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New Zealand researchers will soon use cutting-edge genetic technology to help control resistance to the latest drug for treating HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) is excited to partner with the Karen Louisa Foundation to better support New Zealanders with secondary breast cancer.
The Karen Louisa Foundation will donate $20,000 to BCAC over the next year as the organisation launches a special focus on women with secondary breast cancer.
BCAC chairperson, Libby Burgess, says the aim is to better support the hundreds of New Zealanders currently living with secondary breast cancer.
New research has found that hormones produced by fat cells in obese women can promote the growth of breast cancer cells, while exercise may help to stop the cancer from growing.
The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, highlights the crucial role of fat cells and the hormones they produce in the growth of breast cancer.
A recent US study has highlighted the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for women diagnosed with breast cancer.
The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, examined a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Breast Cancer programme using a randomised clinical trial in more than 300 women who had received recent treatment for breast cancer.
Taking hormone drugs for more than ten years could help to dramatically reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence, according to a landmark study.
A randomised clinical trial involving nearly 2,000 women found that cancer recurrence dropped by a third in those who took hormone drugs for ten years rather than the standard five.
Researchers hope that three new breakthrough drugs designed to target triple negative breast cancer could potentially transform therapy for those with the hard-to-treat disease.
There are currently no targeted therapies for those with triple negative breast cancer leaving medical care reliant on traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) wants to see a breakthrough new radiation technology used more widely to treat thousands of New Zealand women with breast cancer.
Intra-Operative Radiation Therapy (also known as IORT) is used in women with low-risk early-stage breast cancer and means they receive a single shot of radiation during surgery to remove the tumour.
BCAC committee members have developed an action plan to improve access to clinical trials in New Zealand following an advocates’ workshop in Sydney last week.
Scientists say they now have a near-perfect picture of the genetic events that cause breast cancer.
The study, published in Nature, has been described as a "milestone" moment that could help unlock new ways of treating and preventing the disease.
The largest study of its kind unpicked practically all the errors that cause healthy breast tissue to go rogue.
