Mammary Cell News Volume 3.19 | May 19 2011

Cancer Scientists Discover New Way Breast Cancer Cells Adapt to Environmental Stress
An international research team has discovered a new aspect of “metabolic transformation,” the process whereby tumor cells adapt and survive under conditions that would kill normal cells. [Press release from University Health Network discussing online prepublication in Genes and Development]

Marker Identifies Breast Cancer Patients Likely to Respond to Tamoxifen
Cancer researchers have discovered a biomarker in breast cancer that may help identify which women will respond to anti-estrogen therapy. [Press release from ScienceDaily discussing online prepublication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology]

Breast Cancer Risk Calculator Updated for Asian-Americans
Researchers have developed a more accurate method for estimating breast cancer risk for Asian and Pacific Islander American women. [Press release from the National Institutes of Health discussing online prepublication in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute]

New Findings Show that the Protein Abcc10 May Be Effective in Counteracting Resistance and Extending the Effectiveness of Some Anticancer Drugs
New findings identify one protein, Abcc10 (also known as Mrp7), as being intimately involved in resistance to certain drugs used to treat breast, ovarian, lung, and other cancers. [Press release from Fox Chase Cancer Center discussing online prepublication in Cancer Research]

Blood Test Confirmed to be “Powerful Predictor” Following Largest Analysis to Date
Researchers say the number of circulating tumor cells in the blood is a “powerful predictor” to help physicians more reliably assess treatment benefit for patients with metastatic breast cancer. [Georgetown University Medical Center Press Release]

LABORATORY RESEARCH

Double-Strand Break Repair-Independent Role for BRCA2 in Blocking Stalled Replication Fork Degradation by MRE11
Using single-molecule DNA fiber analysis, scientists show that nascent replication tracts created before fork stalling with hydroxyurea are degraded in the absence of BRCA2 but are stable in wild-type cells. [Cell]

Radiation Acts on the Microenvironment to Affect Breast Carcinogenesis by Distinct Mechanisms that Decrease Cancer Latency and Affect Tumor Type
Using a mammary chimera model in which an irradiated host is transplanted with oncogenic Trp53 null epithelium, investigators show accelerated development of aggressive tumors whose molecular signatures were distinct from tumors arising in non-irradiated hosts. [Cancer Cell]

Zoledronic Acid Blocks the Interaction between Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Breast Cancer Cells: Implications for Adjuvant Therapy of Breast Cancer
Zoledronic acid might exert its antitumor activity by inhibiting mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) migration and blocking MSCs’ secretion of factors involved in breast cancer progression. [Ann Oncol]

Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1C Promotes Cell Survival and Tumor Growth Under Conditions of Metabolic Stress
Investigators report that carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1C, a brain-specific metabolic enzyme, may participate in metabolic transformation. [Genes Dev]

Disruption of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor 2 (BMPR2) in Mammary Tumors Promotes Metastases through Cell Autonomous and Paracrine Mediators
Scientists sought to determine whether disruption of the BMPR2 would alter mammary tumor progression in mice that express the Polyoma middle T antigen. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Contribution of Abcc10 (Mrp7) to In Vivo Paclitaxel Resistance as Assessed in Abcc10^−/− Mice
Researchers generated and analyzed Abcc10^−/− mice to investigate the ability of Abcc10 to function as an endogenous resistance factor. [Cancer Res]

A Novel Fully Human Antitumor ImmunoRNase Targeting ErbB2-Positive Tumors
Anti-ErbB2 human compact antibody-RNase was characterized as an enzymatic protein, and tested for its biological actions in vitro and in vivo on ErbB2-positive tumor cells. [Br J Cancer]

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Loss of Nuclear Localized and Tyrosine Phosphorylated Stat5 in Breast Cancer Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome and Increased Risk of Anti-Estrogen Therapy Failure 
The purpose of this study is to investigate nuclear localized and tyrosine phosphorylated Stat5 as a marker of prognosis in node-negative breast cancer and as a predictor of response to anti-estrogen therapy. [J Clin Oncol

