Imaging Diagnostic Systems Breast Scanner Performance Upgrade Program Nearing Completion

Imaging
Diagnostic Systems, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: IMDS) a pioneer in laser
optical breast imaging systems, announced today that the majority of
international CTLM(R) systems have been upgraded to the 4.1 Performance
Package level, which includes several significant enhancements.


According to Tim Hansen, Imaging Diagnostic Systems' Chief Executive
Officer, "When we launched our US FDA Premarket Approval data collection
study, we announced that many improvements had been made to the CTLM system
since the prior study in 2001. We wanted our global users to share in these
improvements as well; recent shipments from our factory have routinely
included the 4.1 Package. Our plan has always been to upgrade the installed
CTLM base as well." Continued Hansen, "We are now nearing completion of
that field upgrade program, done entirely at IMDS expense, to ensure
continued customer satisfaction and excellent CTLM system performance. The
remaining upgrade sites include China and sites pending final installation.
This upgrade to the highest performance level has been a major
accomplishment for our organization and a source of great satisfaction for
our users."



The 4.1 Package enhancements include: new scan control software to
reduce scan time from 12 to 9 minutes, increasing patient throughput by 25%
while adding to patient comfort and reducing patient movement artifacts;
CTLM self- diagnostic background software to monitor for potential faults
and to log quality-assurance data for service purposes; improved software
to simplify daily calibration routines; customer-driven changes to the
image presentation displays to allow faster, more flexible viewing; and,
specifically for the international installed base, operator interface
software that enables simplified translation into non-English languages.



"Our users are very pleased with the enhancements and with the support
they have received from IMDS, and our distributors are similarly pleased
that we have provided the resources to complete the upgrades and training.
Some users, who had worried about technologically 'falling behind' the US
PMA sites, are now quite content. We want them to be thrilled not only with
the new optical molecular imaging capabilities but also with our support of
their work," added Tim Hansen. "We are making steady progress in our US PMA
study with these newer systems, and now we have a solid updated installed
global base."



About Imaging Diagnostic Systems, Inc.



Imaging Diagnostic Systems, Inc. has developed a revolutionary new
imaging device to aid in the detection and management of breast cancer. The
CTLM(R) system is a breast imaging system that utilizes patented continuous
wave laser technology and computer algorithms to create 3-D images of the
breast. The procedure is non-invasive, painless, and does not expose the
patient to ionizing radiation or painful breast compression. CT Laser
Mammography (CTLM(R)) is designed to be used in conjunction with
mammography. It reveals information about blood distribution in the breast
and may visualize the process of angiogenesis, which usually accompanies
tumor growth.
















Imaging Diagnostic Systems is currently collecting data from clinical sites for the future filing of an FDA Premarket Approval (PMA) for the Computed Tomography Laser Mammography (CTLM(R)) system to be used as an adjunct to mammography. The FDA has determined that the Company's clinical study is a non-significant risk (NSR) investigational device study under
812.3(m) of the investigational device exemptions (IDE) regulation (21 CFR
812). The CTLM system is limited by United States Federal Law to
investigational use only in the United States. The CTLM system has received
other registrations including CE, CMDCAS Canadian License, China SFDA, UL,
ISO 9001:2000, ISO 13485:2003 and FDA export certification.



For more information, visit our website: imds



As contemplated by the provisions of the Safe Harbor section of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, this news release may
contain forward-looking statements pertaining to future, anticipated, or
projected plans, performances and developments, as well as other statements
relating to future operations. All such forward-looking statements are
necessarily only estimates or predictions of future results or events and
there can be no assurance that actual results or events will not materially
differ from expectations. Further information on potential factors that
could affect Imaging Diagnostic Systems, Inc., is included in the Company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim
any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.


Imaging Diagnostic Systems

imds

Preventive Surgeries Linked To Lower Risk Of Breast And Ovarian Cancer

Women with the inherited mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes who had preventive (prophylactic) breast removal (mastectomy) or the removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries (salpingo-oophorectomy) were found to have a significantly lower risk of developing ovarian and breast cancers, says a study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), September 1st issue.


