Around the Web: End of Summer Edition

Kids are back in school everywhere, it seems, based on all of the adorable Facebook posts of your kids holding signs about what grade they're entering. This is one of my favorite times of year on social media. Pumpkin patch season is next up, I think.

Anyway, here's my husband (a professor) with his take on the meme (and yes, this is how he typically dresses for work).

It's true: save for this weekend, summer's just about over (even if our thermostat begs to differ). And I owe you all some news. So here's the research I found around the web over the last couple of months. I wasn't just eating bonbons by the pool, you guys. Who am I kidding? I wasn't doing that at all, but a girl can dream.

Scientists Turn Cancer Cells Back to Normal, Could "Switch Off" Disease

WELL, THIS WOULD BE AMAZING. Clinical trials stat, please.

"For the first time, aggressive breast, lung and bladder cancer cells have been turned back into harmless benign cells by restoring the function which prevents them from multiplying excessively and forming dangerous growths.

Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Florida in the U.S. said it was like applying the brakes to a speeding car.

So far it has only been tested on human cells in the lab, but the researchers are hopeful that the technique could one day be used to target tumours so that cancer could be “switched off” without the need for harsh chemotherapy or surgery."

No Surprise Here: Cancer Drugs Are Freaking Expensive

"[The report] goes on to matter-of-factly lay out the harsh financial realities many people face after a cancer diagnosis, a suite of diseases that will affect 1 in 3 individuals over their lifetime. While the cost of new drugs has soared to well over $100,000 a year, the out-of-pocket expenses patients are expected to bear have also gone up to 20 to 30 percent. Because of these costs, about 10% to 20% of patients with cancer do not take the prescribed treatment or compromise it."

So Here's to Generic Drugs!

"There's new evidence that two inexpensive generic drugs can improve survival rates for women who develop breast cancer after menopause.

In two large studies published Friday in The Lancet, a class of hormone-therapy drugs called aromatase inhibitors and bone-preserving drugs called bisphosphonates improved survival and recurrence rates in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer."

As if You Needed It: Another Reason to Quit Smoking

But none of my readers still smoke, right? 

"Among more than 800 women with breast cancer, those who had smoked for more than two decades had at least triple the odds of dying of any cause, or from breast cancer in particular, compared with women who never used cigarettes."

A "Glimmer of Hope" for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients

"Using mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer, the team reduced expression of IL13RA2 in cancer cells. They found that lowering IL13RA2 was associated with much slower tumor growth, and the cancer cells were much less likely to spread to the lungs.
Based on their findings, Thiagalingam and colleagues believe IL13RA2 plays a role in the growth and spread of triple-negative breast cancer, suggesting the molecule may be an important drug target for the disease. Thiagalingam adds:

"This discovery offers a glimmer of hope for patients stricken with BLBC. Personalized cancer therapies could be developed by targeting breast cancer cells that express copious levels of IL13RA2."

What is more, the researchers say their findings could lead to treatment strategies for other forms of cancer involving high IL13RA2 expression, such as ovarian, brain, colon and pancreatic cancers."

And More Options for Her-2+ Patients (Like Myself)

"Treatment-refractory HER2-positive metastatic breast cancers are becoming increasingly rare due to the recent advent of multitargeted HER2 receptor blockade mechanisms that utilize novel antibodies and antibody–drug conjugates even as the roster of new therapies under study for this patient population continues to expand, according to Mohammed Jahanzeb, MD.

“The landscape is really shifting,” said Jahanzeb, a breast and lung cancer expert.

Jahanzeb said many novel agents including antibody–drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, and immunotherapies are being evaluated for patients with recurrent disease at a time when outcomes are improving. “The field is very rich,” he said. “Actually, what is not so rich is access to these patients [for clinical trials]. Luckily for them, fewer are relapsing.”"

Further Evidence that Our Immune Systems Have a Role to Play in Fighting Cancer

"A cancer patient's chances of survival seem to depend partly on activity in specific genes and immune system cells, a new study suggests.

Using data from nearly 18,000 people who were treated for cancer, scientists found that particular patterns of gene activity corresponded to patients' survival odds -- across a whole range of cancers, including brain, breast, colon and lung cancers."

Another Novel Approach? Overstimulate Certain Cancer Cells to Kill Them

This is not yet available in a clinical setting, but researchers are optimistic.

"A drug candidate that overstimulates proteins crucial for tumor growth shows promise as a new strategy to treat a wide range of cancers. The demands of rapid cell division put a strain on cancer cells, and the approach works by tipping cell stress over the edge. In the August 10 issue of Cancer Cell, American researchers show that the drug candidate inhibits tumor growth in a mouse model of breast cancer and efficiently kills a broad range of human cancer cells.

"No prior drug has been previously developed or proposed that actually stimulates an oncogene to promote therapy," says co-senior study author David Lonard of Baylor College of Medicine. "Our prototype drug works in multiple types of cancers and encourages us that this could be a more general addition to the cancer drug arsenal.""

Blood Test Could Predict Breast Cancer's Return

I'm not sure if I'd want this, for the same reasons I won't go see a psychic. Would you get the test?

"An experimental blood test may be able to predict whether a woman with breast cancer will suffer a relapse months before new tumors would be detectable on scans, researchers said Wednesday.

The technology, described in the journal Science Translational Medicine, works by detecting cancer DNA that circulates in the bloodstream.

While the test is not yet available to the public, and likely will not be for years to come, researchers are hopeful that it could help refine personalized treatments for cancer and perhaps lead scientists further down the path of finding a cure one day.

"We have shown how a simple blood test has the potential to accurately predict which patients will relapse from breast cancer, much earlier than we can currently," said study author Nicholas Turner, team leader in molecular oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London."

Around the Web: Sore & Bruised Edition

I'm pretty sure I gave myself whiplash last weekend when I tripped on the laces of my sandals during an aggressive game of duck-duck-goose. One minute I was the "goose" chasing Quinn, the next I was smacking the cement with such force and velocity that my sunglasses went flying, I scraped most the skin off my right elbow, and all of my pride went floating away like a lost balloon.

Remember? I told you I'm a bit of a klutz.

I woke up on Monday with a headache and a sore neck, both of which have gotten better as the week goes on. My elbow too. That hasn't stopped me from wondering if I have brain mets due to the headaches or bone mets due to how sore my elbow is. 

Hey, I never said cancer made me more rational. 

Speaking of sore, I've started a new exercise routine, although calling it a routine is a bit of a stretch since I've only gone four times in two weeks. I'm started doing Pilates with a couple of girlfriends after one of them roped the other two of us in like cattle about to be slaughtered.

My texts with my other new-to-Pilates friend have gone a bit like this over the last 24 hours: 

Me: My calves are burning!!!!

