A global trial led by Professor Michael Baum at University College Hospital is giving breast cancer patients a single dose of radiotherapy in the operating theatre after cancerous tissue has been removed and may prevent cancer recurring at the site of the original tumour.

It is claimed that radiotherapy at this stage may be as effective as a six or seven week course involving 20 to 30 hospital visits which could transform breast cancer care.

But note that Professor Max Parkin of Cancer Research UK says that simple changes to women's lifestyles could prevent one in ten cases of breast cancer by 2024.

Exercising more, keeping a healthy body weight and reducing the use of hormone replacement therapy could cut cases by more than 5,700 each year it is claimed. But see reports elsewhere under this heading about the significance of materials found in widely used anti-perspirants. Professor etc etc in a rather small study admittedly found evidence of aluminium compounds in biopsy samples taken from breast tissue in breast cancer patients.

Discoveries

Extraordinary findings from the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland USA suggest that an important cancer drug Tamoxifen could be a successful treatment for depression. Manic depression of bipolar disorder as it is now known affects one in a hundred people in Britain. Seemingly Tamoxifen blocks an enzyme called Protein Kinase C (PKC) which is overactive in brain cells during the manic phase of bipolar disorder. Tamoxifen has a powerful effect on patients and seems to calm them down much more quickly than other treatments.

Stranger still this news comes at a time when the Jourrnal of Epidemiology is about to publish findings that lifestyle, especially stressful jobs could be responsible for nearly a third of cases of breast cancer. Remarkably this does not seem to be borne out in studies amongst those holding only part time jobs!

Britain's high abortion rate is now being targeted as a contributory factor towards diagnosis of breast cancer. The authors of the report from the Pension and Population Research Institute in London say that the dramatic rise from 20,000 a year in the seventies to 200,000 a year in England and Wales will lead to a big increase in breast cancer. Doubling the risk it is claimed from a single termination.

You might like to know that the World Health Organisation along with leading cancer research charities say that there is no evidence of a link of this kind and Dr. Mark Porter, the Evening Standard's medical correspondent goes along with this.

But a Danish study of 7,000 women over 18 years of age found those with high levels of stress were less likely to develop breast cancer.

Unsurprisingly leading cancer scientists say more research is needed before stress can be added to a range of well known link factors. Something that might help researchers to find out which women are at risk from breast cancer has recently been developed by Bolton University for Research and Innovation. It is a 'wonder bra' that spots signs of breast cancer in wearers by means of a microwave antenna woven into the fabric that detects slight temperature changes in the breast caused by early cancer cells, catching tumours before they develop. It is also claimed that the device can identify whether breast cancer treatments are working by detecting tiny temperature changes in the breast.

Scanning

Another new technology that uses light to probe the presence of cancer tumours is under development. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) may also be used to determine whether cells around a tumour are cancerous and need to be removed.

Images are ten times clearer than ultrasound scans and could revolutionize pre-cancer surveillance by elimination painful biopsies and the waiting time for biopsy results.

Earlier diagnosis is good for treatment outcomes.

Oestrogen Link

Amongst the dozens of suggested causes of breast cancer, here comes yet another. Now it's the size of your mother's hips, it is said that a study of more than 6,000 women born between 1934 and 1944 compared information on their mother's hip size and the vulnerability of their daughter to breast cancer.

The argument goes that oestrogen production is linked to breast cancer and mothers with wide hip sizes produce greater amounts of oestrogen. Where the mother carried her child for the full forty weeks her daughter's risk of breast cancer rose to 3.7 times the normal in later life. A spokesperson for Cancer Research UK said the importance of oestrogen in stimulating the growth of breast cancer is well known but more research is needed to confirm these findings.

Aluminium

Isn't it extraordinary, breast cancer is spreading throughout the world. Rates in the undeveloped world are possibly worse than could be imagined. But not the causes, diet change, lack of exercise, dense breast tissue!, inherited mutations, different ethnic groups absorbing chemicals differently, giving birth to fewer children. No these are not all happening at the same time in every country. No, remarkably each different region has its own set of causes if the authors of a four page report in Time Magazine are to be believed. Each region has its collection of factors that explain this increasing world wide phenomenon.

Odd then that the increasing use of spray deodorants and anti-perspirants found on street markets and shop shelves deep into South America, Nigeria, Egypt, New Delhi etc is not mentioned.
Didn't one of the other reports say that aluminium is widely used in these products and that this material is found in the breast tissues of women with breast cancer. As with so many research reports this of course may nor be 'causative'. Perhaps it is a coincidence..

