Mammary Cell News Volume 3.30 | Aug 4 2011

5 Years of Tamoxifen Improves 15-Year Survival by about a Third in Women with Most Common Type of Breast Cancer
In women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer, further benefits of adjuvant tamoxifen continued to accrue for at least 10 years after they stopped taking the drug. [Press release from the University of Oxford Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit discussing online prepublication in The Lancet]

Progressive Telomere Shortening Characterizes Familial Breast Cancer Patients
Telomeres of peripheral blood cells are significantly shorter in patients with familial breast cancer than in the general population. Results of a study reflect that familial, but not sporadic, breast cancer cases are characterized by shorter telomeres. [Press release from Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas discussing online prepublication in PLoS Genetics]

Researchers Take Control of Cancer
A new study shows that maspin, a cellular protein, can reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells – but only when it is in the nucleus. [Press release from Lawson Health Research Institute discussing online prepublication in Laboratory Investigation]

First Encyclopedia of Breast Cancer’s Weaknesses
Scientists have created the world’s first encyclopedia of genes that drive breast cancer. [Press release from The Institute of Cancer Research discussing online prepublication in Cancer Discovery]

Fighting Breast Cancer from New Angles
New approaches to breast cancer treatment include research that explores using reconstituted “good” cholesterol as a drug delivery model as well as a study looking at a heat-activated drug delivery system using peptides to target tumors. [Press release from EurekAlert! discussing research presented at the Era of Hope Conference, Orlando]

Progress Made in Understanding Breast Cancer Risk
Studies explored the genes that contribute to breast cancer risk in African Americans, and the possibility that vitamin D intake might help mitigate it in this population. Other studies looked at how daughters of women with BRCA 1 or BRCA2 mutations manage their own risk of breast cancer, and how the identification of a particular gene might lead to treatment for the very deadly triple-negative breast cancer. [Press release from EurekAlert! discussing research presented at the Era of Hope Conference, Orlando]

LABORATORY RESEARCH

Functional SNP in the MicroRNA-367 Binding Site in the 3′UTR of the Calcium Channel Ryanodine Receptor Gene 3 (RYR3) Affects Breast Cancer Risk and Calcification
Scientists confirmed that microRNA-367 regulates the expression of a reporter gene driven by the RYR3 3′UTR and that the regulation was affected by the RYR3 genotype. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Mechanistic Insight into Myc Stabilization in Breast Cancer Involving Aberrant Axin1 Expression
Researchers report that Myc protein stability is increased in a number of breast cancer cell lines and this correlates with increased phosphorylation at serine 62 and decreased phosphorylation at threonine 58. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Genetic Anticipation Is Associated with Telomere Shortening in Hereditary Breast Cancer
Since genetic anticipation has been observed in familial breast cancer, researchers aimed to study telomere length in familial breast cancer patients and hypothesized that genetic defects causing this disease would affect telomere maintenance resulting in shortened telomeres. [PLoS Genet]

Understanding the Metabolic Basis of Drug Resistance: Therapeutic Induction of the Warburg Effect Kills Cancer Cells
Scientists investigated whether epithelial-stromal metabolic coupling interactions might be the basis of tamoxifen-resistance in ER(+) breast cancer cells. [Cell Cycle]

Lapatinib, a Preventive/Therapeutic Agent Against Mammary Cancer, Suppresses Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-Mediated Signaling through Multiple Signaling Pathways
In this study, female Sprague-Dawley rats were given methylnitrosourea by intravenous injection resulting in the development of multiple estrogen receptor–positive tumors. [Cancer Prev Res]

Mammary Gland Density Predicts the Cancer Inhibitory Activity of the N-3 to N-6 Ratio of Dietary Fat
This study investigated the effect of a broad range of dietary ratios of n-3:n-6 fatty acids on mammary gland density and mammary cancer risk. [Cancer Prev Res]

Nuclear Localization of Maspin Is Essential for its Inhibition of Tumor Growth and Metastasis
Investigators hypothesized that the tumor suppressor activity of maspin may require nuclear localization, and that the discordance between clinical and experimental reports is a consequence of the variable subcellular distribution of maspin. [Lab Invest]

Functional Viability Profiles of Breast Cancer
Researchers have carried out a functional genetic screen in >30 commonly used models of breast cancer to identify genes critical to the growth of specific breast cancer subtypes. [Cancer Discov]

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Relevance of Breast Cancer Hormone Receptors and Other Factors to the Efficacy of Adjuvant Tamoxifen: Patient-Level Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials
Scientists undertook a collaborative meta-analysis of individual patient data from 20 trials (n=21 457) in early breast cancer of about 5 years of tamoxifen versus no adjuvant tamoxifen, with about 80% compliance. [Lancet]

Phase II Trial of Dasatinib in Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer Using Real-Time Pharmacodynamic Tissue Biomarkers of Src Inhibition to Escalate Dosing
A Phase II study of dasatinib was conducted to evaluate 16-week progression-free rate and tolerability in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer. [Clin Cancer Res]

Postmenopausal Serum Sex Steroids and Risk of Hormone Receptor Positive and Negative Breast Cancer: A Nested Case-Control Study
In a case-control study nested within the EPIC cohort (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), estradiol, testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin levels were measured in pre-diagnostic serum samples from postmenopausal women not using HRT at blood donation. [Cancer Prev Res]

SIUH Offers New 5-Day Breast Cancer Therapy
A new type of radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer is available at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) that cuts down on treatment time while sparing healthy tissue. [PR Newswire]

Investigation of a New Method for the Diagnosis of Cancer in Breast Tissue
The Paul Scherrer Institute has developed a new breast cancer diagnostic method, and is now carrying out first tests on non-preserved human tissue in conjunction with the Kantonsspital Baden AG. [Paul Scherrer Institute Press Release]

NEW 2011 Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium
October 6, 2011
Towson, United States

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

Lab Technologist – Tissue Culture (STEMCELL Technologies)

Research and Development Technologist, hPSC Media (STEMCELL Technologies)

Scientist (iPSC) (STEMCELL Technologies)

Postdoctoral Position (Michigan State University)

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Post-Doctoral Training Fellow – Study of Tankyrase Biology (The Institute of Cancer Research)

Higher Scientific Officer (The Institute of Cancer Research)

Postdoctoral Fellow (Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend)

Postdoctoral Position in Cancer Research (Tufts Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow (Roswell Park Cancer Institute)

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