New treatment for early breast cancer that has fewer side effects

Targeting tumours directly with radiotherapy is as successful as treating the whole breast

• Women could be treated effectively and with less unwelcome changes to breasts
• Treatment is easy to administer with existing radiotherapy machines on the NHS
• Experts welcomed results as 'major step' in improving patients' quality of life

A breakthrough treatment for early stage breast cancer destroys the disease with fewer side effects than the usual approach, trials show.

Targeting tumours directly with radiotherapy is as successful as treating the whole breast, the research led by Cambridge University found.

It means women could be treated just as effectively but experience fewer unwelcome changes to their breasts.

The treatment is easy to administer with existing radiotherapy machines available on the NHS, meaning it would be simple to roll it out across the UK. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4755360/New-treatment-breast-cancer-fewer-effects.html

Test to predict likelihood of breast cancer relapse could help thousands: Women at high risk would be given drugs for longer after surgery and chemotherapy

• Test predicts how likely it is that breast cancer will return to sufferers 
• Those at high risk would be urged to take preventative drugs for five years 
• Oncotype DX test is not used by many hospitals as it is too expensive

Thousands of women could benefit from a new test for breast cancer which predicts how likely it is that the illness will return.

Those found to be at high risk would be urged to carry on taking preventative drugs for five years and beyond after they have had surgery.

Currently, all women with the most common form of breast cancer – oestrogen positive – are advised to take hormone drugs such as Tamoxifen for up to five years after surgery to remove tumours. But researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital in London have claimed that a test already available on the NHS could be used in a slightly different way to identify high risk women who would benefit from taking the drugs for longer.

This is the Oncotype DX test, which analyses the genes in a sample of tumour removed after surgery to predict the aggressiveness of the cancer. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3133882/Test-predict-likelihood-breast-cancer-relapse-help-thousands-Women-high-risk-given-drugs-longer-surgery-chemotherapy.html

Breast cancer drug 'boosts survival rates by 40%': Thousands could benefit from two drugs that can eradicate tennis ball-sized tumours in just three months

• Experts hope NHS rationing body will approve drugs soon despite cost
• Medication used for women with particularly aggressive form of cancer 
• HER2-positive is responsible for 13,000 new cases in the UK each year
• In a trial involving 417 women, tumours disappeared in 30% of cases

Thousands of women with breast cancer could benefit from two drugs that stop tumours in their tracks, trials show.

In some cases, treatment was so effective that growths the size of tennis balls were completely eradicated in just three months.

Experts hope NHS rationing body NICE will approve the drugs soon – despite their cost – to enable more women to live longer with the disease and possibly be cured. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3106607/Breast-cancer-drug-boosts-survival-rates-40-Thousands-benefit-two-drugs-eradicate-tennis-ball-sized-tumours-just-three-months.html

Revolutionary new PILL could treat skin cancer: Scientists discover drug could help patients resistant to standard treatments

• Drug called a panRAF inhibitor could help advanced skin cancer patients
• Skin cancer patients can become resistant to standard drugs within a year 
• The new drugs hit several cancer cell survival routes at once
• They suppress tumours without any significant side-effects
• Clinical trials focusing on safety and dosage will begin next year

A revolutionary new pill for advanced skin cancer is to be trialled next year. Laboratory tests suggest that the drug is likely to be effective in melanoma patients who no longer respond to existing treatments.

Known as a panRAF inhibitor, the drug may also help people with a strain of cancer that cannot be treated with standard drugs.

Melanoma, or malignant skin cancer, affects around 13,000 people and causes more than 2,000 deaths in the UK each year. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2894612/Revolutionary-new-PILL-treat-skin-cancer-Scientists-discover-drug-help-patients-resistant-standard-treatments.html

Power walking could reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer

• Men who walked fast before getting cancer have tumours with regularly shaped blood vessels - these are less aggressive and easier to treat
• Men who walked at three miles per hour before diagnosis have 8% more regularly shaped blood vessels than those who walked at 1.5 miles per hour
• The researchers think exercise could be equally beneficial for people with other cancers

Men who exercise vigorously may be at lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer, new research reveals.

Researchers discovered that men who 'power walked' before a prostate cancer diagnosis had more regularly shaped blood vessels in their tumours than men who walked slowly. More regularly shaped blood vessels are believed to reduce the aggressiveness of tumours and improve the body’s response to cancer treatment.

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Men who walk fast are less likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer than those who walk slowly

Research to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Prostate Cancer Foundation Conference, in San Diego, suggests a link between brisk exercise and a lower risk of aggressive cancer. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2542694/Power-walking-reduce-risk-aggressie-prostate-cancer-Men-walk-three-miles-hour-lower-risk.html

Taking a daily dose of aspirin could reduce spread of breast cancer

Common painkiller found to suppress two strains of breast cancer

Taking aspirin could slow the spread of breast cancer, a study has found.

Scientists found the painkiller limits the creation of cells which fuel the disease and reduces tumour growth.

Laboratory tests on mice discovered low doses of the drug suppressed the spread of two different strains of the illness.

One of the strains is responsible for 'triple negative' breast cancer, which is resistant to many treatments and affects up to one in five patients.

The researchers at University of Kansas also found that aspirin boosted the effect of tamoxifen, a widely used treatment for the more common form of the disease.

As well as putting preventing the spread of cancer in the lab, the medicine significantly reduced tumour growths in mice. Earlier observations have suggested a protective effect of aspirin against the recurrence of breast cancer, with women who took aspirin to lower their risk of heart attack or stroke less likely to relapse. 

But the reason behind this effect is not yet understood. The researchers found that the drug may interfere with the generation of highly aggressive stem cells by tumours. In the mouse studies, treated cancer cells produced only partial or no stem cells, which are not destroyed by chemotherapy. Continue reading at:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2312555/Taking-daily-dose-aspirin-reduce-spread-breast-cancer-slowing-creation-cells-fuel-disease.html