Professor Robert Thomas, a breast cancer expert, will not allow his family to use anti-perspirants. Professor Thomas says that giving up using deodorants could be at least as effective as a diet rich in anti-oxidants. A study at Keele University found aluminium salts concentrated in areas under the armpits and to the side where breast cancer is more likely to develop. An earlier study by the University of Reading showed that materials used in deodorants were found in breast cancer tumours. Professor Thomas says, despite industry dismissing these claims that the less chemicals to which you expose your body on a regular basis the better.

Latest

These columns contain many examples of claims made by researchers as to the cause of breast cancer. Here comes yet another.

In a study led by Dr. Nicholas Perry at the Princess Grace Hospital, London it is suggested that women living in cities need to pay more attention to having regular breast screening. Nearly a thousand women took part in a physical comparison of their breasts relative to their home address locations. Women with glandular tissue type breasts rather than fatty tissue type breasts (transparent in a mammogram) were four times more likely to develop breast cancer.

Women living in London had the densest breast, particularly around the time of the menopause. Breast density was also found to decrease in line with distance from urban centres.

Women living in London were also found to be the thinnest in the country, breast density is known to be inversely proportional to body weight.

City living is clearly more exposed to traffic pollution and it is thought that this can lead to denser breasts tissue because of the stimulant effect of chemicals. At the same time the uptake of screening is lower in cities like London.

More Studies

Work at the University of Leicester suggests that drugs made from rice, red wine, berries and spice could prevent cancer. The work is prompted by research findings that cancer is rare amongst rural populations in Thailand whose staple diets are rich in Thai sticky rice, curcumin from turmeric, resveratol from red wine and anti-oxidants from bilberries.

Clinical trials of the pills using each one of the four compounds have already begun. It is suggested that breast, bowel and prostate cancers may be helped. However, five years further research work is needed to complete the work.

Herceptin

Even after a relapse it is claimed that Herceptin, a drug only recently permitted by Nice to be made more widely available to breast cancer sufferers, can increase a patients survival chances by a factor of of three times. A study of 340 women with a an Herz aggressive form of breast cancer found that the average survival rate was 27.8 months compared to 16.8 months for those who had not continued to take the drug.

Consultant surgeon Hugh Bishop said it was vital for all women to be tested for Herz status when cancer was diagnosed.

Lymphoedema

Twenty five percent of breast cancer survivors go on to develop Lymphoedema. This condition causing painful swelling can result from damage to the Lymphatic system because of removal of Lymph nodes.

Unfortunately knowledge of this condition affecting 25,000 women after surgery for breast cancer in the UK is poor amongst health care professionals.

Lymphoedema can affect arms, legs and hands resulting in painful swelling and skin conditions and needing uncomfortable compression garments.

Professor Peter Mortimer Professor of Dermatology Medicine at St. Georges' Hospital, London says that information on prevention must always be given to patients, The right post operative care will prevent the problem occurring in the first place.

New Study

A new study by the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland claims that once over the age of 18 years a woman's risk of breast cancer can increase by as much as 50%. The study looked at 99,000 women between 1996 and 2000 and found that women who were classified as obese at 18, 35 and 50 years had increased risk of breast cancer. Where a woman had been of normal weight at an earlier age the risk appeared to increase by a factor of one and a half if the weight gain in adulthood was between 44lbs and 66lbs. Other factors played their part it said such as hormone replacement therapy. In conclusion the report suggested that a healthy body weight was of crucial importance and that women should remain 'breast aware'. Current UK figures for breast cancer are now 41,000 women a year contract the disease and 13,000 are killed by it.

Genesis Prevention Centre

A remarkable family tree suggested that Alexandra Best's genetic make-up was a risk for breast cancer. Thirty one relatives had been traced who had the illness including her mother who died when Miss Best was 18 years old. Three of her mother's sisters also died from the disease.

Ten years ago Miss Best went for tests and found to her amazement that cancer research geneticists had already researched her family tree and identified Miss Best as being at risk. But not before she was herself diagnosed as already having breast cancer.

After a double mastectomy followed by six months of chemotherapy Miss Best is now clear of the disease and recently gave birth to her third daughter. She hopes that her daughters will be helped by gene replacement therapy by the time they are old enough to be at risk.

The new cancer genetics centre is known as Genesis Prevention Centre based at Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester.

Phthalates

Just to add to the amazing list of products and materials that are thought to be connected to breast cancer, now comes lipstick! Chemicals found in lipstick and nail varnish, especially phthalates which apparently mimic the action of female sex hormone oestrogen. These materials have banned for use in babies teething rings and dummies by the EU. The chemical also known as BBP have been linked with birth defects, kidney problems and infertility and may be linked with effects upon cellular make-up of mammary gland tissue. Phthalates are used in four out of five cosmetic products on sale in Britain. There are however safer alternatives, consumers should look carefully at content data on the products they regularly use.