My friend: I mean, my calves hurt so bad that if I stay stagnant for too long, the second I get up, I almost crumble.

Me: Every time I go to stand up, my legs seize up. I might sleep on the couch just so I don’t have to move again.

My friend: OMG...I know. I just walked from the couch to the desk (and you know how short of a distance that is) and about fell over.

Here's the deal, though. I figure if I exercise enough that I'm always sore somewhere, it somehow makes the pain less likely to be from cancer. Or takes my mind off of cancer (a little, anyway).

And speaking of cancer, here's why you're here, the things I saw in the world of research around the web this week.

***

Do Patient Navigators Actually Help?

What do you think? Have you used services like this? Would you? I haven't, but then I kind of have because I have my husband Chris, who is basically my extra set of eyes and ears and most definitely my extra memory. 

Also, this: 

"In the end, many say, debating patient navigation may be asking the wrong question. Why not, they wonder, spend the money and energy needed to overhaul the entire cancer-treatment system?

“One question worth asking is why do [patient navigators] exist,” Ramsey said. “And the reason is the cancer community has done a very poor job of helping patients through the system. The fact that navigation exists is kind of an indictment of the cancer-care system.”'

Why BRCA Genes Eventually Resist Cancer Treatment

"Now, scientists at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, have pinpointed a key molecule called co-factor DSS1 that helps the BRCA2 gene to repair DNA.

They note how "DSS1 acts as a DNA mimic," and without it, BRCA2 mutations cannot do their job of repairing DNA - which is key to the survival of cancer cells.

The team says the findings point to a possible way to decrease drug resistance in cancers involving BRCA genes.

Senior author Patrick Sung, a professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, suggests drugs that interfere with DSS1 function could be developed and used with existing drugs to overcome this resistance."

A Clue About Why Brain Metastases Occur, And One Possibility for Stopping Them

This is at a way early stage (mouse models), but looks promising. 

"Removing a single protein from the blood could stop breast cancer spreading to other part of the body, scientists have discovered.

They identified a key molecule, which triggers the growth of blood vessels in tumours that have spread to the brain - a common secondary site for breast cancer to spread.

By withholding the protein, called DOCK4, a particular part of the blood vessel did not form as quickly, meaning tumours grew at a slower rate, scientists found.

Dr Georgia Mavria, from the University of Leeds, said the discovery could help develop new drugs and identify people at risk of their breast cancer spreading."

How Many Studies Like This Do We Need?

"The increased use of mammograms to screen for breast cancer has subjected more women to invasive medical treatments but has not saved lives, a new study says.

After reviewing cancer registry records from 547 counties across the United States, researchers concluded that the screening tests aren’t working as hoped. Instead of preventing deaths by uncovering breast tumors at an early, more curable stage, screening mammograms have mainly found small tumors that would have been harmless if left alone."

It's also very much worth reading this piece by the always-insightful Elaine Schattner, who writes, in part: 

"But mainly I’m concerned about the author’s definition of overdiagnosis, and their conclusion. In the paper’s second paragraph they write: “However, there are increasing concerns that screening unintentionally leads to overdiagnosis by identifying small, indolent, or regressive breast tumors that would not otherwise become clinically apparent.”

Yes, there are fast and slow breast tumors; pathology varies. As I will discuss in a post forthcoming, knowing the details of breast cancer should enable women and their doctors to avoid overtreatment, which is a real phenomenon and can be separated from overdiagnosis.

But regressive breast cancers?"

Exactly.

Adding Progesterone to "Double Positive" Patients' Protocols Could Increase Survival

"It turns out that when progesterone sticks to the progesterone receptor in cancer cells, it alters how the oestrogen receptor works, and effectively puts a second brake on tumour growth. Tests showed that mice given progesterone and tamoxifen had breast tumours only half the size of those given the drug on its own.

“Crucially, it provides a strong case for a clinical trial to investigate the potential benefit of adding progesterone to drugs that target the oestrogen receptor, which could improve treatment for the majority of hormone-driven breast cancers,” Carroll added. Details of the study are reported in Nature."

Around the Web: Like Clockwork

I've been chewing my nails something fierce lately, and I haven't been able to put my finger on why (no pun intended). Then it hit me when the scheduler from my oncologist's office called this morning: I am due for my three-month scans.

Except this time I'm not having three-month scans. I got bumped to every four months, which apparently in my world is just going to mean an extra month of anxiety. My body is that well-adapted to this cycle. My brain knows just when to start acting on-edge, when nightly Xanax pills might be in order once again. After all, I've been doing this for almost four years now.

{photo credit}

It's like clockwork over here.

Except it isn't.

So now I'm all thrown off schedule, my right thumbnail is bitten to the quick, and I do have scans on the books five weeks from now. So I better figure out how to get this anxiety under control because I can't take five weeks on high alert. I will literally run out of nails.

I also made the mistake of mentioning this article from last week's round-up to my doctor by way of his assistant, and so my doctor promptly ordered a bone density scan for me. I've never had one, so this will provide a baseline. It is also, predictably, adding to my anxiety. I don't know if it's cancer, or parenthood, or just being in my mid-thirties, but my mind worries about every possible thing that could go wrong, and not just when it comes to scans (from our toaster catching fire, to getting car-jacked at a stoplight because of course, to sinkholes even though we live in Arizona not Florida. The list goes on.)

Anyhow, here's what I saw around the web this week (but I'm not asking my doctor about any of them, lest he order any more tests for me).

At Long Last, Answering Some Questions about 'Exceptional Responders'

"Silva is what researchers call an “exceptional responder,” the rare patient who has a surprising, dramatic response to a drug. . .

Silva’s story, and those of other exceptional responders, have led to an intriguing set of questions: Could researchers use technologies such as genetic sequencing to figure out what made Silva’s tumor respond to treatment? Could they mine that data for clues that might help other patients? Could they ultimately find a way to make the exceptional more routine?"

Actually, I'd happily submit to more tests if it was to figure out why I've been so lucky, why I've responded to drugs the way I have, and maybe lead to answers that could pass some of that luck on to someone else. 

Last Week it Was the Bones, This Week the Lungs?

"Scientists at the University of Edinburgh said they have discovered a “trigger” that allows breast cancer cells to spread to the lungs. . .

Prof Jeffrey Pollard, the centre’s director, said: “Our findings open the door to the development of treatments that target the tumour microenvironment, which may stop the deadly progression of breast cancer in its tracks.”"

Will the Breast Cancer Test Kit be Next to the Pregnancy Tests at the Drugstore?

"Researchers at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Medical Center -- University of Freiburg have developed an approach for detecting breast cancer by means of urine samples. The method involves determining the concentration of molecules that regulate cell metabolism and that are often dysregulated in cancer cells. These molecules, referred to as microRNAs, enter into the urine over the blood. By determining the composition of microRNAs in the urine, the scientists succeeded in establishing with 91 percent accuracy whether a test subject was healthy or diseased."