The authors wrote that females who carry the inherited mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have a considerably higher chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer - there is a 56% lifetime risk of breast cancer and 84% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer.


The authors added:


Women who are mutation carriers have cancer risk-management options that include risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy, risk-reducing mastectomy, annual cancer screening, and chemoprevention.


Susan M. Domchek, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, and team carried out a study involving 2,482 women who had the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 mutations to find out what their cancer risk reduction was following a prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy and mastectomy, incorporating mutation type (BRCA1 vs. BRCA2), and cancer history (prior history of breast cancer vs. none). The women's gene mutations were determined between 1974 and 2008.


The study was performed at 22 clinical and research genetics centers in North America and Europe. The participants were monitored through to the end of 2009.


Breast Cancer Risk: The investigators found that:

None of the women with the mutated genes who had a prophylactic mastectomy developed cancer during the 3-year follow-up period.
7% of the women with the mutated genes who did not have a prophylactic mastectomy developed cancer during the 3-year follow-up period.

Ovarian Cancer Risk: The investigators found that:

Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy was associated with a decreased risk of ovarian cancer, with no ovarian cancer events seen during the 6 years of prospective follow-up in BRCA2 mutation carriers without prior breast cancer who underwent the procedure.
Three percent of women without salpingo-oophorectomy over a similar follow-up period were diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The researchers found no cases of ovarian cancer among women with the BRCA 1 mutation after salpingo-oophorectomy, which was also linked to a lower risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers without prior diagnosis of breast cancer.


The authors wrote:


Compared with women who did not undergo risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy, undergoing salpingo-oophorectomy was associated with lower all-cause mortality (10 percent vs. 3 percent), breast cancer-specific mortality (6 percent vs. 2 percent), and ovarian cancer-specific mortality (3 percent vs. 0.4 percent).





"Association of Risk-Reducing Surgery in BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation Carriers With Cancer Risk and Mortality"

Susan M. Domchek, MD; Tara M. Friebel, MPH; Christian F. Singer, MD, MPH; D. Gareth Evans, MD; Henry T. Lynch, MD; Claudine Isaacs, MD; Judy E. Garber, MD, MPH; Susan L. Neuhausen, PhD; Ellen Matloff, MS; Rosalind Eeles, PhD; Gabriella Pichert, MD; Laura Van t'veer, PhD; Nadine Tung, MD; Jeffrey N. Weitzel, MD; Fergus J. Couch, PhD; Wendy S. Rubinstein, MD, PhD; Patricia A. Ganz, MD; Mary B. Daly, MD, PhD; Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, MD; Gail Tomlinson, MD, PhD; Joellen Schildkraut, PhD; Joanne L. Blum, MD, PhD; Timothy R. Rebbeck, PhD

JAMA. 2010;304(9):967-975. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.1237


Written by

Smoking Increased Risk Of Death In Women With Breast Cancer

Being a current smoker or having a history of smoking significantly increased the risk of breast cancer progression and overall death among a group of multiethnic women with breast cancer, according to the results of a large prospective cohort study.



"We found that women who are current smokers or have history of smoking had a 39 percent higher rate of dying from breast cancer, even after we took into account a wide array of known prognostic factors including clinical, socioeconomic and behavioral factors," said Dejana Braithwaite, Ph.D, assistant professor, division of cancer epidemiology, department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.



Researchers presented these results at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Nov. 7-10, 2010.



Although smoking is associated with lung cancer and implicated in several other cancers, it is unclear what effect smoking has on breast cancer, according to Braithwaite.



"Specifically, it is unclear how long women live following breast cancer diagnosis and whether smoking increases the risk of death because of breast cancer progression or whether there is an association between smoking and life expectancy following breast cancer diagnosis that works through affecting non-breast cancer causes of death," she said.



