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PET scan can non invasively measure early assessment of treatment for common type of breast cancer
May 27, 2009Seattle - Non-invasive imaging can measure how well patients with the most common form of breast cancer - estrogen receptor positive type - respond to standard aromatase inhibitor therapy after only two weeks and shows similar findings that more invasive needle sampling identifies, according to a poster presentation to be presented at the ASCO annual meeting next week.
Using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning and a glucose analogue called FDG, a research team led by Hannah Linden, M.D. and David Mankoff M.D., of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and the University of Washington, scanned 21 patients before and after two weeks of aromatase inhibitor therapy. Many of the patients also underwent a needle biopsy as a control measure to compare the two techniques.
The results - 16 of the 21 patients had a greater than 20 percent decline in FDG values - "paralleled perfectly" earlier work done by UK-based researchers who used needle biopsies to measure whether the proliferation of cancer cells was slowed by therapy, according to Linden, who is a breast cancer oncologist.
"Our findings are exciting because they suggest that we can measure a patient's response to therapy noninvasively, and PET scanning provides us simultaneous quantitative metabolic measurements at multiple tumor sites," Linden said. "PET has the potential to be a powerful tool to help doctors make important treatment decisions in as little as two weeks instead of two or more months."
It's common for patients with estrogen receptor positive cancer to a bone-dominant type yet they have remained largely unstudied in clinical trials because they are very difficult to image, according to Linden. "Our work allowed us to study a common problem in a way that's not been done before and to help more people," she said. "More work needs to be done but in my mind this was a homerun," Linden said. The study was funded by a "Progress for Patients" grant from the National Cancer Institute and the Avon Foundation. Joining Linden were researchers from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Arizona Cancer Center.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
"Our findings are exciting because they suggest that we can measure a patient's response to therapy noninvasively, and PET scanning provides us simultaneous quantitative metabolic measurements at multiple tumor sites," Linden said. "PET has the potential to be a powerful tool to help doctors make important treatment decisions in as little as two weeks instead of two or more months."
It's common for patients with estrogen receptor positive cancer to a bone-dominant type yet they have remained largely unstudied in clinical trials because they are very difficult to image, according to Linden. "Our work allowed us to study a common problem in a way that's not been done before and to help more people," she said. "More work needs to be done but in my mind this was a homerun," Linden said. The study was funded by a "Progress for Patients" grant from the National Cancer Institute and the Avon Foundation. Joining Linden were researchers from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Arizona Cancer Center.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Breast Cancer Current Events and Breast Cancer News RSSUCLA researchers create 'fly paper' to capture circulating cancer cells
Just as fly paper captures insects, an innovative new device with nano-sized features developed by researchers at UCLA is able to grab cancer cells in the blood that have broken off from a tumor.
Fertility procedures need not delay breast cancer treatment for younger women
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Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer
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Drugs to treat anemia in cancer patients linked to thromboembolism
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Discovery in worms by Queen's researchers points to more targeted cancer treatment
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FDA approved leukemia drugs shows promise in ovarian cancer cells
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Scientists uncover new key to the puzzle of hormone therapy and breast cancer
The use of postmenopausal hormone therapy has decreased over time in the United States, which researchers suggest may play a key role in the declining rate of atypical ductal hyperplasia, a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Breast density associated with increased risk of cancer recurrence
A new study finds that women treated for breast cancer are at higher risk of cancer recurrence if they have dense breasts. Published in the December 15, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study's results indicate that breast cancer patients with dense breasts may benefit from additional therapies following surgery, such as radiation.
Researcher: 'Optical biopsy' for breast cancer increasingly accurate
But women may not have to endure the medical costs, stress and potential complications that accompany such invasive biopsies forever. A University of Florida biomedical engineering researcher is making progress on an "optical biopsy" that has the potential to determine whether growths are cancerous without ever puncturing the skin.
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