A Case of Two Steps Forward, One Step Back (Or Sideways...)

"Countering previously held beliefs, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that inhibiting the immune receptor protein TLR4 may not be a wise treatment strategy in all cancers. This is because TLR4 can either promote or inhibit breast cancer cell growth depending on mutations in a gene called TP53. . .

"This looks like a promising avenue to develop drugs for the worst kinds of cancers," says Brown. "However, if we wish to target this immune pathway, we better pay attention to the TP53 status of the tumor.""

Finding Relief from Post-Mastectomy Pain

Mine is not so much pain as it is a significant tightness throughout my right pectoral muscle and armpit region (to use the anatomically correct term, I'm sure) that no amount of stretching seems to alleviate (although yoga helps tremendously). Chris, if you're reading, I think monthly spa massages would help, too.

My goal {photo credit}

"“Pain is a psychological trigger for worry about cancer recurrence,” said Julie Silver, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who specializes in cancer rehabilitation. “Treating PMPS really helps to relieve that anxiety.”

PMPS is generally defined as nerve-related pain that persists for at least three months after breast cancer surgery, though it can take up to six months to develop. It tends to occur in the upper chest or the underside of the arm, causing pain that women often describe as burning or shooting, and it sometimes presents, as it did in my sister, as an unbearable itch."

I Might Have to Ask My Doctor About A Daily Aspirin Regimen

He can't order any tests based on a question about aspirin, can he? 

"A daily dose of aspirin may be effective at blocking breast tumour growth, Indian-origin researchers have claimed.

Dr Sushanta Banerjee, research director of the Cancer Research Unit at the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and his team found that aspirin may be able to ensure that conditions around cancer stem cells are not conducive for reproduction."

And How Law School May Have Led to My Cancer Diagnosis*

"“People really should elevate the importance of sleep to the same level they do diet and exercise to improve their overall health and well-being,” he said."

On that note, I'm going to bed. 

* Allegedly.

Around the Web: Italy Edition

Thanks for the great feedback about keeping this series here. (Although it seems as if once a month might be my posting schedule for a lil' bit.) I've been pulled in a lot of different directions lately, not all of them deserving complaint. And to all who checked in and suggested I stop to get some rest, I've taken note, I promise.

As I write this, we are were in the midst of reconnecting with each other as a family in Italy. The month prior to our trip felt like a strange square dance in which Chris and I kept passing Quinn off to one another without stopping to a) dance with each other or b) rest our feet as a family. We've needed this time for awhile.

This was my first time to Italy, and I wanted to pinch myself at every passing gondola or square with a lion-spitting fountain in its center. There have been moments since we arrived when I've caught my breath in my throat to ward off tears because these are things that a couple of years ago I thought I might never get to experience.

I might never come back. (Spoiler alert: I came back. But I'm still considering a future move to a pied-à-terre in Rome, on the off-chance I could get my insurance to approve Kadcyla infusions abroad and convince Chris that a sabbatical there makes sense.)

We're doing a lot of walking, so I'm not sure we'll get much actual rest for our feet, but we're being fueled by pasta and wine and gelato so I think we'll be okay.  We averaged more than six miles a day, and Quinn kept up like a champ. We were more than okay. Now that I'm home, my body actually craves the movement...and the gelato. More on how to do a trip to Italy with a 4-year-old coming up in a post soonish.

Posts might be a little spotty here for a couple of weeks, but I'll try to manage an occasional photo of my bambino enjoying the sights. We had really terrible internet coverage when we had it at all, then I was too jet-lagged to even form sentences for a couple of days, and then I had chemo on Friday so I'm still having trouble forming sentences. But I do hope you saw some of the photos of Quinn over on my Instagram account.

A photo posted by Jen Campisano (@jencampisano) on Jun 1, 2015 at 1:07pm PDT

Here's what I've seen around the web the last couple of weeks month. If you have something you'd like me to include in future editions, please send me an email (jen dot campisano at gmail).

Grazie, bellas!

There Was This Depravity (Or, Pay Close Attention to Where and to Whom You Give Your Money)

"In its complaint, the F.T.C. called all four of the cancer groups “sham charities,” charging the organizations with deceiving donors and misusing millions of dollars in donations, including putting money toward personal expenses like carwashes and college tuition, from 2008 to 2012."

There Was This Loss

“Of course I wish I had more time,” she told the Jewish newspaper The Forward in 2009, after learning that her cancer had returned. “I would love to see grandchildren, to see weddings, to be a part of these amazing things for more time, but I love life and don’t want to spend any of it mourning the loss of that which I can’t have. I’d much rather embrace that which I do.”

And This One, Which Seemed to Shake Our Entire Nation

""It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life," Joe Biden said in a statement issued by the White House."

But also some uplifting news...

New Device Brings Us Closer to Understanding Metastases

"Metastasis occurs when cancer cells break away from a tumor and travel to distant parts of the body—the most dreaded event for a cancer patient. It is a mystery why some cells are able to travel through the body while others are not. Researchers from the University of Michigan, comprising a team of oncologists and engineers, have developed a new technology to help unlock this code.

A groundbreaking new study released in “Scientific Reports” describes a device that is able to sort cells based on their ability to move. The device allows researchers to take the sorted cells and compare the ones that are highly mobile to the ones that are less mobile. Understanding the differences in gene expression between these two types of cells can help identify why some cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body."

And a Potential Solution for Overcoming Her-2+ Drug Resistance

To be clear, this is still in the earliest, pre-drug stages. Super cool stuff nonetheless.

"There are currently no approved treatments that specifically target the ability of HER2 cells to join together or with other proteins, an essential first step in tumor growth. Lupu and her colleagues are now confirming the antitumor activity of this potential HER2 “master switch” in animal models. They will then move on to clinical testing, and the investigation of drugs—such as mimetic agents, targeted antibodies, and small molecules—that could specifically block this site responsible for HER2’s oncogenic potential.

“This drug does not yet exist; it is a promising area of future research,” said Lupu. “We believe that there is definitely hope because this is the first time that anybody has identified any region that blocks homodimerization and heterodimerization, which will simplify the treatment of the cancer. Rather than combining two, three or four drugs together, this will be a one-stop-shop.”"

How Breast Cancer Spreads to Bones -- And a Simple Way to Stop It

In my mind, this is HUGE news.

"Breast cancers can manipulate the structure of bone to make it easier to spread there, a study has found.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield said the tumours were effectively "fertilising" the bone to help themselves grow.

The study, in the journal Nature, said it may be possible to protect bone from a tumour's nefarious influence and consequently stop the cancer's spread. . . .

