Standard chemo works better against metastatic BRCA1/2 breast cancer than against sporadic tumorsApril 17, 2008Berlin, Germany: The first study to investigate the effects of chemotherapy on metastatic breast cancer in women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation has shown that standard chemotherapy works better in these patients than in women without the BRCA1/2 mutation. The authors of a study presented today (Thursday) at the 6th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-6) in Berlin found that women with BRCA2-associated breast cancer had a significantly higher response rate, a longer time without the disease progressing, and a longer overall survival when treated with anthracycline-based regimens than did women with sporadic breast cancers that were not associated with BRCA1/2. Women with BRCA1-associated breast cancer also did better than women with sporadic breast cancer, but the rates were not statistically significant.
Researchers at the Daniel den Hoed Cancer Centre/Erasmus Medical Centre (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) conducted the study. They matched 112 women with BRCA1-associated metastatic cancer and 29 women with BRCA2-associated metastatic cancer with 141 women with sporadic breast cancers. The women had been treated with anthracycline-based or taxane-based regimens, CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil 5FU) or other chemotherapy regimens. BRCA2 women had a higher response rate to chemotherapy (89% versus 50%), a longer progression-free survival (nearly a third better) and a longer overall survival (47% better) than did women with sporadic cancers. When the researchers looked more closely at the type of chemotherapy the women had received, they found that the improved progression-free survival mainly occurred in patients on anthracyclines and disappeared for those treated with CMF. The lead author of the study, Dr Mieke Kriege, an epidemiologist and project researcher at the Rotterdam Family Cancer Clinic, said: "It is difficult to make firm conclusions about response to different treatments from our results so far, but it does seem that the higher sensitivity to treatment by BRCA2-associated patients is especially caused by the anthracycline regimen." The project leader, Professor Jan Klijn, medical oncologist and chairman of the Rotterdam Family Cancer Clinic, said: "Our findings show that various standard chemotherapy regimens are clinically effective in the treatment of metastatic BRCA1/2-associated breast cancer. The observation of the high efficacy of anthracycline-based regimens is especially reassuring. However, we would like to emphasise that larger, additional studies are urgently needed to investigate further newer regimens containing taxanes and platinum compounds." Dr Kriege said: "Currently, there are very few studies on the efficacy of chemotherapy in BRCA1/2-associated breast cancer - mainly a few, very small studies with less than 44 patients in the neo-adjuvant setting. Our study is the only one in metastatic disease and, with 141 BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers included, it is by far the largest study in the world." The authors believe that an explanation of why chemotherapy seems to work better in BRCA1/2 breast cancers than in sporadic cancers is due to the lack of a working BRCA1/2 protein. "Functional BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins are involved in DNA repair," said Dr Kriege. "Most chemotherapeutic agents are active by damaging DNA (especially anthracycline-based regimens). In BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, who have no functional BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins respectively, DNA repair after chemotherapy might be worse than in sporadic patients resulting in better treatment responses. Pre-clinical studies showed that BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutated cells are especially sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents that cause double-strand DNA breaks (such as anthracyclines and platinum)." The researchers now plan to investigate the effects of adjuvant and neo-adjuvant treatments in women with BRCA1/2-associated breast cancers, and to evaluate taxane and platinum therapies further. ECCO-the European CanCer Organisation | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Chemotherapy Current Events and Chemotherapy News Articles Sensitive nanowire disease detectors made by Yale scientists Yale scientists have created nanowire sensors coupled with simple microprocessor electronics that are both sensitive and specific enough to be used for point-of-care (POC) disease detection, according to a report in Nano Letters. On the trail of a targeted therapy for blood cancers nvestigators from the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine are focusing on a family of blood proteins that they hope holds a key to decreasing the toxic effects of chemotherapy in children and adults. Hodgkin lymphoma -- new characteristics discovered Researchers are still discovering new characteristics of Hodgkin lymphoma, a common form of cancer of the lymphatic system. The malignant cells are derived from white blood cells (B cells), but have lost a considerable part of the B cell-specific gene expression pattern. Bisphenol A linked to chemotherapy resistance Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) may reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments, say University of Cincinnati (UC) scientists. Pediatric study finds alternatives for radiation of low-grade brain tumors A multi-institutional study led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has found that using chemotherapy alone and delaying or avoiding cranial radiation altogether can be effective in treating pediatric patients with unresectable or progressive low-grade glioma. Mayo researchers explore issues related to multiple myeloma treatment Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells that affects approximately 3 in 100,000 people each year. Although there is no cure for this disease, researchers have developed treatments that help relieve pain, control complications, and slow the progress of MM in many patients. News from Cancer: Disparities in head and neck cancer patients A new analysis finds considerable disparities in survival related to race and socio-economic status among patients with head and neck cancer. Nanodiamond drug device could transform cancer treatment A Northwestern University research team has developed a promising nanomaterial-based biomedical device that could be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs locally to sites where cancerous tumors have been surgically removed. Children's National researchers develop novel anti-tumor vaccine A novel anti-tumor vaccine for neuroblastoma and melanoma developed by scientists and clinicians at Children's National Medical Center in collaboration with investigators from the University of Iowa is showing significant impact on tumor growth in mice. Surgical treatment provides new option for some colorectal cancer patients Research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that a surgical technique not traditionally used in advanced abdominal cancer may be a viable treatment option for some patients previously thought to be untreatable, offering the real possibility of extending survival for those patients. More Chemotherapy Current Events and Chemotherapy News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||