Lisa Bonchek Adams:

"At this time I have metastases to many places including my brain, liver, and bones. I want to raise money for metastatic breast cancer research at MSKCC. This type of cancer needs more funding than ever before. Despite the fact that 20-30% of those diagnosed with breast cancer will eventually have a metastasis of their cancer, less than 5% of money donated to breast cancer research goes to the metastatic domain."

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR?pxfid=27471&pg=fund&fr_id=1590

Drug combos may be found to cure Cancer by attacking Multiple Pathways

Similar to AIDS?
http://www.ascopost.com/issues/june-25,-2014/oral-two-drug-regimen-appears-promising-in-phase-ii-trial-of-recurrent-platinum-sensitive-ovarian-cancer.aspx

Tetanus Shot Doubles Glioblastoma Life Expectancy

Working in concert with cancer targeting immunotherapy,
Tetanus Shot Doubles Glioblastoma Life Expectancy.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/tetanus-vaccine-boosts-cancer-therapy-n321596

This is incredible and wonderful.
Firstly: this works on the brain.
Secondly: very few bloblastoma 5 year survivors.
http://virtualtrials.com/pdf/long-termsurvivalofglioblastoma.pdf

Penn and Mayo have two good immunotherapy programs for
ovarian and breast cancer.   Maybe there are other centers too.
Will dig more into it.
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/obgyn/research/ovarian_clinical.htm

Chinese anti-malaria drug+iron

artemisinin is the drug that Chinese used to kill malaria

with 98% efficacy.   malaria like cancer cells tend to 

concentrate iron in their cells, and artemisinin completely

beats the efficacy of any western malaria drugs (70%).

Now it looks like artemisinin+iron could really kill breast

cancer too:

http://truththeory.com/2013/12/25/little-known-chinese-herb-iron-kill-98-of-cancer-cells-in-16-hours/

other anti malaria drug also are in trials for breast cancer.

http://killerboob.blogspot.com/2012/05/anti-malari...

Dasatinib Doubles PFS for ER+ women on Letrozole

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131213/Dasatinib2bletrozole-improves-survival-for-women-with-hormone-receptor-positive-HER2-negative-metastatic-breast-cancer.aspx

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tommeyer/2013/12/16/hope-for-breast-cancer-patients-is-around-the-corner/

CDX-011 results are pretty good for triple negative MBC patients.   But still not good enough.

iSpy-2 shows 2 drugs winners

Quote:

Both drugs were tested in an unconventional mid-stage trial called I-Spy 2. The trial involves patients with cancers confined to the breast, where a cure is possible but the disease is at high risk of spreading to other parts of the body. In one of the novel features of the study, the drugs were measured on their ability to eradicate the cancer in just six months, before any surgery to remove tumors.

Veliparib, for instance, when combined with the drug carboplatin and a six-month regimen of standard chemotherapy, achieved a complete response in 52% of patients compared with 26% for patients treated with standard chemo alone, according to results presented Friday at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Typically, late-stage cancer drug studies succeed only 30% to 40% of the time, said Laura Esserman, director of the breast care center at University of California San Francisco and co-leader of I-Spy 2. Such trials can involve several thousand patients--many of whom wind up taking drugs that don't help them--and can take nearly a decade to get an answer.

...

Whether the promising results will translate into a speedier approval--or any approval at all--isn't assured. A key to the I-Spy strategy is that the FDA accepts a complete response at six months--meaning that no residual cancer cells can be detected after the tumor and lymph nodes are removed--as a surrogate for a long-term benefit. The aim is for FDA to allow a drug on the market on that basis, on the condition that follow-up research demonstrates a long-term benefit.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20131213-705589.html?dsk=y

Surgeon's skill at the Surgery table a Key factor of Success

Obvious, but apparently it takes 3000 year of medicine to state:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/a-vital-measure-your-surgeons-skill/

News updates

What's new in metastatic breast cancer research

http://www.slideshare.net/DanaFarber/mbc-2013-talk-3-whats-new-in-metastatic-research-and-clinical-trials-mg-edited

AIDS Drug may work against cancer:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/25/us-cancer-hiv-idUSBRE99O0R920131025

More Satisfied Patients Die Sooner?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kaifalkenberg/2013/01/02/why-rating-your-doctor-is-bad-for-your-health/

Also by Forbes, super computer Watson working on matching patients to clinical trials at MD Anderson
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2013/10/18/ibms-watson-now-tackles-clinical-trials-at-md-anderson-cancer-center/

Tiny Pacemaker

Massive innovation in computer/cell phone/battery technologies enables this tiny pacemaker.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24535624

Within a decade, it could be even smaller with better battery life.   Innovation never stops.  It never stopped before and will not stop in the future.   Without even knowing a lot what we know today about immune system, HIV got a cure within 15 years of the virus being first discovered.

Are we the cancer patients, including the breast cancer patients the only ones stuck in an innovation-deficient hell, where the word "cure" dare not appear in peer reviewed scientific journals?   There are lots of hope, lots of interesting research, but the focus on metastasis is not always there.  Hopefully this is changing:
http://wrbw.membercenter.worldnow.com/story/23667473/fifteen-leading-charities-and-advocacy-groups-join-forces-to-change-the-way-metastatic-breast-cancer-is-understood-and-to-increase-focus-on-research



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22956040
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/gcrc-dav101513.php

Valproic acid encourages virus to fight cancer.   Dandy


http://www.aacr.org/home/public--media/aacr-press-releases.aspx?d=3179

OMI helps identify therapy response easily.