Projecting Individualized Absolute Invasive Breast Cancer Risk in Asian and Pacific Islander American Women
Data from 589 women with breast cancer (case patients) and 952 women without breast cancer (control subjects) in the Asian American Breast Cancer Study were used to compute relative and attributable risks based on the age at menarche, number of affected mothers, sisters, and daughters, and number of previous benign biopsies. [J Natl Cancer Inst]

Prognostic Utility of HOXB13 : IL17BR and Molecular Grade Index in Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients from the Stockholm Trial
In a blinded retrospective analysis of 588 ER-positive tamoxifen-treated and untreated breast cancer patients from the randomized prospective Stockholm trial, HOXB13 : IL17BR and molecular grade index were measured using real-time RT–PCR. [Br J Cancer]

A Phase II Study of the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Vorinostat Combined with Tamoxifen for the Treatment of Patients with Hormone Therapy-Resistant Breast Cancer
Preclinically, histone deacetylases inhibitors can reverse tamoxifen/aromatase inhibitor resistance in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. This concept was examined in a phase II combination trial with correlative end points. [Br J Cancer]

An Increase in Cancer Stem Cell Population After Primary Systemic Therapy Is a Poor Prognostic Factor in Breast Cancer
The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the cancer stem cell populations before and after primary systemic therapy and their prognostic role in human breast cancer. [Br J Cancer]

FDA Formally Accepts Dune Medical’s MarginProbe™ System Pre-Market Approval (PMA) Application and Grants Expedited Review Status
Dune Medical Devices, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally accepted for filing the company’s PMA application for the MarginProbe™ System. [PR Newswire]

NewGene: New Genetics Test for Hereditary Breast Cancer Cuts Costs and Turnaround Times
A new breakthrough test for hereditary breast cancer developed by NewGene could see thousands of women being diagnosed with the genetic condition in around half the usual time and at around half the cost of conventional test methods. [BusinessWire]

Eisai’s Halaven® Receives Approval from Swissmedic for Use in Late-Stage Metastatic Breast Cancer
Eisai Co., Ltd. announced that it has received approval from Swissmedic for Halaven® (eribulin mesylate), in the monotherapy treatment of patients with locally advanced and metastatic breast carcinoma with progression after prior therapy with an anthracycline, a taxane and capecitabine. [Eisai Co., Ltd. Press Release]

Rethink Breast Cancer Applauds Ontario’s Decision to Fund Herceptin
Rethink Breast Cancer applauds the Ontario government’s decision to provide breast cancer patients with tumors less than or equal to 1 cm access to the revolutionary drug Herceptin under the new Evidence Building Program. [Ontario Government, Canada]

Proposal to Withdraw Approval for the Breast Cancer Indication for Bevacizumab; Hearing [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0621] [Food and Drug Administration, United States]

National Institutes of Health (United States)

Food and Drug Administration (United States)

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

NEW Screening Stem Cells 2011: From Reprogramming to Regenerative Medicine
September 26-27, 2011
Boston, United States

NEW 2011 World Stem Cell Summit
October 3-5, 2011
Pasadena, United States

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the mammary cell community.

Senior Research Assistant (MD Anderson Cancer Center) 

Post-doctoral Research Fellow (University of Ottawa)

Post-doctoral Fellow (University of Texas Medical School at Houston) 

Post-doctoral Research Associate (University of Wisconsin – Madison)

Post-doctoral Fellow (University of Texas Medical School at Houston)

Recruit Top Talent

Reach more than 11,000 potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Jobs are categorized regionally: United States, Canada, Europe, Asia Pacific

Visit here to post your career opportunities.

Have we missed an important article or publication in Mammary Cell News? Click here to submit!

Comments or Suggestions? Email info@connexoncreative.com with your feedback.