Therefore, Braithwaite and colleagues set out to examine the relationship between smoking and the risk of death due to breast cancer progression or non-breast cancer causes of death in a large group of women.



They enrolled 2,265 multi-ethnic women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2000. The women were followed for an average of nine years. Researchers examined whether smoking affected death from breast cancer, non-breast cancer related causes and death from all causes.



Results showed that 164 deaths from breast cancer and 120 deaths from non-breast cancer causes occurred during follow-up.



Those women who had a history of smoking or who were current smokers also had a twofold increased risk for dying from non-breast cancer related causes compared with women with breast cancer who had never smoked.



An analysis was also conducted to examine whether body mass index, molecular breast cancer subtype or menopausal status modified risk. Women who were current or past smokers and also had a HER2-negative tumor subtype had a 61 percent increased risk for breast cancer death compared with those who never smoked. Smokers with a body mass index less than 25 kg/m2 had an 83 percent increased risk for breast cancer death, and postmenopausal women had a 47 percent increased risk for breast cancer death compared with those who never smoked.



"The implication of this research is that it is important for physicians to improve smoking cessation efforts, especially among women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, in order to improve breast cancer specific outcomes and overall health outcomes," Braithwaite said.



Source:

Jeremy Moore

American Association for Cancer Research

Distinguishing Breast Cancer-Causing Mutations From Those That Are Harmless

Women with mutations in either their BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have a dramatically increased risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. Identifying such women provides them with an opportunity to take preventive measures such as surgery to remove their breasts. One caveat to identifying such women by simply sequencing their BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and detecting mutations is that not all mutations are harmful. However, Shyam Sharan and colleagues, at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick, have now developed an assay to distinguish harmful BRCA1 mutations from those that are not. As discussed by the authors and, in an accompanying commentary, Roger Greenberg, this assay has immense clinical potential to identify those patients that might benefit from treatments to prevent breast cancer.



TITLE: Expression of human BRCA1 variants in mouse ES cells allows functional analysis of BRCA1 mutations



AUTHOR CONTACT:

Shyam K. Sharan

National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, USA.


View the PDF of this article at: https://the-jci/article.php?id=39836



ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY

TITLE: Breast cancer gene variants: separating the harmful from the harmless



AUTHOR CONTACT:

Roger A. Greenberg

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.


View the PDF of this article at: https://the-jci/article.php?id=40577




Journal of Clinical Investigation, Sept. 21, 2009



Source:
Karen Honey


Journal of Clinical Investigation

New Perspectives On Health Disparities In Breast Cancer Research

Breast cancer is a disease with a number of known genetic and behavioral risk factors, but scientists have seen that these risks are often compounded by social and racial inequalities. The question remains: how, exactly, do social disadvantages, genetics, race and culture add to the disparities faced by so many groups of women?


These are among the questions in breast cancer research that scientists are addressing this week at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, being held November 27-30 in Atlanta.


Today researchers present findings on how poverty can affect cancer prognosis, how ethnicity affects medical care and how genetics can affect the survival of different groups of women.


Racial disparities in early breast cancer outcomes in a mammographic screened population, Abstract no. A-45:


In a retrospective study of women with stage I or II invasive breast cancer, researchers at the University of Chicago have evidence that race-specific biology may contribute to the health disparity faced by African-American women. At eight years following a breast-conserving lumpectomy and radiotherapy, 78.1 percent of African-American women were free of disease versus 84.9 percent of non-black women of various ethnic groups. The researchers believe their data suggest that modification of the current screening mammography guidelines for breast cancer may benefit African Americans.


"All other things being equal, including age, the presence of co-morbid disease, socioeconomic status, weight, and tumor size, African-American women in our sample were at a disadvantage for disease-free survival of breast cancer," said Michael A. Nichols, M.D., Ph.D., a resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Chicago.


