All blogs

Kudos to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for organizing some of the most innovative research endeavors in the field of breast cancer research. Last year they revamped their research program that addresses the reality of research in this area: it takes more than a one-time, one year grant to a researcher in order to move the needle.

A new study that appeared in the June 24th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute describes a newly discovered portion of chromosome 8 that appears to have five regions that are associated with different types of cancers. The region, called 8q24, has no known genes (and is known as a gene desert).

While still in the experimental stages, a new imaging system holds promise as a cheaper alternative to MRIs. Molecular breast imaging (MBI), utilizes an injection of tracer particles that are only picked up by cells that are more active than normal, such as cancer cells. A camera then picks up the gamma rays emitted by the tracer particles.

There was an interesting story on CNN recently about the number of times that terminal patients were given “straight talk” by their doctors of the severity of their situation and end of life care options. The impetus for this story was a study led by Dana Farber Cancer Institute that followed 603 terminally ill cancer patients with life expectancies of less than a year. The conclusion: only about a third of the patients had a discussion with their doctor about their end of life care options.

How’s this for another reason to get screened early and often for breast cancer?