Mammary Gland News and Research

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Innovative therapy offers new hope to breast cancer patients

A novel breast-cancer therapy that partially reverses the cancerous state in cultured breast tumor cells and prevents cancer development in mice, could one day provide a new way to treat early stages of the disease without resorting to surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, a multi-institutional team led by researchers from the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported January 1 in Science Translational Medicine.

2 Jan 2014

Exposing young girls to ionizing radiation can raise risk of breast cancer later in life

Exposing young women and girls under the age of 20 to ionizing radiation can substantially raise the risk of their developing breast cancer later in life. Scientists may now know why. A collaborative study, in which Berkeley Lab researchers played a pivotal role, points to increased stem cell self-renewal and subsequent mammary stem cell enrichment as the culprits.

12 Sep 2013

Drug to treat blood cancers may also stop spread of invasive breast cancer

A drug used to treat blood cancers may also stop the spread of invasive breast cancer, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have discovered. Their study, published online in Breast Cancer Research, found that in the lab and in animals, the drug decitabine turns on a gene coding for protein kinase D1 (PRKD1) that halts the ability of cancer cells to separate from a tumor and spread to distant organs.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers discover why early pregnancy reduces breast cancer

An international scientific collaborative led by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute's Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD, has discovered why women who give birth in their early twenties are less likely to eventually develop breast cancer than women who don't, triggering a search for a way to confer this protective state on all women.

13 Aug 2013

New stem cell discovery may help scientists replace damaged organs

Stem-cell researchers at UC San Francisco have found a key role for a protein called BMI1 that may help scientists direct the development of tissues to replace damaged organs in the human body.

22 Jul 2013

Study describes how human mammary gland becomes highly sensitive to insulin during lactation

Why do so many mothers have difficulty making enough milk to breastfeed? A new study by scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of California Davis adds to their previous research implicating insulin's role in lactation success.

6 Jul 2013

Stress exposure may be associated with increased risk of aggressive breast cancer

Local chemical signals released by fat cells in the mammary gland appear to provide a crucial link between exposure to unrelenting social stressors early in life, and the subsequent development of breast cancer, researchers from the University of Chicago report in the July 2013 issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

19 Jun 2013

Scientists use mouse model to identify novel cell surface marker on mammary gland stem cells

Stem cells are different from all other cells in our body because they retain the remarkable genetic plasticity to self-renew indefinitely as well as develop into cell types with more specialized functions. However, this remarkable self-renewal capacity comes with a price, as stem cells can become seeds of cancer.

15 Apr 2013

Researcher to study ADAM12 gene in breast tumor initiating cells

A Kansas State University professor's research on breast cancer stem cells may help improve survival rates by preventing cancer recurrence and metastasis -- the major causes of death among breast cancer patients.

14 Feb 2013

NEDD9 gene controls growth of progenitor cells that give rise to breast tumors

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. Many of these deaths occur when there is an initial diagnosis of invasive or metastatic disease. A protein called NEDD9-which regulates cell migration, division and survival-has been linked to tumor invasion and metastasis in a variety of cancers.

16 Jan 2013

Study reveals large microbial diversity in breast milk

Spanish researchers have traced the bacterial microbiota map in breast milk, which is the main source of nourishment for newborns. The study has revealed a larger microbial diversity than originally thought: more than 700 species.

4 Jan 2013

Few alcohol-related story ideas from The Methodist Hospital

The holidays are a time to consume -- food, gifts, and spirits. Here are a few alcohol-related story ideas from The Methodist Hospital. Because alcohol's effects on human physiology are complex, advice about is often contradictory.

20 Dec 2012

Genomic sequencing reveals therapeutic drug targets for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer

Genomic sequencing has revealed therapeutic drug targets for difficult-to-treat, metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), according to an unprecedented study by the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen) and US Oncology Research.

7 Dec 2012

Genome sequencing reveals previously unreported mutations in metastatic TNBC

Whole genome sequencing has revealed previously unreported mutations in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), according to a study published by the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

6 Dec 2012

Study confirms Elf5 protein as tumor suppressor of breast cancer

A protein that is necessary for lactation in mammals inhibits the critical cellular transition that is an early indicator of breast cancer and metastasis, according to research conducted at the University at Buffalo and Princeton University and highlighted as the cover paper in November issue of Nature Cell Biology.

25 Oct 2012

Breast cancer spread dependent on both environment and genetic changes

A new study from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that the lethal spread of breast cancer is as dependent on a tumor’s protein-rich environment as on genetic changes inside tumor cells.

23 Oct 2012

Research may lead to new ways to identify women with breast cancer risks from low-dose radiation

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have identified tissue mechanisms that may influence a woman's susceptibility or resistance to breast cancer after exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation, such as the levels used in full-body CT scans and radiotherapy.

18 Oct 2012

Study identifies multipotent and unipotent stem cells that contribute to prostate postnatal development

Publication in Nature Cell Biology advanced on line publication: researchers at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, ULB identify multipotent and unipotent Stem Cells (SCs) that contribute to prostate postnatal development.

16 Oct 2012

Biologists solve long-standing scientific mystery of how mice first know to nurse or suckle

A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved the long-standing scientific mystery of how mice first know to nurse or suckle.

5 Oct 2012

Conceptually novel mechanism for biological regulation of cell suicide

Death plays a big role in keeping things alive. Consider the tightly orchestrated suicide of cells--a phenomenon essential to everything from shaping an embryo to keeping it free of cancer later in life. When cells refuse to die, and instead multiply uncontrollably, they become what we call tumors. An intricate circuitry of biochemical reactions inside cells coordinates their self-sacrifice. Tracing that circuitry is, naturally, an important part of cancer research.

24 Sep 2012