According to Nichols, their study offers reasons to reassess how African-American women are screened and treated for breast cancer. "Our data suggests that although screening mammograms detect tumors of similar size, it appears that the advantage gained by early detection is relatively less in African-American women," Nichols said. "This study merits further evaluation of whether African-American women would benefit from either more frequent mammograms or the use of more sensitive screening methods, such as MRI."


The University of Chicago study began in 1986 and, in the ensuing decades, encompassed 1,246 women, aged 40 and above, treated at University of Chicago Hospitals and affiliates. The women enrolled had either stage I or II cancer, and they were all treated by lumpectomy and radiotherapy. About one third of participants were African-American, and they were more likely to present with large tumors and cancer that was detectable in the lymph nodes. The researchers determined socioeconomic status by patient's zip code and co-morbid diseases by patient report. Patients voluntarily defined their own ethnic status.















Nichols and his colleagues compared the African-American women to all other women enrolled in the study. When the researchers accounted for poverty and co-morbidity -- diseases such as hypertension, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, coronary artery disease and diabetes -- race remained an independent trait that indicated poor prognosis for women with breast tumors detected through mammogram. Nichols cautioned that although the study controlled for many known prognostic indicators, it did not account for all. "Our study did not include important known contributors including the status of the Her2 gene or detailed information regarding hormonal therapy," Nichols said.


Overall survival was worse for African-American women (78.1 percent versus 84.9 percent). In addition, disease-free survival, that is, survival without relapse eight years after treatment was also worse for African-American women 31.6 percent of African-American women experienced relapse versus 14.9 percent of all other women.


"If early breast cancer is more aggressive in African-American women, they may benefit from earlier detection than is previously obtained by yearly screening mammograms," Nichols said. "These results should offer hope to the healthcare community, because improved, more vigilant, screening may offer a simple way to improve outcomes for African-American women with early breast cancer."


Physician perspectives on surgical treatment disparities among Asian women with early stage breast cancer, Abstract no. A-54:


According to the oncologists who treat them, Asian women with early stage breast cancer are influenced by cultural factors when they decide to choose mastectomy over breast-conserving lumpectomy, even though a lumpectomy might offer a better quality of life, say researchers at the Northern California Cancer Center (NCCC), located in Fremont, California.


An Asian patient's attitude that the breast doesn't need to be preserved primarily because of the culture's reduced emphasis on the breast and breast appearance is an important consideration that leads many Asian women to choose a mastectomy, said a majority of physicians who participated in the investigators' survey.


Other reasons cited by physicians are that Asian women may choose a mastectomy because breast size in this population is smaller to begin with, so there is less breast to preserve, as well as factors such as age and unwillingness to travel for chemotherapy and radiation treatments which often are necessary following a lumpectomy.


Reasons for why Asian women choose mastectomy are important, say the NCCC team, because in order for a breast cancer patient to make the best clinical decision, she must be thoroughly educated on the benefits of each procedure. "For patients with early stage breast cancer where there are no clear clinical contraindications to breast-conserving treatment, a lumpectomy is less invasive than a mastectomy and it offers the same survival and potentially improved quality of life," said Jane T. Pham, an epidemiologist at NCCC and doctoral candidate in epidemiology at University of California, Davis.


In earlier research, the investigators found that a statistically significant greater number of Asian women (67.5 percent) choose to have a mastectomy over lumpectomy compared to Caucasian women (57.3 percent). And while the use of mastectomy has fallen among most populations over the past decade, it has not fallen as fast among Asian women, Pham says.


Under the direction of lead investigator Scarlett Lin Gomez, Ph.D., research scientist at NCCC and associate director of the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry,
Pham and her colleagues surveyed 80 physicians in the region who treat Chinese, Vietnamese and Filipina breast cancer patients. The survey asked physicians why they felt Asian women were choosing mastectomy significantly more often than other women.