The animal tests also showed that a set of osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates could prevent the spread of cancer.

Bisphosphonates also interfere with the way bone is recycled in order to strengthen it.

They are already given to some cancer patients, but the Sheffield team believe they could have a much larger role."

Promising Early-Phase Clinical Trial Results Against Stage IV Her-2+ Breast Cancer 

"Promising clinical trial results presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2015 show activity of the investigational anti-cancer agent ONT-380 against HER2+ breast cancer, in one case specifically against brain metastases and in another case in overall survival of heavily pretreated HER2+ breast cancer patients.

"I am thrilled to have been able to offer this therapy to a patient in her early 40s. She didn't have any other great treatment options that we would have expected to have any meaningful impact, especially on her brain. Now she's been on the study over a year. The mets in her body are gone and the brain lesion has shrunk down to a little nubbin. She's living a normal life, fretting about the family business and how the kids are doing -- normal stuff," says Virginia Borges, MD, MMSc, director of the Breast Cancer Research Program and Young Women's Breast Cancer Translational Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and one of the study's authors."

Study Shows Complete Response for Some Patients with Metastatic TNBC 

"Immunomedics, Inc., (IMMU) today announced that among 49 patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) evaluated for response to treatments with sacituzumab govitecan in a mid-stage clinical study, 31%, or 15 patients, showed a reduction in tumor size of 30% or more. They include 2 patients with complete response. Response assessments were based on the rules set by the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.1). Adding the 22 patients with responses between less than 30% tumor shrinkage and less than 20% tumor increase, the disease control rate was 76%. . . .

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated sacituzumab govitecan a Fast Track development program for the treatment of patients with TNBC who have failed prior therapies for metastatic disease and patients with small-cell or non-small cell lung cancers."

And Promising News on the Cancer Front in General (out of the ASCO 2015 Annual Meeting)

"A new drug that unleashes the body’s immune system to attack tumors can prolong the lives of people with the most common form of lung cancer, doctors reported on Friday, the latest example of the significant results being achieved by this new class of medicines.

In a separate study, researchers said they had found that a particular genetic signature in the tumor can help predict which patients could benefit from the immune-boosting drugs.

The finding could potentially extend use of these drugs to some patients with colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and other tumors that have seemed almost impervious to the new drugs. Most of the substantial results so far with these expensive drugs have been in treating melanoma and lung cancer."

A Way to Eliminate Many Types of Cancer Cells -- At Least in Mice

"A type of immune cell can be primed to attack and eliminate various kinds of malignant cancers in mice, according to a study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

The researchers studied mouse models of melanoma, pancreatic, breast and lung cancer and found that their technique could eliminate not only primary tumors, but also distant metastases throughout the body.

“The potency is impressive,” said Edgar Engleman, MD, PhD, a professor of pathology and of medicine at Stanford and the senior author of the study. “You actually see tumor eradication.”"

Around the Web: Overdue Edition

Every few weeks, Quinn and I go to the Scottsdale Public Library, which has a superb children's section. There are painted moats on the floor and real castle walls and a drawbridge that leads the way into a reading nook. There are legos for building, a giant stuffed dragon for riding, puppets and a stage for creating stories, and age-appropriate games housed on iPad learning centers. It's a wonderful space. But still, we forget (and by "we," I mean "I") to return in time to get our books in when they're due. I end up logging into my account online and renewing our checked-out books to avoid a late fee and a 15-minute drive.

{We have always loved reading together. Sept. 2012}

Much like our beloved library books, this "Around the Web" series is long overdue for a renewal. Or at least an update, since research is (by all accounts I can find) still happening. Progress, though sometimes achingly slow, is being made.

I don't even know if you guys come here for the research I sometimes post, but I think some of you might. I also think it's important (for my own sanity, if nothing else) to take note of the advances being made on the research side of things. To laud the glimmers of hope out there. Some of them are starting to shine pretty brightly.

***

At the conference I attended in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago, I wondered if I was somewhat of an imposter being at this summit for Online Health Advocates. Was I one? Could I fill those shoes? I mentioned once or twice that I didn't feel so much like an advocate as I did a storyteller, to which a couple of other attendees told me, "Nonsense. That is how we advocate, how we connect with people, through our stories."

Stepping into the role of advocate a bit more fully, for me, means keeping up a little better with the science side of things. (As long as it's not organic chemistry.) I used to be a lobbyist, in my former life back in DC. Yes, stories are how we connect, but when you're sitting in a wonk's office you also better know a little something about the guts of your subject matter. Where is progress being made? What research is most promising? How is it being funded? How can Congress help? I'm exploring a few opportunities that I hope will help me dive even deeper into this arena, and in that vein I'll be brushing the dust off my shoulders to participate in the National Breast Cancer Coalition's annual lobby day before Congress when I'm in DC next week.

{Photo: Mike Boening Photography}

After I walk 39.3 miles.

In the meantime I'm wondering if this is the right format -- or platform even -- for these posts on the research I cull from around the web. What do you think? Keep them here? Or would you subscribe to a newsletter if I promised to keep up with it? Please let me know what you think. And for now, here's the best of what I've found over the past month. (Like I said, overdue!)

Embracing My Inner Pollyanna

via Ann Silberman

"Some cases of metastatic breast cancer are already cured, Sledge said: in the adjuvant setting, where it is micrometastatic disease but still metastatic; and with oligometastatic breast cancer, as the CALOR (Chemotherapy for Isolated Locoregional Recurrence of Breast Cancer) trial has shown recently (Aebi et al. Lancet Oncology 2014;2:156-163).

'So the question is not why can't we cure, but rather why don't we cure more?' he said."

Because Scientists are Doing Things Like This

"Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have developed an imageable mouse model of brain-metastatic breast cancer and shown the potential of a stem-cell-based therapy to eliminate metastatic cells from the brain and prolong survival. The study published online in the journal Brain also describes a strategy of preventing the potential negative consequences of stem cell therapy.

"Metastatic brain tumors - often from lung, breast or skin cancers - are the most commonly observed tumors within the brain and account for about 30 percent of advanced breast cancer metastases," says Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, director of the Molecular Neurotherapy and Imaging Laboratory in the MGH Departments of Radiology and Neurology, who led the study. "Our results are the first to provide insight into ways of targeting brain metastases with stem-cell-directed molecules that specifically induce the death of tumor cells and then eliminating the therapeutic stem cells.""

Scientists are SO FREAKING COOL.

A Switch to Tame Triple-Negative Breast Cancer?

"Australian researchers have found that so-called 'triple-negative breast cancers'1 are two distinct diseases that likely originate from different cell types. This helps explain why survival prospects for women with the diagnosis tend to be either very good or very bad.

