On these pages you can check out the latest breast cancer news from BCAC and our member groups. We also provide up-to-date information and links to current breast cancer research and clinical trials. Read latest stories below, or use the filters or the pager below for other stories. Use the form to the right of this to subscribe to our e-News.
New research from the UK shows how alcohol damages DNA in stem cells and helps to explain why drinking can increase your risk of cancer.
The study, by scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge has been published in the journal Nature, and used mice to show how alcohol exposure leads to permanent genetic damage.
Researchers in the US have identified two new genes associated with breast cancer: MSH6 and PMS2.
The new study suggests that each gene approximately doubles a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer by age 60. The two genes were previously known to cause Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that raises the risk of colorectal, ovarian, stomach, and endometrial cancer.
The Horowhenua Pink Ladies Breast Cancer Support (BCS) Group has had a busy few months. They have welcomed several new members since Christmas so have had a lot of new women in their local area to support.
They enjoy seeing all their members at the monthly meetings which are held on the third Wednesday of every month at the Salvation Army Lounge in Levin - normally there are between 25 and 30 women attending these meetings.
A new study has found that acupuncture significantly reduces joint pain for post-menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer taking aromatase inhibitors.
The research, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, involved a randomised controlled trial comparing acupuncture, sham acupuncture and no acupuncture.
A combination of the breakthrough drug Keytruda and Herceptin is well tolerated and has clinical benefits for patients with Herceptin-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer.
The new treatment regimen was tested in a clinical trial on patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer that had continued to grow on Herceptin (trastuzumab) therapies.
Increasing the dose intensity of chemotherapy by shortening the time period between treatments may help to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurring, a new study shows.
The research, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, also noted that delivering drugs sequentially rather than at the same time helped to reduce the risk of recurrence and death.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) is pushing for the chemotherapy drug, Abraxane, to be publicly funded for women with advanced breast cancer.
BCAC has lodged an application with the Government’s drug-buying agency, PHARMAC, to publicly fund the drug for patients with advanced breast cancer.
A new report released at the renowned San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in the USA has confirmed that 12 months of Herceptin gives women with HER2-positive breast cancer the best chance of survival.
Clinical trials have been underway in New Zealand and elsewhere to test whether a 9-week programme of Herceptin would offer the same benefits as the longer programme.
Bariatric surgery (reducing the size of the stomach) for severely obese women could lower their breast cancer risk by more than a third, according to a new study.
The research from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has been published in the journal the Annals of Surgery and reviewed the medical data of more than 100,000 people in the United States.
Lead researcher, Dr Daniel Schauer, says the results were surprising.
Metavivors NZ members were in full force at BCAC’s Annual General Meeting at Domain Lodge in Auckland recently. PHARMAC CEO, Steffan Crausaz also attended, as did Breast Cancer Support co-chairs Judith Shinegold and Lesley Harper, Michele Urlich from the Lymphoedema Support Network, and several other BCAC members.