While 74 percent of physicians surveyed said that consideration of cosmetic result is usually important to women treated with lumpectomy, most of the physicians felt cultural factors, such as a reduced emphasis on breast preservation, are the primary reasons for the higher rate of mastectomies among Asian women. Physicians also listed fear, both of reoccurrence and of radiation and chemotherapy, as another contributing factor.


All of these findings need to be probed further with Asian patients themselves, and this study is currently ongoing, Pham says. Funding for these continuing studies was provided by grants through the California Department of Health Services, National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


"Is it really a reduced significance of the breast when making treatment decisions, or is it fear about adverse outcomes?" Pham asked. "Although many of these cultural factors require additional research, awareness of these factors can allow physicians to directly address Asian patient concerns that may be influenced by culture, and fully inform the patient of their treatment options."


Obesity and risk for relapse of breast cancer in women of low socioeconomic status, Abstract no. A-34:


In one of the largest racially diverse studies of low income women, researchers found that women who are overweight or obese at the time they are diagnosed with breast cancer are at an increased risk of relapse.


Investigators from the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center at Louisiana State Health Science Center found that for each point gain of body mass index (BMI), the risk of cancer recurrence increased by four percent. For example, a breast cancer patient with a BMI of 30 had a 20 percent greater risk of relapse than a patient with a BMI below 25. (A BMI of 25-30 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or greater is classified as obese.)


Not only was this risk evident in postmenopausal women, the researchers say, but the risk was present in premenopausal women, too. "We find that obesity, which is associated with poverty, is a significant factor in whether cancer recurs," said Amanda Sun, M.D., Ph.D., the study's lead investigator and oncologist at the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center. "The good news is weight is potentially a controllable risk factor


The research team examined medical records for 349 women diagnosed with breast cancer from 1990 to 2004. Forty-five percent of participants were African-American, and the rest were Caucasian, making the study one of the largest with a high proportion of African-American breast cancer patients, Sun says. In this group, 25 percent lived in counties with high poverty rates; 20 percent of the patients received free health care; and 25 percent were enrolled in Medicaid.


"Poverty is an important marker for limited access to healthcare, late stage disease, and worse outcomes, and the fact is that poor adults are more likely to be obese," said Dolly Quispe, M.D., hematology-oncology fellow at the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center "The goal here is to determine if there is a correlation of obesity and poverty with breast cancer recurrence, and to quantify it."


African-American patients in this study were 62 percent more likely to have limited economic means, 88 percent more likely to be overweight and obese, and 46 percent more likely to be pre-menopausal, the researchers found.


Breast cancer recurred in 69 patients, and after investigators adjusted for body weight, race, menopausal status, age at diagnosis and cancer stage, BMI at diagnosis remained a statistically significant predictor of cancer recurrence. According to Quispe, low social economic status was a marginally significant predictor of relapse after adjusting for other factors. "We can see the relationship between poverty, obesity, and cancer recurrence in this study," Quispe said


Also of note is the finding of a high rate of cancer relapse in younger patients, says Sun, "Many studies have found that obesity in postmenopausal women is a risk factor for breast cancer development, but those few that correlate excess body weight and cancer in premenopausal women have been mixed," Sun said.


The researchers say this kind of study was possible at the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center because that health center provides medical care to a significant portion of poor patients in Louisiana, a state with a poverty rate of 20 percent.


"This is a snapshot of breast cancer incidence in people without insurance," Quispe said. "It tells us that interventions targeting weight control could potentially improve outcomes in breast cancer."


The study was funded by the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center at LSU Health Sciences Center.


Disparities in receipt of lymph node assessment among early stage female breast cancer patients, Abstract no. A-65:


Examining nearby lymph nodes while a woman is undergoing surgery for early stage breast cancer is a recommended practice to determine whether the cancer has spread, although there are valid clinical reasons to omit this procedure. However, researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) have found that 11 percent of almost 200,000 patients in a national sample of individuals with cancer did not undergo the procedure, and these women were significantly more likely to be elderly or African-American, have no health insurance or live in an area whose residents have a low level of education.


