Monday, July 7, 2014

Around the Web

I felt like I crawled across a finish line when Quinn finally fell asleep last night, even with my mom visiting last week to help lighten my load. Being a single parent is hard work (I know -- and it is hot in Phoenix, and the songs in Frozen are catchy), and I promise this is not a guilt trip, Chris. So my posting schedule is all over the place lately, but you guys are enjoying your summers at outdoor BBQs and lake homes and not reading blogs anyway, right?

For those of you still following along, here is what caught my attention on the web this week since my last one of these.

I kinda wish I'd done this.


Super early results, but exciting discoveries nonetheless.

"A study led by Princeton University researchers has revealed that the gene Metadherin - which is implicated in promoting the spread of breast cancer tumors - only stimulates tumor growth when the protein made by the gene interacts with a second protein known as SND1."

This sounds like a cartoon Quinn would want to watch: "Cyclotrons to the Rescue."

"Memorial Sloan Kettering has taken a leap into the future with the launch of a new cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that will be used to produce radioactive molecules for PET imaging of cancers. The 44,000-pound instrument and the production facility built around it are expected to change the way our patients are diagnosed and treated by allowing doctors to examine and target tumors with increased precision."

One more breast cancer correlation to worry about...

Turns out there may be more than obesity and alcohol intake and the age you started menstruating and the age you had your first child (or whether you had children at all) and what deodorant you wear and how tight your bras are and now I'm just making things up (but you get the picture) to worry about when it comes to breast cancer risk. 

A test for non-hereditary breast cancer risk. (But will insurance cover it?)

And will the rate of prophylactic mastectomies rise as a result? I am not sure what I would have done had I known about my risk ahead of time, but that is probably a thought for another post.

A new treatment for Her-2+ breast cancers? 

"In further experiments on mice, they used another treatment called 264RAD to target this molecule and found it completely eradicated the tumours. They will now carry out trials on women to test how well this treatment works alongside Herceptin."

If you remember, Herceptin was one of the drugs I was on for more than twenty-one months. Kadcyla, the drug I'm on now, is a chemo piggy-backed to Herceptin. It seems to be working, but I am always on the lookout for new treatment options coming down the pike.

And speaking of crawling across a finish line...

Just 5 more days until my team and I walk nearly 40 miles in 2 days to highlight our masochism the fight against breast cancer. If you'd still like to contribute, just click the link above. Or buy me a beer at the finish line in San Francisco.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for another round up. There is so much here I would not catch! :)

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    1. You are so welcome -- glad you're finding these useful!

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