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In Trastuzumab-Resistant Metastatic Breast Cancer, Small Molecule Inhibitor Shows Promise
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers report that a combination of trastuzumab and neratinib (HKI-272) a novel small molecule inhibitor of the HER2 receptor (ErbB2) appears active in women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have progressed on previous trastuzumab based therapies. More than one-quarter of the women in a phase I/II trial had their tumors shrink on the combination therapy.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
Our genome is a patchwork of neighborhoods that couldn"t be more different: Some areas are hustling and bustling with gene activity, while others are sparsely populated and in perpetual lock-down. Breaking down just a few of the molecular fences that separate them blurs the lines and leads to the inactivation of at least two tumor suppressor genes, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
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Daily Women's Health Policy Report Summarizes Research In Breast, Ovarian Cancer
The following summarizes recent articles on breast and ovarian cancer research.~ Breast cancer: For the first time, a large international breast cancer study to determine the effectiveness of radiation therapy after mastectomy will include 200 Chinese women, the New York Times reports. Asian women traditionally have had relatively low breast cancer rates. However, that trend is reversing in China, where breast cancer is on the rise because of rapid urbanization, pollution and diet changes. In addition, China"s one-child policy could be contributing to the trend, as breast cancer is less common in women with more children. Chief researcher Ian Kunkler, a professor at the Edinburgh Cancer Research Center, said that although pharmaceutical companies have done clinical trials of chemotherapy drugs in China, "no patient in China has ever been recruited into a randomized controlled trial for breast radiotherapy." Kunkler"s trial will include about 3,700 participants overall from Australia, Britain and other parts of Europe, Japan and Singapore (Caryn Rabin, New York Times, 8/3).~ Ovarian cancer: Two recently published studies have provided new insight into the early stages of ovarian cancer, potentially increasing the likelihood of developing better diagnostic tests, the Wall Street Journal reports. A study published in the journal Nature Genetics has identified a common gene variation called BNC2. Scientists predict that when BNC2 is combined with other gene variations, the result dramatically increases the risk of ovarian cancer. Researchers involved in a study published in the online journal PLoS have determined that ovarian tumors of the BRCA1 mutation exist in the body for about four years before metastasizing but remain less than one centimeter in diameter during that time. They also found that only about half of the tumors grow to be three centimeters in diameter when they do spread (Beck, Wall Street Journal, 8/4).
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Flu Shot Not Effective In Preventing Flu-Related Hospitalizations In Asthmatic Children

The inactivated flu vaccine does not appear to be effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma. In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than their peers who do not get the vaccine, according to new research that will be presented on Tuesday, May 19, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. Flu vaccine (trivalent inactivated flu vaccine TIV) has unknown effects on asthmatics. "The concerns that vaccination maybe associated with asthma exacerbations have been disproved with multiple studies in the past, but the vaccine"s effectiveness has not been well-established," said Avni Joshi, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. "This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the TIV in children overall, as well as the children with asthma, to prevent influenza-related hospitalization." The CDC"s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend annual influenza vaccination for all children aged six months to 18 years. The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (3rd revision) also recommends annual flu vaccination of asthmatic children older than six months. In order to determine whether the vaccine was effective in reducing the number of hospitalizations that all children, and especially the ones with asthma, faced over eight consecutive flu seasons, the researchers conducted a cohort study of 263 children who were evaluated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota from six months to 18 years of age, each of whom had had laboratory-confirmed influenza between 1996 to 2006. The investigators determined who had and had not received the flu vaccine, their asthma status and who did and did not require hospitalization. Records were reviewed for each subject with influenza-related illness for flu vaccination preceding the illness and hospitalization during that illness. They found that children who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization, as compared to children who had not received the vaccine. In asthmatic children, there was a significantly higher risk of hospitalization in subjects who received the TIV, as compared to those who did not (p= 0.006). But no other measured factors such as insurance plans or severity of asthm appeared to affect risk of hospitalization. "While these findings do raise questions about the efficacy of the vaccine, they do not in fact implicate it as a cause of hospitalizations," said Dr. Joshi. "More studies are needed to assess not only the immunogenicity, but also the efficacy of different influenza vaccines in asthmatic subjects." American Thoracic Society (ATS)


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