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Posts

May 18, 2013

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8:58 PM | Thinking Beyond the Breast
Why BRCA is sometimes a misnomer—and the quest to find its Achilles’ Heel.                                   … Continue reading →
Figure One
Science Communication
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8:11 AM | Angelina Jolie, Evolution and Pleiotropy
Angelina Jolie recently revealed she underwent a double mastectomy; a prophylactic measure to combat the risk of breast cancer associated with BRCA1 gene she carries. Like many other ‘disease’ genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 show evidence of positive selection, suggesting a … Continue reading →
Science of Dogs
Biology

May 17, 2013

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7:30 PM | LabBook May 17, 2013
Angelina Jolie, big data, hypertension and more in this week's LabBook.
ScienceLife
Biology | Medicine
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6:34 PM | On science blogs: Jolie laide
The Angelina Jolie Story, writ large. Her surgeon's notes. The BRCA1 gene and breast cancer. Carl Zimmer presents an evolutionary weirdness about the mutant BRCA1 gene. Pros and cons of bilateral mastectomy. Costs of genetic testing and breast cancer surgery. Obamacare will pay, but will it pay all? More on gene patenting and the Myriad Genetics story. Finally: it appears that breast implants increase breast cancer deaths. […]
On Science Blogs This Week
Medicine | General Science
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6:05 PM | Thinking about Angelina
Writing in Forbes, David Kroll has a very thoughtful take on Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had a preventative double mastectomy after learning that she was at exceptionally high risk for developing breast cancer. While taking nothing away from Jolie’s bravery in … Continue reading →
The Finch and Pea
Biology | General Science

May 16, 2013

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7:30 PM | A Guide To Not Saying Dumb Things About Angelina Jolie's Double Mastectomy
Angelina Jolie Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons A refresher in genetic mutations, breast cancer risk and the perils of overawareness Angelina Jolie's announcement in Tuesday's New York Times that she has undergone a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer as a carrier of a BRCA gene mutation has garnered praise, sparked debates over genetic testing, and of course, encouraged people to say stupid things on Twitter. But what does the science say? How does Jolie's […]
Popular Science
General Science
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7:00 AM | The quack view of preventing breast cancer versus reality and Angelina Jolie, part 2
After yesterday, I really hadn’t planned on writing about Angelina Jolie and her decision to undergo bilateral mastectomies again, except perhaps as a more serious piece next week on my not-so-super-secret other blog where The Name of the Doctor is revealed on a weekly basis. As I mentioned yesterday, there are a number of issues…
Respectful Insolence
Medicine | Science Communication

May 15, 2013

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5:59 PM | ucsdhealthsciences: Angelina Jolie and the oncogene It’s not...
ucsdhealthsciences: Angelina Jolie and the oncogene It’s not surprising that Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had preventive double mastectomy is big news. You can read about it here, here, here and here  – among myriad places. The fact remains, though, that Jolie’s dilemma and decision is far from novel. It’s one faced by many women, almost all without the glare or notice of media. With that in mind, we reprise a pair of Q&As posed to breast cancer experts at UC San Diego:  […]
University of California Research
Academic Life | General Science
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4:49 PM | “I remember the appointment so vividly” – carrying the BRCA1 gene
Seeing Angelina Jolie talking in the media so prominently this week does have a huge impact on people like me. I think her announcement will make it easier for me to talk about my experiences, and I feel that I don’t … Continue reading →
Cancer Research UK - Science Update
Medicine | Biology
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4:01 PM | Angelina Jolie: Brad Pitt Was “So Loving and Supportive”
Yesterday, The New York Times published an opinion piece titled “My Medical Choice,” an article in which Angelina Jolie explained her decision to undergo a double mastectomy after she found out she had an 87% risk of developing breast cancer. The 37-year-old actress couldn’t have made the decision lightly, but after considering her mother’s battle [...]
Celebrity Psychings
Psychology

May 14, 2013

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11:49 PM | Courage versus fear: Keeping health risks in perspective when the dramatic and rare goes culturally viral
It was a singular act of courage for Angelina Jolie to so openly reveal her fears and preventive double mastectomy. She just amazes, again and again. Along with admiration and sympathy for her, many will be hoping that this extends to greater understanding of the others in much the same boat as Jolie. All sorts [...]
Scientific American - Guest Blog
General Science
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7:29 PM | Genetic Risk for Breast Cancer and the Case for Prophylactic Mastectomies
Angelina Jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy sheds light on the difficult choice facing women at genetic risk for breast cancer.
ScienceLife
Biology | Medicine
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3:36 PM | Angelina Jolie, inherited breast cancer and the BRCA1 gene
The news today is full of reaction to US actress Angelina Jolie’s decision to have surgery to reduce her chances of breast cancer. She made this difficult decision because, having lost her mother to ovarian cancer, she discovered she carries … Continue reading →
Cancer Research UK - Science Update
Medicine | Biology

May 09, 2013

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8:00 AM | Deconstructing another Stanislaw Burzynski cancer “success story”
One of the key parts of the Stanislaw Burzynski antineoplaston marketing machine, a component of the marketing strategy without which his clinic would not be able to attract nearly as many desperate cancer patients to Houston for either his antineoplaston therapy (now under a temporary shutdown by the FDA that, if science were to reign,…
Respectful Insolence
Medicine | Science Communication

