Men rarely get breast cancer, bu tthose who do often don’t survive as long as women, largely because they don’t even realise they can get it and are slow to recognise the warning signs, researchers said last Friday.

The biggest study yet of breast cancer in males found that, on average women with breast cancer lived two years longer than men.

Mens breast tumours were larger at diagnosis, more advanced, and more likely to have spread to other parts of the body, the study found. Men were also diagnosed later in life – in the study, they were 63 on average, vesus 59 for women.

Why do men face worse when it comes to breast cancer? Most men have no idea that they can get breast cancer – and some doctors are in the dark, too, dismissing symptoms that would be an automatic red flag in women, study leader Jon Greif, a breast cancer surgeon in Oakland, California, said.

The American Cancer Society estimtes that one in 1000 men will get breast cancer, versus one in eight women. By comparison, one in six men will get prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men.

It is not really been on the radar screen to think about breast cancer in men, Dr David Winchester, a breast cancer surgeon in NorthShore University Health System in suburban Chicago, said. He treats only a few men with breast cancer each year, compared with at least 1000 women.

For the study, researchers analysed 10 years of national data on breast cancer cases, from 1998 to 2007. A total of 13,457 male patients diagnosed during those years were included, versus 1.4 million women.

Some doctors said one finidng suggests men’s breast tumours might be biologically different from women’s: Men with early stage disease had worse survival rates than women with early stage cancer. But men’s older age at diagnosis might explain that result, Dr Greif said.

AP

Health Ministry of French said there was no cancer risk from breast implants made by local firm Poly Implant Prothese (PIP). However it recommends women to have them removed after eight cases of cancer.

Women with PIP implants “do not have a higher risk of cancer than women who have implants manufactured by other firms”, a statement said. but it added that there were “well-established risks of ruptures”.

Health minister Xavier Bertrand called for their removal as a “preventive measure”. The bankrupted PIP was shut down and had its products banned last year after it was discovered to have been using non-authorised silicone gel that caused abnormally high rupture rates of its implants.

Facing financial difficulties, PIP once the world’s 3rd largest producer of silicone implants, replaced the medical-grade silicone in its implants with industrial-strength material.

It exports 84 percent of its annual production of 100,000 implants, mainly to South American countries including Brazil and Columbia. The other were exported to Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany.

US researchers have found that women who survive breast cancer after undergoing chemotherapy may also have to contend with impairments in attention, memory and planning skills.

There is strong correlation between women who complained they were having trouble with memory and thinking skills and actual deficits in the regions of the brain that responsible for executive functioning tasks. The study said women who had undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer had significantly less activity in parts of the brain. It may explain why many breast cancer patients complain of “chemo brain” – a term used to describe foggy thinking and memory lapses following treatment with chemotherapy.

Dr. Kesler from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, said that the conventional thinking that chemotherapy drugs cannot cross a protective membrance called the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from toxins may not totally true.

Doctors may have wrongly dismissed women’s complaints of brain deficits after chemotherapy, chalking them up to exaggeration and stress related to the cancer. The study may prove that when a patient reports she is struggling with these types of problems, there is a possibility there has been a brain change.

US researchers have found that women who survive breast cancer after undergoing chemotherapy may also have to contend with impairments in attention, memory and planning skills.

There is strong correlation between women who complained they were having trouble with memory and thinking skills and actual deficits in the regions of the brain that responsible for executive functioning tasks. The study said women who had undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer had significantly less activity in parts of the brain. It may explain why many breast cancer patients complain of “chemo brain” – a term used to describe foggy thinking and memory lapses following treatment with chemotherapy.

Dr. Kesler from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, said that the conventional thinking that chemotherapy drugs cannot cross a protective membrance called the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from toxins may not totally true.

Doctors may have wrongly dismissed women’s complaints of brain deficits after chemotherapy, chalking them up to exaggeration and stress related to the cancer. The study may prove that when a patient reports she is struggling with these types of problems, there is a possibility there has been a brain change.

Scientists in U.S and Japan has recently announced that they have invented a spray that is able

to identify cancer cells.

In the experiment, the scientists demonstrates that when the suspected cancer area is sprayed,

the cancer cells

will emit visible light within few minutes.

According to Japan’s Kyodo News, a paper has been published on the 23th issue of the American journal ”Science”

by Professor Urano of University of Tokyo and a researcher from United States National

Health Research Centre on this new finding.

In the paper, its explained that a group of researchers have sprayed on the ovarian cancer

cells which is transplanted into a mice.

The cells are emitting green light after 40 - 60 minutes of spray.

The research paper pointed out that the use of spray can help doctor

to identify and detect the tiny cancer cells (<1mm) which is

hard to detect by existing MRI method. The spray will also helps

doctor to identify and remove all the tiny cancer cells completely

during the surgery, and reduce the risk of relapse.
The report also reveal that this spray will not cause any adverse

effect to normal cells. It requires no special equipment, low cost

and simple operation. Thus it is expected the spray will soon

be used in various general hospitals in a few years time.

Recent Research Development In Breast Cancer

There is a hope for a new drug after scientists in Singapore discover the protein that causes breast cancer.

The finding can eventually lead to new drugs to treat the disease. Named as WBP2, the protein exists in two forms: dormant and active. The dormant form is harmful only to people who already have breast cancer, because it encourages the rogue cells to multiply faster.

But the active form is dangerous even in healthy people. it changes normal cells to breast cancer cells aand then speeds up their growth.National University of Singapore scientists said it is not clear how many of these proteins are found in people.

They are “switched on” by a process called phosphorylation, where a phosphate binds to the protein, but it is also not known why this happens.

The researchers said the identification of the protein could lead to more targeted drugs. Several drugs currently being used in clinical trials are especially effective against cancer caused by WBP2.

Scientists are conducting more researches to find out how the protein works, and how prevalent it is among breast cancer cases. The protein has also been linked to lung, prostate and colon cancer.