HER2/neu POSTIVE BREAST CANCER - IMPROVED OVERALL SURVIVAL WITH PERTUZUMAB

PERJETA® (pertuzumab) is a HER2/neu receptor antagonist indicated in combination with Herceptin® (trastuzumab) and docetaxel for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have not received prior anti‑HER2 therapy or chemotherapy for metastatic disease

STAY AWAY FROM THOSE TANNING BEDS!

Melanoma risk higher for women under 40 who started indoor tanning in their teens, study finds

CBS News (1/27, Marcus) reports on its website that research published in JAMA Dermatology indicated that “women under 40 who started indoor tanning at a younger age and tanned more often have a higher risk of being diagnosed with melanoma.”

        HealthDay (1/27, Reinberg) reports that investigators looked at “data on nearly 700 men and women ages 25 to 49 who were diagnosed with” melanoma “between 2004 and 2007 and compared them with a similar number of ‘controls.’” The study indicated that “women younger than 40 with melanoma reported starting indoor tanning earlier than women 40 to 49 – at about age 16 versus 25.” Additionally, “younger women with melanoma...reported more tanning sessions than older women – an average of 100 tanning sessions compared with 40 sessions for women diagnosed at 40 to 49.”

MELANOMA DURING PREGNANCY

Women diagnosed with melanoma while pregnant may be at greater risk of metastasis, study suggests

Reuters (1/21, Rapaport) reports that a new study suggests that women who are diagnosed with melanoma during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth may be significantly more likely to have metastasis to other organs and tissues. Researchers also found that these women were also more likely to have cancer recur after treatment. The findings were published online Jan. 20 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

GENETICS MAY DETERMINE CANCER SUSPECTIBILITY IN MANY CASES

Nearly one-third of all cancer cases may be linked to inherited genes, research finds

On its website, NBC News (1/6, Fox) reports that research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that approximately one-third “of all cancer cases can be blamed on inherited genes.”

        STAT (1/6, Swetlitz) reports that investigators looked at data on “identical and fraternal twins in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, who were part of the Nordic Twin Study of Cancer.”

        Newsweek (1/6, Firger) reports that the researchers found that “overall heritability for cancer was 33 percent among the entire study population, and notably higher for certain types of cancers.” Newsweek adds, “Significant heritability was found in 58 percent of diagnosed skin melanomas, 57 percent of prostate cancers, 43 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers, 39 percent of ovarian cancers, 38 percent of kidney cancers, 31 percent of breast cancers and 27 percent of uterine cancers.”

        HealthDay (1/6, Thompson) reports that the researchers also “identified a set of cancers in which genetics play a very small role.” This group includes “lung cancer (18 percent), colon cancer (15 percent), rectal cancer (14 percent), and head and neck cancer (9 percent).”