Alcohol consumption after breast cancer diagnosis may increase recurrence risk

In the Life After Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) study, 1,897 participants diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer between 1997 and 2000 and recruited on average 2 years post-breast cancer diagnosis were evaluated for the association between alcohol intake and breast cancer recurrence and death.

The women, who were generally light drinkers, were followed for an average of 7.4 years. The study reported an increase in risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer death, but no effect on total mortality, to be associated with consumption of 3 to 4 or more drinks per week when compared with women not drinking following their cancer diagnosis.

Previous research has been mixed on this topic. Almost all large studies have shown no increase in all-cause mortality for women who drink moderately following a diagnosis of breast cancer (as does this study).

As for recurrence of breast cancer, most have shown no increase in risk, although one previous study of women with estrogen-receptor + tumors found an increased risk of a primary cancer developing in the contralateral breast to be associated with alcohol intake of more than 7 drinks per week.

Because of conflicting results among studies on this topic, further research will be needed to determine the extent to which alcohol following a diagnosis of breast cancer may relate to subsequent disease and death.

Turmeric: The Indian Spice of Life

Rates of Alzheimer's in India are about four times lower than in the USA and studies suggest that Indian curry contains a powerful substance that might protect the brain from damage that leads to Alzheimer's. The growing file on the benefits of eating curry, includes compelling evidence gleaned from animal and human studies.

The findings from Western science are becoming more aligned with what traditional Indian healers have long said about turmeric. They call it the "spice of life".

For centuries, doctors trained in Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional medical system in India, have turned to turmeric to treat inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. In the USA, many people with arthritis take over-the-counter supplements that contain curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric.

Ina scientific study, rats that were bred to develop rheumatoid arthritis, were given injections of turmeric. The turmeric almost completely prevented the onset of arthritis. The spice also seemed to help stop joint destruction in rats that had already started to develop the disease.

Curry also may offer some protection against cancer. Indians eat from 100 to 200 milligrams of curry every day, and US cancer experts think that that might be enough to prevent cancer.

The curcumin in curry seems to shut down genes that trigger the development and the spread of breast cancer, animal studies in suggest and a preliminary human study suggests curcumin supplements might — in a handful of cases — be able to stabilise pancreatic cancer.

Epidemiology studies in humans also have linked frequent use of turmeric spice to lower rates of breast, prostate and colon cancer but more extensive clinical studies still need to be carried out.

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Health - Canadian research alters view of breast tumours

CBC News - Health - B.C. research alters view of breast tumours

Not all cells in a breast cancer tumour contain the same mutations, researchers in British Columbia have found.

The finding that changes occur in tumours over time could change how scientists think about developing new breast cancer drugs and deciding which patients would benefit most from treatments.

In Wednesday's issue of the journal Nature, Samuel Aparicio and his colleagues at the BC Cancer Agency charted the genetic mutations that occurred in the 3 billion letters of the DNA sequence from an estrogen-receptor-alpha-positive breast tumour.

"The impact is going to be in the way that cancer researchers look at developing therapies and applying therapies in the short term," said Aparicio, chair of breast cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency and Canada research chair in molecular oncology.

"Over the long term, we hope that being able to decode the sequence of tumours on a routine basis will eventually lead us to being able to better predict which combinations of medicines to use when treating a cancer. We're not quite at that point yet."

The team found 32 mutations after it had spread, nine years after the original biopsy of the lobular breast cancer, which accounts for eight to 15 per cent of all breast cancers, Aparicio said.


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