The Sydney-based research team has found a gene that drives the aggressive disease, and hopes to find a way to 'switch it off'."

Promising Outcomes from Early Phase Trials for Metastatic Triple Negative BC

"The high mutation rate of triple-negative breast cancer, which can produce neoantigens that induce an immune response, makes it a candidate for cancer immunotherapy, in particular PD-L1-targeted therapies. In addition, patients with triple-negative breast cancer with high levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), have improved outcomes, Emens said."

And for Her-2+ Metastatic Breast Cancers, As Well

""We also saw responses in these women, particularly in those that were anthracycline-naïve," continued LoRusso. "Given that many of the patients had disease that had progressed following treatment with trastuzumab [Herceptin], T-DM1 [Kadcyla], and pertuzumab [Perjeta], these results are encouraging and led to the ongoing randomized, phase II HERMIONE clinical trial, which is testing whether MM-302 plus trastuzumab is more effective than chemotherapy of physician's choice plus trastuzumab for locally advanced/metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer.

"If the results of HERMIONE are positive, MM-302 may provide another therapeutic option for women with HER2-positive breast cancer," LoRusso added."

Plus a New Signaling Pathway Discovered in Her-2+ Breast Cancer Cells

THIS: "One of the most promising ideas in cancer treatment is to apply a lesson learned in the fight against AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome): simultaneously attacking a pathological process at different points of weakness can, in some cases, deal a knock-out blow. Just as the so-called AIDS "cocktail" directs multiple agents against multiple targets, so too might future anti-cancer cocktails be directed at multiple, highly specific targets in known cancer pathways."

Don't Worry, Scientists are Finding Ways to Halt Hormone-Driven Cancer, Too

"An experimental drug rapidly shrinks most tumors in a mouse model of human breast cancer, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When mice were treated with the experimental drug, BHPI, “the tumors immediately stopped growing and began shrinking rapidly,” said University of Illinois biochemistry professor and senior author David Shapiro. “In just 10 days, 48 out of the 52 tumors stopped growing, and most shrank 30 to 50 percent.”"

There's a Lot of Buzz About the Future of "Liquid Biopsies"

"But eventually, we’ll begin to match specific clinical outcomes, such as therapy response, with the circulating DNA that is sequenced. We’re also working on building databases that will show which cancer drugs work most effectively with which cancers at a genetic level. We’re moving forward with this research at an exciting pace; in the next five to ten years, it’s going to make a tremendous difference in how we practice medicine."

The Psychology of Living with Advanced Cancer

“We’re all terminal,” Bellizzi says. “We’re all dying with each passing day, and there’s no way to get around that. I have found that starting my day with that thought helps me change my priorities and perspective. I try to never forget to tell people I love that I love them. If I get in a fight with a family member, I make sure to fix that before I go to bed. We don’t know what’s around the corner. I think it helps us live that way by reminding ourselves that it’s not cancer but life that’s a terminal condition.”

Around the Web: Stomp Out BC Edition

There was a movement among the online breast cancer community yesterday to raise awareness for metastatic breast cancer, to call attention to a side of the disease that rarely gets talked about, to make some noise collectively. Stomp Out Breast Cancer Monday was the brainchild of Beth Fairchild (view her news clip here). The goal was to get the hashtags #dontignorestageiv #bckills and #metsmonday trending on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or wherever an impact might be felt.

I don't know about you, but my Facebook feed was filled with stories of women I have come to love, women who are facing this disease with so much grace it felt like my heart might burst reading through their experiences. One friend wrote: "The hardest part about living with metastatic breast cancer isn't the treatments. It's looking into my 9 year old's eyes and seeing the pain and fear there. Cancer is a thief that has robbed all of my kids of their innocence." 

Then last night, because Quinn took a weird late-afternoon nap that lasted until 8:30 pm, I was able to participate in the #BCSM Twitter chat that takes place on Monday nights. I got to say hi to some old friends (and new) as we talked about what we'd seen on social media that day: what resonated, what worked, what could be done differently in the future, what our ultimate goal even is. (RESEARCH DOLLARS NOW, PLEASE!!!) Then I found myself crying as we remembered friends who've passed away, and I tweeted this: 

I do not want my son to have to remember me. #bcsm
— Jennifer Campisano (@JCampisano) March 3, 2015

I am also extra emotional because Chris is FINALLY home after four weeks in Africa, because Quinn turns four this week, and because I have a scan on his birthday. It's as if, with Chris back, I can let my guard down and let all this pent up emotion out. I no longer have to run the household by myself, be a single parent (my utmost respect and awe to those of you who are always single parents), or worry as much about the bogeyman every weird noise at night.

Today was emotional, but also inspiring in so many ways. I was proud of how this community rallied to get our voices heard. I hope I can continue to be a part of that rallying cry for many, many years to come.

Here's what else I saw on the web this week.

Basket Studies a Faster Way to Try Many Drugs on Many Cancers

"She is part of a new national effort to try to treat cancer based not on what organ it started in, but on what mutations drive its growth.

Cancers often tend to be fueled by changes in genes, or mutations, that make cells grow and spread to other parts of the body. There are now an increasing number of drugs that block mutations in cancer genes and can halt a tumor’s growth."

A Test to Predict Whether You'll Survive Breast Cancer?

At this point, I'm not sure I'd take such a test. Would you?

"The test uses computerised imaging of tumour samples and statistical analysis to measure the number of immune cell ‘hotspots’.

Researchers found images of hotspots where immune cells were clustered together around breast cancer cells provided a better measure of immune response than simply the numbers of immune cells within a tumour.

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, analysed tumour samples from 245 women with ER negative tumours.

They split women with breast cancer into two groups based on the numbers of immune hotspots within their tumours. Women whose cancers had a high number of spots lived an average of 91 months before their cancer spread, compared with just 64 months for those with a low number of spots.

The test is the first objective method of measuring the strength of a patient’s immune response to their tumour."

"This is Going to Happen in Our Lifetimes"

This is long, but so worth the watch. It gave me so many goosebumps. And of course, made me cry. Seriously, by the end I was bawling. But also, so very, incredibly hopeful. 

Around the Web

I woke up Monday morning to the smell of rotten eggs wafting from a rarely-used shower in the bathroom off our kitchen. Through the frosted glass door, I could see a shadowy mass taking over the shower's floor. I hesitated for a minute before opening the door. To sludge? Sewage? It was black and not quite liquid so much as liquid filled with sediment. I quickly closed the door and tried to make my coffee without gagging.

Is Mercury still in retrograde?

Because our stove's gas leak is also back, even though we thought it had been repaired in November. So I'm relearning how to use a slow cooker while I (again) wait for the appliance company to (again) find a part for our thirty-something-year-old beast of an oven.