The findings are concerning because they suggest clinical factors may not be the primary basis for decisions on breast cancer care for some disadvantaged patients, as they should be, researchers say.


"We found that significant disparities exist in who received axillary lymph node assessment, and without this procedure, an oncologist cannot appropriately stage a woman's cancer and determine optimal therapy," said Michael Halpern, M.D., Ph.D., strategic director of Health Services Research for the ACS.


Investigators specifically found that women without insurance were 24 percent less likely to receive the lymph node assessment compared to those with private insurance. Women who lived in areas with low levels of education were 13 percent less likely than those from high education areas, and African-American patients were 10 percent less likely to have the procedure than white patients.


They also found that age was a "huge" factor in who received a lymph node assessment: women age 73 or older were three times less likely to receive the procedure than were patients age 51 or younger, researchers said.


Standard practice guidelines for axillary node dissection during lumpectomy or mastectomy surgery specify when this procedure can be considered optional, such as for elderly patients, patients with other serious illnesses, or patients for whom lymph node results wouldn't affect choice of therapy.


"Ideally, factors such as race and insurance status shouldn't play any role in who receives this procedure, yet that is what we found. And while age is an important factor in deciding whether or not to perform lymph node assessments, we certainly didn't expect a three-fold difference," Halpern said.


Other studies have indicated that disparities in care may result from three different sources: structural barriers (such as health insurance or type of hospital), physician/clinical factors, and patient factors. "All three of these may be important in the disparities we observed for axillary node dissection," Halpern said.


"These disparities could result from differences in sites of care or practice patterns among healthcare providers that predominantly treat poor or uninsured women, or could reflect appropriate application of clinical guidelines in some cases," Halpern said. "We can't be sure why these disparities occur, because we just don't know how those decisions are being made at the patient and physician levels."


To conduct the study, researchers examined data from 196,732 patients who had surgery to treat early stage breast cancer from 2003-2005 from the National Cancer Database, a hospital-based registry sponsored by the ACS and the American College of Surgeons. All of these hospitals had cancer programs accredited by the Commission on Cancer; approximately 70 percent of cancer patients nationwide are treated at these hospitals.


"We need to find out why these disparities exist and what to do to make sure that everyone is getting excellent cancer care," Halpern said.


The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes nearly 26,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 70 other countries. AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment, and patient care. AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent publication, CR, is a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists. It provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship, and advocacy.


American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

615 Chestnut Street, 17th Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19106

United States

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Treating Bone Loss In Breast Cancer Survivors

Osteoporosis is a growing concern among breast cancer survivors and their doctors, because certain cancer drugs can cause bone loss.


Many breast cancer patients also experience secondary causes of bone loss, such as vitamin D deficiency.


But a Loyola University Health System study has found that bone loss can be halted with a comprehensive regimen that includes both osteoporosis drugs and treatments that target secondary causes of bone loss.


The study by Dr. Pauline Camacho and colleagues was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


"Doctors evaluating breast cancer patients for possible bone loss should look further than cancer drugs," Camacho said.



Primary causes of osteoporosis are menopause and aging. Secondary causes are diseases or conditions that exacerbate bone loss.


A class of breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors can decrease bone mineral density and increase the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women. The drugs decrease the body's production of estrogen. While estrogen feeds cancer, the hormone also protects against osteoporosis. In certain breast cancer patients, bone loss from cancer drugs can be treated with osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates, such as alendronate sodium (Fosamax®) and ibandronate sodium (Boniva®).


Camacho and colleagues reviewed charts of 81 consecutive breast cancer patients who were referred to Loyola's Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center for treatment or prevention of osteoporosis. Fifty-one patients had secondary causes of bone loss, including Vitamin D deficiency (65 percent), excessive calcium excretion in urine (16 percent) and an overactive parathyroid gland (13 percent). Thirty patients did not have secondary causes of bone loss.


