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A Message from Dr. Love
I hope you are having a lovely summer!
It has been about a week since I returned from my recent trip to China to monitor our Foundation's study,"The Development of a Breast Fluid Test to Identify Women at Risk for Breast Cancer." Our goal for this research project is to develop a “home test” that women could use to determine whether they are at risk of developing breast cancer.
In most of the world breast cancer occurs more frequently in premenopausal women. And most of these women do not have access to screening and diagnostic facilities. The overall number of cases is not huge, so in most cases finding the women with breast cancer is akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. This means that if there were a simple test that a woman could do herself (like a home pregnancy test) to find out whether she was at risk of developing breast cancer, and if she knew that a positive test meant it was worth the effort to obtain additional screening, it could be transformative.
The test we have developed is a “band-aid” that a woman applies to her nipple. Then, she massages her breast to elicit fluid. If fluid is expressed, it can be tested to see if it contains certain biomarkers that indicate she is at risk of developing breast cancer. Since I am impatient, we are not going to follow women for years to determine the test’s accuracy. Instead, we are going to compare the results of the band-aid to breast density measured on mammogram and other standard risk factors. And if the band-aid gives us the same information as the other tests, we’ll know that it can be used along with these other tests to assess who is at risk.
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Hot Topics
When a woman has a lumpectomy or mastectomy, her surgeon will also look to see if there are affected lymph nodes under the arm (axilla). For decades this was done with a procedure called an axillary lymph node dissection, which involves removing about 10-15 of the 30–60 lymph nodes under the arm. After they are removed, the nodes are examined under a microscope. If the pathologist identifies cancer cells it means that there is a greater statistical risk of there being microscopic cells elsewhere in the body and therefore a higher risk of a recurrence. If no cancer cells are seen, the risk is lower that there are microscopic cells elsewhere in the body. This estimate of risk is used to decide on whether and how much treatment in addition to surgery is needed.
Now, women are just as likely to have a procedure called a sentinel node biopsy, which identifies the first nodes that drain the area of the tumor and therefore are the node or nodes most likely to have cancer cells. Because a positive sentinel node suggests that there will be other positive nodes in the axilla, the current standard of care is for women who have a positive (cancerous) sentinel node to go on to have a full lymph node dissection. But findings from a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in June could change this.
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Cause for Love
Each time you buy an item on our new Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation eBay Giving Works page, the seller will donate between 10 and 100% of the final sale price to the Foundation! Check out the items currently for sale and learn how you can post your own items to benefit the Foundation. MORE >
Organic Bouquet has created a gorgeous Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation Sweet & Lovely Rose Bouquet that every one will love: One dozen long stemmed pink roses, with velvety deep pink blossoms that open perfectly with abundant petals.
It’s always special to say "Happy Birthday!" or “I Love You!” or “Congratulations” with flowers. And it’s even more special when your order can also benefits the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. MORE >
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Research Update
The Foundation will host the 7th International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach to Breast Cancer on February 23-27, 2011, at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, California. Our symposium is the only conference designed solely to address and advance research using the intraductal approach in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer. You can read conference reports from all of our past Symposiums here.
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Marilyn Robinson