A Lesson for Global Donors from the Susan G. Komen Fallout: Transparency is a Virtue - Up Front Blog - Brookings Institution

abstract: Can You See What They Are Saying? Breast Cancer Images and Text in Canadian Women’s and Fashion Magazines

The most common theme in the articles was medical issues (35.5%); in the images, it was beauty or fashion (15.4%). The potential impact of these divergent messages for breast cancer education is discussed.

Clinical Care Options - Oncology CME - An Update on Metastatic Breast Cancer

Money, Marketing, and Ethics: Can They Work Together? (breast cancer)

audio interview - critical discussion: CBC.ca | Q | Does "Pink" Serve the Breast Cancer Cause? (and discusses other cancers)

(audio) http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=1608560249

(cbc blog) http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2010/10/06/what-do-you-think-about-pink/

March 2011: Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice | Full text | Lynch Syndrome - is breast cancer a feature?

Background

The debate on whether or not breast cancer is in the tumor spectrum for Lynch syndrome produces a conundrum for healthcare providers.

The classic tumor spectrum for Lynch Syndrome (LS) includes colon, endometrial, ovarian, stomach, small intestine, hepatobiliary, urinary tract and brain/central nervous system cancers. Muir-Torre Syndrome (MTS) is a variant of LS that is associated with additional skin lesions including sebaceous gland tumors and keratoacanthomas. MTS was observed in 28% of LS families when assessing for MTS skin lesions [1]. It has also been reported that 10-14% of individuals with MTS present initially with breast cancer [2,3]. An extensive study published in 2002 excluded breast cancer as part of the tumor spectrum associated with LS [4].

However, more recently it was reported that DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene deficiencies were identified in 51% of breast cancers arising in MMR mutation carriers [5]. Another study reported a male with an MLH1 mutation who had both colon and breast cancer. The breast cancer exhibited somatic reduction to homozygosity for the MLH1 mutation [6].

Here we report two unrelated families in which the proband has a germline MMR gene mutation and bilateral breast cancer, and one family in which the proband had ovarian and renal cancer and her daughter, maternal aunt and cousin had breast cancer at age 47, 59, and 48 respectively.

This raises the question are these breast cancers associated with the MMR mutations or a breast cancer susceptibility gene and what testing should be offered?

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that breast cancer is part of the spectrum of tumors in LS families in which the breast cancer segregates with the other LS associated tumors.

Additional hereditary breast cancer gene testing may not be warranted in these circumstances. A future research goal is to perform IHC on the breast tumors from these families to determine if they show loss of expression of the MMR gene that is known to be altered.

....cont'd (full free access)

Review - EvidenceUpdates: Congestive heart failure risk in patients with breast cancer treated with bevacizumab/Avastin (including professional commentary)

1) link including professional commentary (BMJ Evidence Centre/McMaster)

2) additional link to abstract (JCO)

JCO Editorial + abstract/podcast: Bevacizumab (Avastin) for Advanced Breast Cancer: All Tied Up With a RIBBON? (the Ribbon-1 trial)

Editorial: Bevacizumab for Advanced Breast Cancer: All Tied Up With a RIBBON?

• Harold J. Burstein

JCO published online on March 7, 2011; DOI:10.1200/JCO.2010.33.2684.

• [PDF]
• [JCO Podcast]
• Breast Cancer RIBBON-1: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase III Trial of Chemotherapy With or Without Bevacizumab for First-Line Treatment of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Negative, Locally Recurrent or Metastatic Breast Cancer

JCO published online on March 7, 2011; DOI:10.1200/JCO.2010.28.0982.

• [Abstract]
• [JCO Podcast]