Understanding Cancer » breast~cancer

More on microRNAs and why cancer spreads

Avril — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:38:03 +0000

This is another geeky post. If you are currently having treatment for cancer the research described in this post will not alter your treatment as this work is being carried out in cells in a laboratory (and not in people) but it is very interesting and will hopefully be used to design new treatments [...]

I have a lump in my breast. Does that mean I have cancer?

Avril — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:39:35 +0000

Are all breast lumps cancer? No. Lumps in your breast are very common and very few of them are caused by breast cancer.

Tumour (Chew-mor) Benign (b-9) Malignant (mal-ig-nan-t)

Tumour -A tumour is a lump of cells, it can be benign or malignant

Benign – A lump of cells that can NOT grow or [...]

Diabetes Drugs and Breast Cancer – What is the connection?

Avril — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:56:15 +0000

This week I wrote a post on diabetes and breast cancer (September 16th 2009), where I mentioned that the diabetes drug metformin, also known as Glucopahge or Fortamet has been shown to block tumor growth and prolong remission in mice.

I thought I’d write a bit more about this research, it interests me for [...]

Diabetes and Breast Cancer

Avril — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:38:03 +0000

Women with diabetes have a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer than women without diabetes. Most of the studies have looked at people with type 2 diabetes, simply because more people have type 2 diabetes than type 1. Type 2 diabetes tends to develop as you get older and your are more likely [...]

Two years away from a breast cancer cure?

Avril — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:35:30 +0000

No. Sorry. A lot of papers have been reporting work by Dr Justin Stebbing at Imperial College, London. He works on microRNAs and thinks that cures based on this research are possible in the next couple of years. I don’t agree. MicroRNAs are fascinating but there are very, very few drugs aimed at them. [...]

Cancer Course in Aberdeen – Thursday 6th August 2009

Avril — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:00:14 +0000

Normal blogging service resumes. If there are any topics you would like to see covered in the coming weeks, please use the “Contact Us” form to email me.

I want to draw attention to an upcoming course in Aberdeen, this Thursday, the 6th of August 2009. The session is being run by Breast Cancer [...]

Migraines, Estrogens and Breast Cancer. How are they connected?

Avril — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:16:45 +0000

There was a recent science study that showed people with medically diagnosed migraines are less likely to have breast cancer. The NHS knowledge Service have written a good description of the study and what it does and doesn’t show. You can find it in their “Behind the Headlines” section. They also have a link [...]