Each group received similar treatment with osteoporosis drugs. Women with secondary bone loss also received additional treatments. For example, vitamin D deficiency was treated with prescription doses of vitamin D supplements. Excessive calcium excretion was treated with a "water pill" that's also used to treat high blood pressure. There were various treatments for parathyroid gland disorder, depending on the cause.


After one year, the breast cancer patients with secondary causes of bone loss had stable bone mineral density in their spines and necks. Bone mineral density improved in the group of breast cancer patients who did not have secondary causes of bone loss. (Bone mineral density -- the amount of calcium and other minerals packed into a segment of bone -- predicts osteoporosis.)


Camacho said the study demonstrates that bone loss "can be prevented in women undergoing hormonal therapy if secondary causes of bone loss are corrected and bisphosphonate osteoporosis drugs are appropriately used." Camacho is an associate professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and director of Loyola's Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center.


Camacho's co-authors are Dr. Kathy Albain, Dr. Patricia Robinson and Stritch medical student Naseem Helo. Albain is a professor and Robinson is an assistant professor at Stritch. Both are in the department of medicine, division of hematology/oncology.


Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 570-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Health & Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 250-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness Center and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.


Source
Loyola University Health System


View drug information on Boniva; Fosamax.

Breast Cancer Intervention Reduces Depression, Inflammation

A psychological intervention for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with symptoms of depression not only relieves patients' depression but also lowers indicators of inflammation in the blood.



Those are the findings of a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) and the Ohio State University Department of Psychology involving patients with stage II or III breast cancer.



Patients who received a psychological therapy that reduced stress and enhanced their ability to cope experienced significant relief of depressive symptoms. Moreover, that improvement was followed by a reduction in markers of inflammation.



"Previously, we knew that inflammation was associated with depression-like symptoms among cancer patients, and that both are problematic, but we did not know whether treating depression would affect inflammation," says co-author Barbara L. Andersen, professor of psychology and an OSUCCC-James researcher.



"Inflammation is considered to be a cancer promoting factor, and both depression and inflammation predict increased risk of cancer death."



Patients in the control group received only health and psychological assessments of their condition over the 12-month study period and showed no improvement in depression or inflammation indicators.



The findings are published online in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.



"This study shows that by helping breast cancer patients with depression, they will also experience less inflammation," says study leader Dr. William E. Carson, III, professor in the division of surgical oncology and associate director for clinical research at the OSUCCC-James.



First author Lisa Thornton, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology, noted that 25 to 30 percent of cancer patients experience significant symptoms of depression. "Our findings underscore the importance of including psychological interventions in the comprehensive care of cancer patients who experience significant distress," Thornton says.



The study's patients were participating in a larger clinical trial testing the effects of the same intervention on disease endpoints. Previously published findings showed that the intervention reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence and death.



This follow-up study examined records from 45 patients who entered the trial with clinically significant symptoms of depression.



Twenty-three of the patients had been randomized to receive the psychological intervention plus the assessment. The remaining 22 patients received only the assessment, which consisted of a personal interview and questionnaires that evaluated mood, fatigue, health status and the influence of pain on quality of life. Blood samples were taken to assess inflammation levels, which were determined using counts of overall white blood cells and neutrophils, and the ratio of two categories of immune cells.



All patients were assessed upon starting the trial, then at four, eight and 12 months.



For the intervention, groups of eight to 12 patients and two psychologists met weekly for four months and monthly for eight months.



By the study's end, patients receiving the intervention showed significant declines in symptoms of depression, fatigue, and pain and in the markers of inflammation.



"Significant anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms are usually not recognized and might even be trivialized as a 'normal' response to cancer. However, those with clinical depression need treatment, as symptoms may not remit or even when they do, it can take months," Andersen says.



Funding from the American Cancer Society, a Longaberger Company-American Cancer Society Grant, a U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Grant, the National Institute for Mental Health, and the National Cancer Institute supported this research.



Source:
Darrell E. Ward


Ohio State University Medical Center