BXQ-350 for pancreatic cancer and brain cancer

This is about BXQ-350 for pancreatic cancer and brain cancer:

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201310130522/NEWS10/310130052&nclick_check=1

Quote from:

Getting this far has been an achievement of its own for Bexion’s team. Fewer than 10 percent of drugs that undergo animal testing ever make it to phase 1 human trials.

And its challenges are just beginning. About 10 percent of drugs that get this far ultimately gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, a total that drops to 4.7 percent for cancer drugs, according to a 2011 study.

Triple-negative tumors targetted with cystine transporter blocker

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uoc--tbc100213.php

Timmerman found that she could significantly slow growth of triple-negative tumors using an FDA-approved anti-inflammatory drug called sulfasalazine to block a specific cystine transporter called xCT. While sulfasalazine itself would not be appropriate for treating cancer, Timmerman said, it could serve as a "lead compound" that could be used to develop drugs that specifically target xCT on tumor cells.

mouse model of Patient's MBC shows interesting similarity

http://www.sciencenewsline.com/summary/2013091923340031.html


This article goes over current TNBC treatment.   It offer hopes without the reality check that the so called "double"ed PFS probably means a few additional months.    Complete pathological response as experienced by this patient featured remains a "miracle", not the expected.
http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/article.show/id/2/article_id/2157

Perjeta approved Neoadjuvant use

http://www.onclive.com/web-exclusives/In-Historic-Vote-on-Pertuzumab-ODAC-Suggests-Approval-of-First-Neoadjuvant-Regimen-for-Cancer

Despite my reservation for adjuvant drug research, neoadjuvant regimen is a different thing and much more exciting development to watch, and has the potential to revolutionalize and speed up cancer research.


http://www.cancernetwork.com/conference-reports/asco2013/breast-cancer-symposium/content/article/10165/2157691

How a neoadjuvant studies shows that biomarkers changed during the course of early breast cancer therapy.


http://www.inspire.com/groups/advanced-breast-cancer/discussion/long-interesting-clinical-trials/

Someone on inspire posted a lot of interesting clinical trials collated list.

Entinostat breakthrough status

http://www.onclive.com/web-exclusives/Breakthrough-Designation-Granted-to-Entinostat-for-Advanced-Breast-Cancer

Quote:
In a March 2012 follow-up analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the median PFS was 4.3 months versus 2.3 months, for entinostat and placebo, respectively (HR = 0.73; P = 0.06). In patients resistant to NSAIs (n = 45), the median PFS was 3.72 months compared to 1.78 months, in favor of the combination (HR = 0.47). - 

The median overall survival in the combination arm was 28.1 months compared to 19.8 months in the exemestane arm (HR = 0.59; P = 0.036). In a subset of patients (n = 49) with increased protein acetylation, the median PFS with the combination was 8.5 months compared with 2.8 months for patients without acetylation (HR = 0.32). 


My comment: Results are not terribly impressive.  But if this could be comboed with other targetted drug then this could be good.   

The key is the test for "protein acetylation"  (49/130).   The other patients might not have benefitted at all.   While the patients with increased protein acetylation (49/130)  seem to benefit at a much higher rate.



In other news:   Breast Cancer Index (BCI) Gene fingerprint identifies subset of HR+ EBC women at risk for 5+yr recurrence.   Lancet Oncology:
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/researchers-focus-on-likelihood-of-breast-cancer-recurrence-1.6056863

RealTime imaging of brain tumor using SRS

http://www.medicaldaily.com/new-laser-based-scalpel-may-revolutionize-brain-cancer-surgery-255492

Interesting article of metastatic cancer

http://www.onclive.com/publications/obtn/2013/August-2013/Developments-in-Metastatic-Cancer

NBCC deadline 2020

NBCC has a deadline 2020 project that seeks to end breast cancer by 2020.   They are currently fund raising with 2:1 matching, so you triple your gift match with donation until 9/30/2013.

I'm reading up on their progress report:
I like the fact that NBCC put a deadline date for BC.    This is unlike other charities that just splashes pink year after year till the founders live to a cushy retirement, and generations of women get marched through the adjuvant BC revenue generation therapy and get decimated by the MBC.

http://www.breastcancerdeadline2020.org/about-the-deadline/progress-reports/2012-progress-report.html

They fund a project called artemis that tries to end breast cancer by preventing metastatic breast cancer(MBC), it's another way of saying they are going to end breast cancer by researching adjuvant BC treatment.   They say don't expect silver bullet (for curing MBC).

But I want to see them going out on a leg and putting up a X-prize for actually curing MBC.   I want the silver bullet.   HIV patients got silver bullets, diabetic patients got silver bullets, malaria folks got the silver bullets, some leukemia folks got the silver bullets.   MBC and other cancer folks need to expect silver bullets and ask for the silver bullet (or the silver bullets) and not be distracted by any other shiny toys.

No more new mammograms, MRIs, PETs, and other half-baked detection/prevention mechanisms.
No more expensive drugs by extending MBC survival by 1 month, 3 month, etc.
No more adjuvant repackaging and remarketing of ok/great MBC drug that does not cure MBC and spend billions and 10 years to find out that this adjuvant strategy may not work.
No more quakery.

We have a real chance of getting the cure by 2020.   But let's make sure of it.

Miltefosine an anti-fungal/anti-protozoa drug may work on cutaneous BC

Old drug, response rate not that great (30%) not for too long either.   but interesting.

xtandi is also being tested for androgen positive TNBC.