Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/coming-of-age-israel-biotech-sector-gets-ready-for-market/?utm_source=Start-Up+Daily&utm_campaign=134b9a1a0b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb879fad58-134b9a1a0b-55366073

New breast cancer blood test could improve treatment options in more serious cases

‘Liquid biopsy’ detects tumor DNA and can track alterations in 13 different genes.

Women with advanced stages of breast cancer could receive potentially life-extending personalized treatment after taking a new blood test that detects tumor DNA.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/breast-cancer-blood-test-new-treatment-improve-detect-tumour-dna-liverpool-uk-advanced-metastatic-a7862241.html

Tumor Test Helps Identify Which Breast Cancers Don’t Require Extra Treatment

For years, doctors have focused on detecting breast cancer at the earliest possible moment after a tumor develops so treatment can start right away. But more and more studies are showing many small, early tumors don’t present a danger.

So, when is it safe to remove a tumor but skip additional treatments like tamoxifen, chemotherapy and radiation?

A study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology suggests that it may be possible to distinguish fairly precisely between “ultra low-risk” tumors that are unlikely to cause problems and those that are more aggressive and likely to spread — thus allowing some patients to avoid unnecessary treatments.

Researchers in the U.S. and Sweden used a diagnostic test called MammaPrint to measure a tumor’s genomic “fingerprint” and compared it with survival time after a tumor was removed. They say they were able to pinpoint patients who had a very low risk of death from breast cancer — even up to 20 years after the first diagnosis.

MammaPrint is a genomic test that looks at a set of 70 genes in a tumor, showing how the genes are controlling the production of the proteins that drive a tumor’s growth. A genomic test of the tumor, which measures how genes are functioning, differs from other genetic tests that determine someone’s hereditary risk of cancer.

The tumor test was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007 to predict whether an existing cancer has the ability to spread. It’s priced at $4,200 and is covered by some insurance plans in the U.S.

Source: http://n.pr/2s6VO4v

Effective Immunotherapy Steps Closer With New T Cell Study 

In a recent study, researchers report some progress in developing an immunotherapy for ovarian cancer. However, they also outline the considerable challenges that remain before the treatment can be made effective for this and other cancers that have solid tumors.

The researchers presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. Estimates from the American Cancer Society  suggest that, in the United States, around 22,440 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and approximately 14,000 will die from the disease during 2017.

The cancer begins in cells of the ovaries – reproductive glands found only in women. Each woman normally has two ovaries, situated on each side of the uterus inside the pelvis. The ovaries produce eggs that travel to the uterus through the fallopian tubes.

Dr. Kristin Anderson, an immunotherapy researcher who presented the findings at the meeting, says that while ovarian cancer is not as common in the U.S. as other cancers with solid tumors, it has a low rate of survival and a high rate of relapse. The main reason is that the cancer does not cause obvious symptoms and is often advanced by the time it is diagnosed.

Immunotherapy is a relatively new area of medicine that is showing promising results in the treatment of cancer. The approach uses the patient’s own immune system to fight disease.

The new study concerns a method called adoptive T cell transfer. In this approach, immune cells called T cells are taken from the patient’s own blood and trained to target and destroy cancer cells. Then, after multiplying in the laboratory, the primed cells are returned to the patient’s body. Sometimes donor cells are used instead.

The team hopes to start a human clinical trial of adoptive T cell transfer for ovarian cancer in the next few years.

In March of 2013 after a routine mammogram I received a diagnosis of breast cancer. After discovering that I was a carrier of the BRCA2 mutation I had a bilateral mastectomy in April, breast reconstruction and ovarian removal in May. Fortunately, the cancer was small, only in one breast, and hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes, so I didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy. The reconstruction was difficult and long, but I recuperated fairly quickly from the multiple surgeries (probably due to my high level of fitness as a runner). I celebrated my recovery by running the New York City Marathon on Nov. 3, 2013, between stages of breast reconstruction. I raised about $5,000 for the Dublin Breast Center at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Running the marathon was a way for me to say to breast cancer that I would fight it and not let it get me, and it gave me a sense of control over my body. It made me constantly reflect on my mortality and the lack of control over my body, even though I’ve done everything I could to be fit and healthy my entire adult life. I’ve been a runner since the late 1970s, when I was in my 20s, and have always eaten a healthy, low-fat diet. During the marathon, I felt strong and determined. When I ran up 5^th Ave by Mount Sinai Hospital where I had been treated I was overcome by emotion.

A few days after the 2013 marathon I had the tissue extenders replaced with implants, which involved another recovery period. After that I continued to run, improving my times until in late September of 2015 my son, then age 34, suddenly died of a burst ulcer while he was living in Peru. The overwhelming grief and anxiety affected my running and stamina and I realized the strong connection between emotional and physical health. While experiencing chest pain (that ultimately was determined to be related to the grief), I found out that I had yet another hereditary condition—a high percentage of Lipoprotein-A, which is a particle in the blood that carries cholesterol, fats and proteins, causing a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries and thus an increased risk for heart attack and stroke. It isn’t affected by diet and exercise– another thing that gave me less control over my body. Shortly before my son’s death, my then 29-year old daughter tested positive for the BRCA2 mutation, which is a source of anxiety for both of us.

We never know what the next big test in life will be, and many things are out of our control—but knowing that people are willing to make sacrifices to help combat cancer and other diseases can give us some comfort.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among men over the age of 60 in the U.S.

According to David Levy, M.D., of Cleveland Clinic, “for the last couple of decades, one of the prevailing correlations has been weight and it seems over a number of different studies that have been done, higher weight correlates with more aggressive prostate cancer,” said Dr. Levy.

A study conducted by Cleveland Clinic looked at 69,873 men over the course of of 13 years. Researchers found that fatal prostate cancer risk was increased in men who had a normal BMI or who were overweight at age 20 and later became obese, compared with men who maintained a normal BMI.

However, lesser aggressive forms of prostate cancer did not show an association to BMI.

Dr. Levy said it’s difficult to point to any one specific factor of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, such as a person’s weight by itself, as a determining factor for prostate cancer risk. He says that exercise, diet and supplements all play a role as well.

“Dietary factors- meat and dairy – high fat diets from animal proteins, in other words, high omega-6 fatty acid diets from the hamburgers, the hot dogs, the fried chicken, the chicken wings, those sorts of things, play a significant role in the genetics of prostate cell behavior,” said Dr. Levy.

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Source: KDRV.com, Fox News,  http://bit.ly/2mskp4g