During this 2017 Relay For Life season - amidst all the fundraising, walks, and painting the town purple - I would like to talk about some good news! All of that research we are raising funds for is actually working!!
The most amazing new research is on a nanoparticle that can shrink breast cancer tumors while also preventing any recurrance of the disease! Can you imagine?
It sounds very sci-fi, but researchers at the Mayo Clinic have developed this nanoparticle and have tested it on mice. 70% to 80% of the mice tested showed a reduction in tumor size, but even more amazing is that they showed a resistance to any new tumors recurring, even when exposed to cancer cells approximately one month later!
Test results showed that it was producing an immune response to HER2-positive breast cancers. Basically it is causing the body to create memory in the immune system! To read further about this study you can check out the Nature Nanotechnology online publication.
For women like myself, diagnosed with estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer, there is also some good news! In the headlines earlier this year was an announcement about a new chemotherapy drug called Abraxane.
One of the drugs used in my chemotherapy, Taxol, is very hard on the body and causes many side effects including severe allergic reaction. Because Taxol does not dissolve in water, it has to be put into solvents along with steroids and antihistamines when delivered to the body. This meant I had to be in that infusion chair for upwards of 4 hours. The biggest issue with this particular drug is how we acquire it. It comes from the bark of a Himalayan yew tree which is now facing extinction.
Abraxane does not have this problem, which means no more solvent or added medications, which in turn reduces the infusion time for chemotherapy from 4-5 hours down to roughly a half hour!! Testing also showed that women receiving this drug had almost double the response rate. It seems it is all about the delivery!
At this time the FDA has only approved this drug for women with recurring or metastasized breast cancer, but it is only a matter of time!
Another recent development is a new aromatase inhibitor hormone therapy that seems to perform better than Tamoxifen. This means, for post-menopausal women, they reduce the risk of late recurrance in ER-positive cancers even better! Testing is still ongoing.
Lastly, on the radiation front, a new accelerated course of treatment is being researched that could reduce the current 6 1/2 week treatment down to about half of that! This can be a huge quality of life issue for some women, where going in for radiation 5 days a week for 6 1/2 weeks can really be a challenge.
For myself, not only were my issues about travel and parking fees, which I was thankfully validated for, but also it meant that after treatment each day I was wiped out! Because I have very sensitive skin it really did a number on me.
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is currently testing this targeted radiation and trials are showing positive results.
So while you walk around those tracks and raise money for your RFL teams, remember, what you are doing is really working in the real world for real people! It may not be a cure yet, but this new research will provide women suffering from breast cancer and the side effects of treatment a better quality of life!
Image provided by Pixabay.com
2 comments:
This is great news! Now what about finding the CAUSES of these cancers and how to stop them? Who is working on that and are they being funded? Not only do I not want you to have a recurrence, I want you and me not to get a new cancer.
All excellent questions! I will see what I can find out. As far as the causes, well you and I know if our society does not change its evil ways, our way of life will continue to be the cause. Thank you so much for the comments!
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