Clearly, I'm supposed to stay out of the kitchen this week.

(But if you have any winning crockpot recipes, please pass them along!)

The fourth plumber I called was able to come out to the house that day instead of asking me to wait until Thursday. I had just enough time to drop Quinn off at school, drive over to my oncologist's office for blood work, and get back home to meet the guy who'd climb on my roof to snake our shower, which I still don't fully understand. At least my house no longer smells like burning sulfur.

None of which has anything to do with this week's round-up. Except to maybe say that it pays to be persistent.

Case in Point: Slamon's Tenacity Advances the Field of Breast Cancer Research

"Slamon, now director of Clinical/Translational Research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), conducted the laboratory work and testing that resulted in trastuzumab (Herceptin), the first molecularly targeted therapy for breast cancer. 

His is a particularly intriguing story because the scientist had to fight for 12 years to get trastuzumab from development through approval, keeping the project alive despite a nearly crippling early lack of funding."

A Poignant Call for Action on Metastatic Breast Cancer

Watch the video, too, if you can. 

And this article is helpful for background.

"We don’t really collect meaningful statistics on metastatic breast cancer recurrences. US cancer registry data captures data at the time of diagnosis and death. The registries don’t track what happens in between—i.e., people currently living with metastatic breast cancer.

Remember, about 30% of those originally diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will have a metastatic recurrence. But this information is not tracked–until people die:

NCI and SEER database record incidence, initial treatment and mortality data. Most people do NOT present with metastatic diagnosis. The cancer registry does not track recurrence — which is how the majority of people are thrust into the metastatic breast cancer ranks."

An Interesting Way to Treat Mortality-Induced Anxiety

A long but very worthy read about an experimental therapy. What do you think? Would you try it?

"Every guided psychedelic journey is different, but a few themes seem to recur. Several of the cancer patients I interviewed at N.Y.U. and Hopkins described an experience of either giving birth or being born. Many also described an encounter with their cancer that had the effect of diminishing its power over them. Dinah Bazer, a shy woman in her sixties who had been given a diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2010, screamed at the black mass of fear she encountered while peering into her rib cage: “Fuck you, I won’t be eaten alive!” Since her session, she says, she has stopped worrying about a recurrence—one of the objectives of the trial."

Chemoprevention Is Not Very Popular

Maybe because risk for breast cancer is not very well understood? 

"Given that these drugs seem to offer some protection, why are they not in widespread use? Serious side effects is one reason. Beyond blood clots and uterine cancer, other known reactions to the drugs include strokes, cataracts, bone pain, hot flashes, nausea and vaginal dryness.

For some women, the risk of such side effects may be worth taking, depending on their particular odds of developing breast cancer. Those odds can be figured by using a commonly used calculator, often called the Gail model, that estimates a woman’s chances of having breast cancer in a five-year period and over a lifetime.

But this is where it gets more complicated. While many experts agree that women at high risk should consider the medications, they do not agree on what Gail score should trigger that consideration."

One Drug's Success Story

"Nobody ever died of cancer cells," says Dr. Larry Norton at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. "You die of tumors."

"I've been doing oncology long enough that I've seen cancers go from incurable to curable at the right moment in history," he says. "It could happen to breast cancer in years; it could happen to breast cancer in days to weeks. We don't know when it's going to happen."

Around the Web

To all of my friends and family who've stepped in the last couple of weeks, the last few years to help me out and entertain my son and feed our family (sometimes all three things at once), I'm not sure I say it often enough: from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You are exactly why our family has been able to make this chemo thing work while also raising a baby/toddler/preschooler and having a spouse who routinely travels for weeks at a time for work.

Yesterday was a chemo day for me, but also a holiday, which meant Quinn's school was closed. And it's one of those times that Chris is out of town while I need my infusion. I didn't exactly know how I was going to pull it off, and came close to rescheduling my appointment til later in the week. But it turns out I just had to ask. My friend Julee could step in to take Quinn for a few hours. "No problem!" she said. Quinn could play with her son, one of Quinn's best friends, while I went to my infusion center and received treatment.

Then, in the afternoon, Quinn's friend Sydney's dad brought her over for a playdate that relieved me of my obligation to sit hunched over on our hardwood floor, crashing cars with my boy. They even brought popsicles! Sorry, rest of the country where you currently feel like a popsicle.

Thank you, friends, for keeping me afloat.

Again, I've been a little remiss in posting this little series, but that's what single parenting has done to me. But hey, our laundry is folded and our teeth are brushed and I even sent my manuscript to my agent last week. So some things are getting accomplished.

To Wit: The FDA Approves Another Treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer

"The drug’s efficacy was demonstrated in 165 postmenopausal women with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who had not received previous treatment for advanced disease. Clinical study participants were randomly assigned to receive Ibrance in combination with letrozole or letrozole alone. Participants treated with Ibrance plus letrozole lived about 20.2 months without their disease progressing (progression-free survival), compared to about 10.2 months seen in participants receiving only letrozole. Information on overall survival is not available at this time."

And the Mayo Clinic is Planning Trials on a Vaccine for Triple Negative B.C.

Oh, how my fingers are crossed on this one.

"Donna Deegan, a WTLV- and WJXX-TV news anchor, is a three-time breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with the cancer at age 38.

"For women with triple negative breast cancer, if this works, it could be a game changer," Deegan said.

Perez said that in the past, she was not optimistic about the chances for success of a breast cancer vaccine. However, that has now changed."

Harnessing the Immune System to Fight Cancer

"But scientists recently discovered that cancer takes a page from Harry Potter: It puts on a kind of invisibility cloak.

"Cancer can keep the immune system from recognizing that it's bad and keep it from attacking itself," Brahmer says.

Now scientists have found a way around this.

"The breakthrough is in therapies called 'checkpoint inhibitors,' " Brahmer says."

New Delivery System for Chemo Drugs Shows Promise

"A new device that delivers cancer drugs directly into tumors without relying on perfusion via the bloodstream, could increase life expectancy for patients with pancreatic, breast and other solid cancers, say researchers."

3D Printed 'Phantom' Tumors Could Help Deliver Radiation More Precisely

"Scientists in London are using 3D printed replicas of tumors and organs, called 'phantoms', to show how drugs will pass through tumors and give them a better understanding of how that will be replicated in individual patients."

Certain Her-2+ Tumors May Only Need Chemotherapy (sans Herceptin)

"A study suggests that HER2-positive breast cancer tumors with high levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes had a lower risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence) when treated with chemotherapy alone compared to HER-positive tumors with low levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes treated with only chemotherapy.

This means that HER2-positive breast cancers with high levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes might be able to be treated with chemotherapy alone and avoid Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab)."

