Sandy Hutchens Cancer Prevention

Sandy Hutchen Cancer Prevention: Kangaroos are now in the skin cancer prevention business

Understanding how kangaroos repair their DNA could be the key to preventing skin cancer in the future, according to new research by Dr Linda Feketeová and Dr Uta Wille from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Melbourne.

Together with scientists from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, Dr Feketeová and Dr Wille are working toward reducing the number of skin cancer-related cases by investigating the chemistry behind potential skin cancer therapies.

The teams are investigating a DNA repair enzyme found in kangaroos and many other organisms, but not humans. This enzyme is very effective in repairing a particular type of DNA damage linked to many skin cancers.

“As summer approaches, excessive exposure to the sun’s harmful UV light will see more than 400,000 Australians diagnosed with skin cancer,” says Dr Feketeová.

“Other research teams have proposed a ‘dream cream’ containing the DNA repair enzyme which you could slap on your skin after a day in the sun. We are now examining whether this would be feasible by looking at the chemistry behind the DNA repair system.”

Using highly sophisticated technology, the groups are simulating the skin’s UV exposure in the laboratory, and then analysing the DNA repair process in a specialised mass spectrometer instrument.

“We were quite surprised that the DNA’s repair process also resulted in a number of chemical by-products, which have never been seen before,” says Dr Wille

“Our plan is to study these products to understand if the DNA repair enzyme could be incorporated into a safe and effective method for skin cancer prevention.”

“But there is still much to investigate before this ‘dream cream’ will be available at the pharmacy, so don’t throw out your sunscreen just yet!” adds Dr Feketeová.

This work will be published as a “hot paper” in the upcoming edition of Chemical Communications.

(Source: University of Melbourne: Chemical Communications: December 2009)

Researchers from the University of Michigan have reported that women at high-risk of breast cancer understand the risks and benefits of tamoxifen [Nolvadex®] prevention, but only 6% choose to take it. The details of this study were published in an early online publication in Breast Cancer Research on November 12, 2009.

Several large clinical trials have shown that tamoxifen can decrease the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women. There are, however, two issues that have prevented widespread use of tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention:

* Who is at risk? The definition of who is high risk is problematic and differs from trial to trial. Generally, high risk includes women with a family history of breast cancer, early menarche, later or no childbirth, or previous breast biopsy, even if negative.

* What are the side effects? In one study, it was found that less than one in five women at high risk would take tamoxifen due to their fears of side effects and the fact that they assumed they were at relatively low risk for developing breast cancer.

Two reports in the February 21, 2007 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute document that tamoxifen can prevent hormone-positive breast cancer in women at high risk.

Researchers affiliated with the Royal Marsden Randomized, Double-Blinded Tamoxifen Breast Cancer Prevention Trial reported 20-year follow-up data. This trial randomly allocated 2,494 women at high risk of developing breast cancer to receive tamoxifen or placebo for eight years. A total of 82 women in the tamoxifen group and 104 in the placebo group developed invasive breast cancer. Researchers affiliated with the first International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS-I) reported that the breast cancer preventative effects of tamoxifen persist for at least 10 years after a five-year treatment period. This trial randomly allocated 7,145 women at increased risk for developing breast cancer to receive five years of tamoxifen or placebo. With a 96-month follow-up, there were 142 breast cancers in the tamoxifen group and 195 in the placebo group. They observed a preventive effect during the entire period of observation. The main side effects were an increased risk of deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism during but not after tamoxifen treatment. The estimated risk for developing estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer was 34% lower in the tamoxifen group.

The authors of the present trial sought to determine why few women with increased risk of breast cancer use tamoxifen for chemoprevention. They evaluated 632 women with an average 2.56% risk of developing breast cancer within five years. These women were presented with a tailored decision aid concerning the effectiveness of chemoprevention with tamoxifen and the known side effects. After reviewing the decision aid, 29% of women said they would seek more information from their own physician, and 6% said they would agree to take tamoxifen. These researchers thought that these women had adequate knowledge to make a decision. The stated: “Participants were concerned about the risks of tamoxifen, and many believed that the benefits of tamoxifen did not outweigh the risks.”

Discovering Key to Tamoxifen’s Effectiveness in Treating Breast Cancer may Mean New Treatments

Can Olive Oil Prevent Breast Cancer?

Ana Ripoll, Rector of Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona (UAB), and Pedro Barato, President of “Organizaci-n Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva Espa-ol”, signed a research agreement to carry out an in depth study on how the intake of olive oil can work towards preventing and fighting against breast cancer. The Multidisciplinary Group on Breast Cancer Research (GMECM), directed by Dr Eduard Escrich, lecturer of the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, will be working on this research project during the next five years. GMECM has demonstrated in previous researches that a moderate intake of virgin olive oil slows down the spreading of this cancer.

Researchers at GMECM aim to determine the possible activity of common components of the human diet with the objective of formulating scientific opinions on the health of the population or levels of risk, all within the field of breast cancer prevention. Among the results obtained until now researchers highlight the fact that a moderate intake of virgin olive oil can slow down the spreading of this cancer due to the action of mechanisms which counterattack the possible harmful effects of fats, while an excessive intake of seed oils has damaging effects.

In the study, which will begin this coming year, researchers will continue to study the effects olive oil can have on this type of cancer, with experimental studies and with human cell lines and samples. Among the research studies to be carried out, some of the most prominent focus on the effects fats and oils can have on mammary tumours, and especially those of extra virgin olive oil, and an analysis of the molecular changes found in these tumours in all of the genome and in the specific genes implicated in this pathology.

Olive oil lowers risk of breast cancer