Triple Negative Breast Cancer

  As many of you know, "triple negative" is a relatively new term used to describe breast cancers that are estrogen receptor negative, progesterone receptor negative, and her2 negative. For treatments, this means that neither the hormonal/anti-estrogen treatments or herceptin are useful. Often, triple negative breast cancers are grade III and believed to be of an aggressive nature. The "good" news about this is that they are particularly sensitive to chemotherapy as all chemo drugs attack fast growing cells. Read more... Comments (0)

Review of 2012 Research

  Think of this as a companion piece to yesterday's entry about the basic biology of breast cancer. This is an interview with Dr Eric Winer and Dr Shom Goal about recent research and directions as we move further into 2013. Frankly, nothing in this piece is brand new information, but it is a very nice summary and captures the many areas of interest. Read more... Comments (0)

Breast Cancer Primer

  This interview with Larry Norton, MD of Memorial Sloan Kettering, published in MedScape, is an excellent overview of breast cancer. If you have ever wondered about the basics of breast cancer biology and treatment, spending a few minutes with Dr Norton will be time well spent. Read more... Comments (0)

Non-Profits Use More Expensive Radiation Option

This is quite an alarming report from ASCO. The concerns about escalating health care costs identify many reasons for the expense. One that seems especially ugly is any suggestion that doctors or hospitals or other companies and institutions are driving up costs by providing more expensive treatments that are no more effective than less expensive alternatives. This article from MedPage, reporting on a study from Yale, states that Medicare recipients are 30% more likely to receive brachytherapy for radiation at for-profit hospitals than they are at non-profit institutions. Since Medicare reimburses at a higher rate for this choice, the implications seems pretty clear. Read more... Comments (0)

Taxol Schedules Equally Effective

  Many of us have received Taxol as part of our chemotherapy regimen. You likely know that it is generally given in one of two ways: either 4 times in the Dose Dense regimen (meaning an infusion every two weeks), or a smaller dose weekly for 9 or 12 weeks. The total amount of Taxol given is the same, but the dose can vary a lot depending on the schedule. This study, just presented at ASCO, suggests that the two schedules are equally effective, and the smaller weekly doses are much easier to take--fewer side effects. The disadvantage is that one has to show up for chemo every week, but many of us would choose the increased visits for fewer side effects. Read more... Comments (0)