The progress made in early detection and in treatment of breast cancer have been remarkable but there is still much to do in order to find the necessary cures.
October is a good time to think about how far we have come in treating breast cancer and where we are going next. One of the most exciting places that we might be going next is the development of vaccine.
Here are two articles that may provide you with some information on where research is headed--or should be headed.
Valerie Beral of Oxford University, the epidemiologist leading this study suggests that
"Genes played a part in only a very small number of cancers. The processes of giving birth and breastfeeding protected a woman from breast cancer more than anything else."
Dr. Beral believes that the hormone prolactin should be studied. "The one hormone that has to do with breast changes doesn't appear until late pregnancy. It produces the changes in the breast that make for lactation."
The second article is about a new form of immunotherapy.
The vaccine under development and investigation in this study is aimed at reducing the risk of recurrence for "patients who have a high expression of the protein HER2-neu."
"This type of breast cancer, representing about one-quarter of all cases, tends to be deadlier than other forms of the disease. In this group, the vaccine reduced mortality by 50 percent."
The idea of a vaccine that can help prevent breast cancer is exciting and to my mind, absolutely the right way to go. Prevention is the key.
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