk in post menopausal women, but added that this risk begins to return to normal about six months after women stop taking the hormones. “It is reassuring that breast cancer risk begins to return to normal six months after women stop combined dose estrogen-progestin therapy,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD. “Women, in consultation with their physicians, need to make the most informed decision possible. The study authors have provided them with one more piece of important information.”