I had ZERO side effects from Herceptin, so I was happy to take the kitchen sink approach. But I know what a pain it is to continue on infusions for a year (or longer for those with metastatic disease). Would you skip Herceptin if you could?

A Promising Drug Target for Certain Breast and Ovarian Cancers

"The Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of the drug olaparib for ovarian cancer patients with inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 came as welcome news to the thousands of women now eligible to receive it. A new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists indicates that the pool of patients who can benefit from the drug is potentially much wider -- and offers a ready means of identifying them.

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that an enzyme called polymerase q (or POLQ) is the active agent in the protein "pathway" that olaparib targets within tumor cells. The finding suggests that breast and ovarian cancer patients whose tumor cells carry abnormally high levels of POLQ are likely to respond to the drug -- and that POLQ itself is an inviting target for future therapies."

Lastly, This is Making the Rounds in My Circles: Would You Try It?

One naturopath's take: "Although it is clearly uncomfortable not eating for a total of 72 hours, the research is indicating that this is a worthwhile sacrifice. The discomfort from hunger will actually decrease the severity of the side effects from the chemotherapy. It is also important to keep in mind that this starvation state is triggering a powerful metabolic shift in your cells that protects your cells while making the cancer cells more vulnerable to the chemotherapy."

I am fairly strong-willed, but I don't think I could voluntarily go without food for three days. What about you? Would you try this? Have you? Or is this guy a total coconut?

Around the Web

We had a busy weekend here at the Campisano household. Besides Quinn making a mud pit in our back yard (see photo, below), my mom moved back to town after a two-year stint in Denver.

My younger brother flew down from Alaska to help her make the drive here, and he and I were both close to tears when they arrived Saturday night. Chris would say this is because us Akres are criers. The truth is we might be, but also that I hadn't seen my little brother (who's 6'4") in nearly eighteen months. He was deployed to Afghanistan for nearly half of that time, and the other half it was -38 degrees Fahrenheit where he lives.

So even if us Washingtonians were disappointed by the end of Sunday night's Super Bowl, all was okay in the world for a little bit because I got to watch the game over some chili and queso with my brother (and some other friends and family, including my mom).

(I realize this is not the best picture, but Quinn literally never stops moving and I should probably know by now to shoot everything in "sports" mode. Still, look at that smile. Clearly, this was taken before the Seahawks' last play call.)

With all that's been going on, I've slacked a bit on the "Around the Web" series. But here's what I've seen on the Internet over the past couple of weeks. Have anything to add? Email me at jen dot campisano at gmail. I like hearing from you guys.

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Becomes a Movie

Perhaps I'll do better watching this on screen than I did in book form? I picked up the book (some of the best prose I've read) shortly after my diagnosis. It hit too close to home, and I stopped reading. I haven't had the guts to try again. Maybe this will be my impetus.

"So she turned to PBS's premiere filmmaker, Ken Burns — whose mother died of breast cancer when he was eleven — to shepherd the project. The result is a three part, six-hours series arriving on March 30 narrated by Edward Herrmann, who died of brain cancer shortly after completing work on the film."

Or maybe not...

This Is Important: The Pressure to Stay Positive

"I understand the impetus from well-meaning friends who interrupt with "don’t say that, just stay positive!" when you talk about fears of what may come to pass in your cancer treatment, but they don't seem to understand that speaking about these anxieties is a means of release. The patient ends up feeling like she has to act happy and fine all the time, and stifles the desperate need to talk through all of this."

A New Strategy to Fight Cancer Actually Starts by Making Cancer Tougher

"'We think that being relatively soft lets invading cancer cells slip through the body and colonize new areas,' Surcel says. 'You can envision an octopus having a much easier time getting through a small opening than would a lobster. 4-HAP seems to make the cancer cells more like the lobster.'

The team is now testing 4-HAP in mice. The drug is already in use in some countries as a treatment for jaundice, so if it shows success against pancreatic cancer, it could potentially make it to market relatively quickly, Robinson says. But even if that doesn't happen, the study demonstrates that the new drug screen has great potential, he says."

And Yet Another Might Look to Create a Tumor Within a Tumor

"A tumor, as strange as it may sound, is a little society. The cancer cells that make it up cooperate with one another, and together they thrive.

Scientists are only starting to decipher the rules of these communities. But if they can understand how these cells work together, then they may be able to stop the tumor. “You can drive it to collapse,” said Marco Archetti, a biologist at the University of East Anglia and at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai."

Why Breast Cancer Education (Rather than Awareness) Remains So Important

"Women with breast cancer often don’t know what kind of tumors they have, a new study found.

Not knowing one’s tumor features isn’t necessarily tied to worse outcomes, but better knowledge might help women understand treatment decisions and take medications as directed, said Dr. Rachel Freedman, the study’s lead author from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Based on their medical records, only 56 percent of women reported the correct estrogen status, 58 percent reported the correct HER2 status and 57 percent reported the correct stage. Only about one in five women reported the correct grade.

Overall, only 8 percent of women correctly answered all four questions, but the lack of knowledge was more pronounced among minority women, the researchers report." (emphasis mine)

Scientists Find New Target for Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC, for short) is what I lost my friend Renee to late last year. If targeted treatments could be developed for these patients, that is an absolute game-changer. It's not a cure, but — like the treatment I'm on — it's getting closer. 

"The team concludes that increasing expression of beclin 1 could be a promising therapy for breast cancer, especially for patients with the triple-negative type.

Beclin 1 is already a target of four classes of drug approved to treat other types of cancer, and the team suggests more research should now be done to see whether these could also save lives of breast cancer patients."

. . . And Then Boom

Around the Web

Just when I start to think most of my anger toward cancer has dissipated, a dear friend sends me an email about her colleague's wife who just learned that her early-stage cancer is now metastatic. Meaning, it has spread to bones or vital organs. It is incurable. I don't know this woman's health history, but I do know her cancer was first diagnosed in 2007. So, more than SEVEN years later, after I'm sure she figured she was done with this disease, barely a speck in her rearview mirror any longer, it rears its hideous head again.

Then I learned of another woman, a mom to two young children, who died this weekend after battling triple negative breast cancer for a little over a year. One year. If you want to contribute to her family as they try to navigate through life in the absence of their wife, mom, daughter, best friend, the link to do so is here.

And if you've ever been tempted to say (as I was and did, when I was first diagnosed) that, well, everyone beats breast cancer, please think again. As the first article in this week's round-up reminds us, we still have so much work to do. Also, if you find anything you think I should include here, please shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

{photo source}

Pretty in Pink? A Reminder That We Still Have Work to Do in the Fight Against Metastatic Breast Cancer

(Full disclosure: I'm quoted a couple of times in this article.)

