News • Tumours
Preventing metastasis - an antibody with therapeutic potential
A receptor in the cell layer that lines the blood vessels from the inside stimulates both the formation of new blood vessels in tumors and metastasis.
Breast cancer
News • Ultrasound monitoring
'Smart bra' to detect early-stage breast cancer
Students from EPFL in Switzerland teamed up with startup IcosaMed to develop the SmartBra – the first piece of smart clothing that can be used for cancer prevention. “Our smart-clothing technology is designed to detect cancer at the earliest stages. It uses a non-invasive, painless method based on frequent ultrasound monitoring,” says Hugo Vuillet, one of the students on the development…
News • Improving coronavirus diagnosis
COVID-19 detection tool launched
The world’s only online image-based COVID-19 diagnosis improvement tool for healthcare workers is launched by University of Sydney spinoff DetectED-X, drawing on its global experience and outcomes in breast cancer detection and patient cases from the coronavirus pandemic. The cloud-based technology will help doctors and radiologists diagnose cases faster and more accurately. Computed tomography…
News • Enhancing cancer imaging
New contrast agent for early diagnosis of brain metastases
A group of researchers led by Leif Schröder from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) have found a way to detect metastases in certain types of cancer in the brain at an early stage, using only minimal amounts of contrast agent. To this end, the team uses a synthetic molecule that helps to detect the formation of new blood vessels, producing much more sophisticated…
News • IGF-1
Breast cancer: Growth hormone identified as probable cause
A growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is likely to play a role in the development of breast cancer, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology. IGF-1 is already known to encourage the growth and proliferation of cancer cells. Now, two analyses of information from several hundred thousand women enrolled in the UK Biobank study have…
Article • Avoiding mistakes
Errors and near misses in breast imaging
Errors in breast imaging: the subject is vexing. How to avoid or address errors are also concerning. These subjects lay at the core of a presentation to radiologists during the recent annual congress of the British Institute of Radiology, when consultant radiologist Dr Rosalind Given-Wilson described the how, where, and what of errors or near misses, along with their impact on patients and…
News • "SOLUS" imaging project
Breast screening breakthrough to end unnecessary biopsies
Scientists from the project SOLUS (Smart optical and ultrasound diagnostics of breast cancer) under the EU funding framework programme Horizon2020 have developed a non-invasive, multi-modal, imaging system that uses ultrasound and light technologies to easily differentiate between benign or malignant lesions – without having to perform a biopsy. Similar to a pregnancy ultrasound appointment, a…
News • Altered chromosomes
Breast cancer: targeted therapy can lead to treatment resistance
If chromosomes are unevenly distributed or otherwise altered during cell division, this normally damages the daughter cells and impairs their viability. Not in cancer cells, however, in which chromosome instability can actually confer a growth advantage under certain circumstances. Moreover, as scientists from the German Cancer Research Center have now demonstrated in mice, changes in the…
News • Zooming in
Breast cancer map reveals how mutations shape the tumour landscape
Scientists have created one of the most detailed maps of breast cancer ever achieved, revealing how genetic changes shape the physical tumour landscape. An international team of scientists, brought together by a £20 million Grand Challenge award from Cancer Research UK, has developed intricate maps of breast tumour samples, with a resolution smaller than a single cell. These maps show how the…
News • Triple-negative forms impeded
Scientists stop breast cancer cells from spreading in the lab
Biologists have discovered a way to stop cells from one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer spreading in the lab. The study points towards new avenues of research to combat the devastating disease. The results of the study of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by the team from the Universities of Manchester, Glasgow and Sheffield and funded by Breast Cancer Now are published in Oncogene.…
News • After mastectomy
Promising approach for breast regeneration
A team of researchers from Osaka University, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, and Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. succeeded in reconstructing adipose tissue balls (“mini-breasts”) with a functional vascular network using patient-derived cells, achieving a high graft survival rate in small animal models. So far, silicone breast implants were primarily used in breast reconstruction following…
News • Preventive potential
Why eating yoghurt may stave off breast cancer
One of the causes of breast cancer may be inflammation triggered by harmful bacteria say researchers. Scientists say their idea – as yet unproven – is supported by the available evidence, which is that bacterial induced inflammation is linked to cancer. The paper in the journal Medical Hypotheses is by Lancaster University medical student Auday Marwaha, Professor Jim Morris from the…
News • Carbon-13 hyperpolarised imaging
Using magnetised molecules to monitor breast cancer
A new type of scan that involves magnetising molecules allows doctors to see in real-time which regions of a breast tumour are active, according to research at the University of Cambridge. The research was now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is the first time researchers have demonstrated that this scanning technique, called carbon-13 hyperpolarised imaging, can…
News • Update improves testing
Breast cancer guideline identifies most promising therapies
The updated guideline for estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER/PgR) testing in breast cancer, published jointly by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), reaffirms much of the original guidance and has more specific recommendations for handling and reporting cases with low ER expression. Globally, more than 1 million women are diagnosed…
News • DeepMind to help human radiologists
Google-powered AI spots breast cancer
A computer algorithm has been shown to be as effective as human radiologists in spotting breast cancer from x-ray images. The international team behind the study, which includes researchers from Google Health, DeepMind, Imperial College London, the NHS and Northwestern University in the US, designed and trained an artificial intelligence (AI) model on mammography images from almost 29,000 women.…
Article • Evolution of technology
The value of AI in breast screening
Although breast cancer (BC) mammography screening enables early detection of breast cancer, mammography presents issues such as variability between the radiology readings and shortage of radiologists. This area of medical imaging is where artificial intelligence (AI) could help make the biggest difference and improve patient outcome.
