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Bone-Protecting Drug May Help Breast Cancer Patients
By Laura Beil

Osteoporosis drugs may strengthen bones weakened from chemotherapy, and perhaps even help protect some women whose cancer has spread to the skeleton, new studies released at SABCS suggest... [MORE]

What more have we learned this year about the HERA trial, or the Herceptin Adjuvant trial, when Herceptin is given after surgery to women with HER2-positive breast cancer? [PLAY VIDEO]

Martine Piccart, MD professor of oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, director of the medicine department at the Institut Jules Bordet, Belgium

• Diet High in Fruits and Vegetables Could Lower Recurrence Risk in Some Women: The Women's Healthy Eating and Living study caused a stir last summer when it revealed that a diet particularly high in fruit, vegetables... [MORE]

• HER2 Status Could Be Less Strict for Herceptin Therapy: Updated data from the Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) study was presented Sunday morning in San Antonio. The international phase III trial randomized women who received chemotherapy for HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer to a group... [MORE]

• Results Confirm MammaPrint Test Could Spare Some Women Chemotherapy: Prognosis as predicted by the MammaPrint test may allow some women who have one to three positive nodes to forego chemotherapy, steering them instead to hormonal therapy, scientists at SABCS suggested... [MORE]

• Pertuzumab for Herceptin-Resistant Breast Cancer Shown to Be Safe: A new approach to treating HER2-positive tumors appears safe in early trials, researchers reported in San Antonio on Sunday morning... [MORE]

• Tykerb Combination Reduces Brain Metastases: Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston reported that a combination of the targeted agent, Tykerb (lapatinib), and the chemotherapy drug, Xeloda (capecitabine), shrank brain tumors by at least half in 20 percent... [MORE]

• Trial Methods Spy Disease Not Clinically Evident: Early results from an ongoing, multi-institution trial known as I-SPY are reinforcing a theme from many of the presentations at San Antonio... [MORE]

SURVIVOR STORY

ANNA CLUXTON
Too Young
Anna Cluxton knew how to do a party. She worked for a company that caters for large events, such as the reception for the late opera great, Luciano Pavarotti, when he visited her hometown of Columbus, Ohio... [MORE]

BRENDA HUTCHISON
Finding Miracles
For the past two months, Brenda Hutchison has been telling friends and family about her continued success in battling the brain metastases that occurred after her initial breast cancer diagnosis in fall 2003... [MORE]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

New Hope for Old Wounds (Heal) Unexpected and Unique: The Challenges of Breast Cancer in Women Under 40 (CURE) In Situ Breast Cancer: Is It Really Cancer? (CURE)

	>> Debu Tripathy, MD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CURE & HEAL MAGAZINES A mini-symposium on the biology of the HER2 protein was held Saturday at SABCS to update clinicians on the implications of HER2 on patient management and future research... [MORE]
	>> Kathy LaTour EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CURE & HEAL MAGAZINES Barbara Brenner would rather be called an activist. The former California attorney was diagnosed in October 1993 and knew immediately she wanted to get involved, joining Breast Cancer Action (BCA) in 1994 and becoming its executive director in 1995... [MORE]
	>> Karen Patterson MANAGING EDITOR, HEAL MAGAZINE Among the alphabet soup of institutions, agencies, and other entities involved in cancer research is the NTROI, or the Network for Translational Research: Optical Imaging, launched by the National Cancer Institute... [MORE]

What advances have been reported in the accuracy of sentinel nodes, and what further progress should we expect in the near future? [PLAY VIDEO]

Marilyn Leitch, MD director, Susan G. Komen for the Cure-funded Breast Care Fellowship Program and medical director, Center for Breast Care, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

OTHER RELATED COVERAGE

New Test Improves Breast Cancer Detection
(ABC News)

Even Tiny Breast Tumors Can Be Aggressive and May Require Maximum Therapy

(ScienceDaily)

Cancer Survivor Sees Hope in San Antonio

(San Antonio Express-News)

CURE and Heal would like to give a special thanks to the following non-profit partners
for making this information available to their constituents:
American Cancer Society • People Living with Cancer
HER2 Support • Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Fund • Men Against Breast Cancer
National Breast Cancer Coalition • Pink-Link