"According to the American Cancer Society, the 5-year survival rates for stages I, II and III breast cancer are 100 percent, 93 percent and 72 percent respectively, and not all early stage breast cancers will advance to stage IV....

In contrast, 75 percent of people diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer will die of the disease within five years."

But There's Reason (in the form of Personalized Medicine) for Hope

"Even more tailored treatment is on the horizon. In the next few years, patients with breast cancer can expect increasingly detailed diagnostic tests, tests that may predict side effects of treatments like chemotherapy or radiation, and better guidance in choosing the drug, or drugs, most likely to eradicate their disease. Genomic discoveries may also help patients with advanced, aggressive cancers, a group for whom even the latest treatments often fail. In these ways and many others, breast cancer prevention, treatment, and care are a microcosm of the slow but inevitable shift in healthcare....

'We are at the beginning of a revolution,' says the American Cancer Society’s Lichtenfeld. 'Breast cancer, as with many others — lung, melanoma, etc. — has a number of therapies in the pipeline, and that number is increasing dramatically. What does the future hold? Some successes, some failures. Will it lead to a cure? I can’t say that. Will it lead to control of breast cancer? That’s a real possibility.'"

A "Novel Platform" for the Treatment of Pancreatic and Breast Cancers

"Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a novel synthetic compound that sharply inhibits the activity of a protein that plays an important role in in the progression of breast and pancreatic cancers.

In the new study, to be published in the February 2015 print edition of the journal Molecular Pharmacology, the scientists showed that the compound, known as SR1848, reduces the activity and expression of the cancer-related protein called "liver receptor homolog-1" or LRH-1.

In fact, the study showed that levels of LHR-1 in a cell's nucleus began to diminish four hours after treatment with SR1848, and the compound repressed specific target genes as early as two hours after administration."

Rates of Diagnosis and Survival Vary by Race

"A new study published in JAMA finds that among women in the US, the chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the early stages of the disease and the likelihood of surviving after such a diagnosis may be influenced by race and ethnicity, and this may be down to biological differences."

Around the Web

Quinn and I spent most of the day yesterday on the couch. He was recovering from a minor but necessary surgery that left us both exhausted and me frayed all around my edges. (Quinn on the other hand seemed totally fine, as long as I continued to supply him with jello.)

Recovering from (minor) surgery like a champ with some help from his "pets."

A photo posted by Jen Campisano (@jencampisano) on Jan 12, 2015 at 2:14pm PST

The anesthesiologist allowed me to carry Quinn back to the OR, where I held him while he protested (Quinn, not the anesthesiologist). Quinn was screaming and crying that he didn't want the mask they'd tried to tell him was a superhero mask, while the doctor held it gently above my child's face. I rubbed Quinn's sweaty hair off his forehead and told him how brave he was. Somehow, I held it together until he passed out, then broke out in sobs as I walked out of the room.

Quinn and I watched four -- yes, four -- movies in a row yesterday. Three of which we already owned. I hesitated about paying the money to purchase the fourth one.

"It's twenty dollars, buddy," I said.

"I can handle that," Quinn answered.

HA. Ha ha ha ha ha.

I chuckled so hard that I gave in and paid the money. Well handled, indeed, my little man.

***

On to the news I came across over the last week. Is it just me, or is this week's round-up exceptionally full of good news and hope? Here's to 2015, people.

Why Do Some People Develop Resistance to Cancer Therapies? 

Duke researchers may have the answer, according to a couple of recently-published studies.

"The team managed to map the particular steps that breast cancer cells (along with melanoma and blood cancer cells) use to gain resistance to drugs."

And a Potential New Drug Target for Combating Those Resistant Cells

"Researchers have identified a signaling pathway that contributes to the slow proliferation of difficult-to-kill cancer cells. These cells, which are resistant to current treatments, are believed to be responsible for instances of cancer relapse. The researchers believe that the signaling pathway could therefore provide a potential target for new treatments.

'Most cancer treatments target rapidly dividing cancer cells but leave the slowly dividing ones unharmed and still capable of causing disease recurrence after the initial treatment,' Dr. Ramaswamy adds. 'Our goal has been to understand how these slow proliferators are produced in order to devise ways to eliminate them.'"

FDA Fast-Tracks Drug to Treat Advanced Triple Negative Breast Cancer

"The FDA. . . granted fast track status to sacituzumab govitecan, an antibody–drug conjugate in development for treatment of patients with triple-negative breast cancer who failed prior therapies for metastatic disease, according to the drug’s manufacturer.

The FDA’s Fast Track program is intended to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new drugs intended to treat serious conditions, as well as agents that would fill unmet medical needs.

The FDA based its decision on the efficacy sacituzumab govitecan has shown in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer."

Well, This is Potentially HUGE for Her-2+ Breast Cancer Patients...

"Scientists at Dalhousie University’s medical school have found a never-before-used combination of drugs that shut down aggressive breast cancer tumours and prevent the disease from recurring."

(I couldn't not put emphasis on that entire sentence.)

Could This Spell the End of Cancer?

"By tapping into a cell's natural processes, researchers may have found a way to inhibit tumor growth and ultimately kill off cancer cells.

'We believe this small molecule will address an unmet cancer need in an underexplored area that will be rapidly applicable to the clinic,' said Dr. Jerry Shay, vice-chairman and professor of cell biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and senior co-author for the study."

New Drug for Hormone-Driven Breast Cancer Set for Approval This Spring

"The first in a new class of cancer medicines, Pfizer's Ibrance, appears poised for approval to treat advanced breast cancer within a few months and could quickly become a blockbuster, some analysts believe.

Those drugs are believed to block enzymes, called CDK4 and 6, that help cancer cells divide uncontrollably."

Breakthrough as Gene Driving Triple Negative Breast Cancer is Discovered

"Scientists have identified the gene behind one of most aggressive forms of breast cancer in a breakthrough which could bring life-saving new treatments.

Triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease and nearly one quarter of patients diagnosed will not survive for more than five years.

Now researchers at Cambridge University and the Wellcome Trust’s Sanger Institute have found that the BCL11A gene is overactive in eight out of ten patients."

Personal Liberty vs. An 85% Chance of Survival for One 17-Year-Old Girl

On the one hand, I'm a strong believer in letting children have some say in what happens to their bodies. Meaning: if Quinn says stop tickling, I stop tickling. And I don't force him to give hugs, much to his grandparents' chagrin. 

HOWEVER, I would certainly make my child receive chemotherapy if there was an 85% chance of survival. There would be no question. She would sit in that infusion center and I would hold her hand through side effects and uncertainty and I would hate it but I would make her fight. (This hypothetical 17-year-old girl child of mine.)

Having gone through what I've gone through to spend more time with my family, I cannot wrap my head around this mother's position one little bit. But I'm curious: what's your take?