News • Promising lab tests
Using photoacoustics for breast imaging
A new, portable breast imaging system under development in Buffalo has the potential to better identify breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue. That is among the findings of a study published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. The study was led by University at Buffalo researchers in collaboration with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Windsong…
Article • Mammacarcinoma screening
Breast cancer: Simply monitoring might be best
Breast cancer screening is a well-designed and scientifically proven, evidence-based procedure, but has pitfalls such as under-detection and over-diagnosis. Surgery or radiotherapy may have serious consequences on health and must therefore be administered in carefully selected patients.
News • Long-term placement in breast lesions
CE Mark for implantable RFID tag extended
Hologic announced the extension of the CE Mark for its LOCalizer radiofrequency identification (RFID) tag for long-term placement. The tag can now be implanted more than 30 days prior to a breast-conserving surgery, providing even greater flexibility and convenience to patients and providers. The LOCalizer wire-free guidance system is a non-radioactive, radiofrequency localization system designed…
News • Breast cancer
Giving patients an average survival time is more often wrong than right
Doctors who give advanced breast cancer patients just one estimate, such as 12 months, for the average amount of time they are expected to live are only accurate 20-30% of the time, according to Dr Belinda Kiely, medical oncologist and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia.
News • Presented at the NCRI cancer conference
Simple blood test for early detection of breast cancer
Breast cancer could be detected up to five years before there are any clinical signs of it, using a blood test that identifies the body’s immune response to substances produced by tumour cells, according to new research presented at the 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference. Cancer cells produce proteins called antigens that trigger the body to make antibodies against them – autoantibodies. Researchers…
News • Difficult decisions
5 things women under 40 should know about breast cancer
Breast cancer is rare for women under 40. So, a breast cancer diagnosis can be shocking news for a young woman to hear. “Breast cancer in young women can have its own risk factors and traits, and young women have their own considerations when deciding on a treatment,” says Nadine Tung, MD, head of breast medical oncology and cancer genetics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).…
News • Feasibility study
Liquid biopsy to complement early breast cancer screening
Investigators from the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga [(IBIMA)-CIMES-UMA, Malaga Spain] and collaborators have published the first pilot study to examine the use of a non-invasive liquid biopsy in early diagnosis of breast cancer. This study was unique in that the ctDNA analyses was performed before any invasive diagnostic procedure or treatment. To achieve their goal, the researchers…
News • Draft guidance
FDA: Include male breast cancer patients in trials
In its latest draft guidance, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encourages inclusion of males in breast cancer clinical trials. Historically, males either have not been included in clinical trials for drugs to treat breast cancer or inclusion of males in those trials has been very limited; when finalized, the draft guidance will provide clarity for industry regarding clinical…
News • Ovarian and breast cancer
New insights into BRCA1 gene functions
Research led by the University of Birmingham has found important new ways that the BRCA1 gene functions which could help develop our understanding of the development of ovarian and breast cancers. The research, published in Nature, was led by experts at the University of Birmingham’s Birmingham Centre for Genome Biology and Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences and is part of a five-year…