May 07, 2013

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11:00 AM | Breast cancer treatments and cognitive declines
As if women undergoing treatment for breast cancer don’t have enough problems, many of them claim to suffer from cognitive declines as a result of that treatment. But are these difficulties with memory and concentration directly caused by the treatment? A study by Patricia Ganz and her colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles sets out to answer that question. According to this study, the good news is that chemotherapy does not appear to cause cognitive disfunction. The bad […]
The Stochastic Scientist
Biology | General Science

May 01, 2013

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7:03 PM | Researchers decode the molecular signals used by tumours to recruit mesenchymal stem cells
Its been known for years that tumours have the ability to recruit mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which is why they are sometimes so persistent and difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, this process is poorly understood on the molecular level. Today, a research team from the University of Michigan, led by Professor Russell Taichman, announced that it has successfully decoded "the molecular chatter" between cancer cells and MSCs.Read More

Jung, Y., Kim, J., Shiozawa, Y., Wang, J., Mishra, A., Joseph, J., Berry, J., McGee, S., Lee, E., Sun, H. & Wang, J. (2013). Recruitment of mesenchymal stem cells into prostate tumours promotes metastasis, Nature Communications, 4 1795. DOI:

Stem Cells Freak
Clinical Research | Health
Citation

April 30, 2013

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11:10 AM | New tricks for old drugs – blocking oestrogen to prevent breast cancer
Tamoxifen is one of the mainstays of breast cancer treatment. Since the early 1980s, it’s been given to women who’ve had breast cancer to try to stop the disease returning. As a result, it’s saved the lives of millions around … Continue reading →

Cuzick J., Sestak I., Bonanni B., Costantino J.P., Cummings S., DeCensi A., Dowsett M., Forbes J.F., Ford L. & LaCroix A.Z. & (2013). Selective oestrogen receptor modulators in prevention of breast cancer: an updated meta-analysis of individual participant data, The Lancet, DOI:

Cancer Research UK - Science Update
Medicine | Biology
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Citation
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9:16 AM | Breast cancer and other unknowns -- between a (probalistic) rock and a (probabilistic) hard place
The New York Times Magazine cover story on Sunday was disturbing.  With "Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer," Peggy Orenstein, herself a woman with a history of breast cancer, confronts the frustrating lack of progress in understanding what causes this disease that has or will touch so many of us, the best ways to detect it, how to treat it, which messages to convey to at-risk women (which is, of course, essentially all of them) and how best to do it.It has been four decades […]
The Mermaid's Tale
Anthropology | Biology

April 28, 2013

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2:30 PM | A Little Cancer in All of Us
Cancer. The thought of it can be absolutely terrifying. Moreso than heart disease, stroke, or Alzheimer’s. Maybe because its diagnosis often seems so out of the blue, or because we [...]
Science Over a Cuppa
Evolution | Neuroscience

April 25, 2013

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7:00 PM | AI: Breast Cancer Slactivism is SO Lazy it goes on Vacation.
Apparently, it’s that time of year again! You know. That time of year where your friends annoy the crap out of you by participating in some silly social media prank disguised as awareness. And lucky us! It’s about breast cancer AGAIN! Because as you know, there are so MANY people on FB still unaware that it exists and we have to raise consciousness because there are not enough pink balloons in the ariport. Ammirite! Here is my weekly […]
Skepchick
Gender | General Science

April 24, 2013

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11:59 AM | How big a lump will it find?
Here’s a clever way of comparing lump sizes different approaches to checking for breast cancer typically find, from Cath’s excellent VWXYNot blog:* Isn’t it easier to personally relate to the sizes through a physical object you can touch and feel than a graphic? Either way, it’s a clever idea and a smart piece of communication. More can [...]
Code for Life
Biology

April 21, 2013

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8:36 PM | Round-up: Talking to kids about traumatic events and the week’s health news
So… last week was a bit of a doozy. My head is still spinning from the insanity of the Boston Marathon blasts, the explosion in West, Texas (a city I’m dearly familiar with), the poisoned letters sent to the president and a Congressman and then the exhaustive manhunt in Boston which came to a climactic [...]
Red Wine and Apple Sauce
General Science | Health

April 19, 2013

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9:51 PM | Factors that predict the spreading of breast cancer cells
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the Philippines affecting 3 of 100 women. In the country, it has …Continue reading »
Imprints of Philippine Science
Biology | Physics

April 18, 2013

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10:28 AM | Tips for Supporting a Friend Who’s Sick
There’s a disconnect between how we treat sick people and how they want to be treated, according to Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author of the new book How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick. We stay silent. We say stupid things. We go from being sensitive, sensible, kind adults to rambling niceties or [...]
World of Psychology
Psychology

April 14, 2013

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3:04 AM | Myriad Genetics CEO Claims He Owns Your DNA
With the Supreme Court about to hear a landmark case on gene patents, Myriad Genetics, the company that owns the patents under scrutiny, is going on the offensive.  I've written about this case before, when the patents were first thrown out by one court, and then restored by another.  Now the Supremes will have the final say. Just last week, geneticists Jeffrey Rosenfeld and Chris Mason wrote a commentary for the Washington Post that warned about the consequences of companies […]
Genomics, Evolution, and Pseudoscience
Evolution | Medicine

April 12, 2013

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4:20 PM | Researchers isolate, for the first time, mammary gland stem cells of unprecedented purity
In a new study, researchers from the laboratory of Professor Gregory Hannon at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory seem to have solved a long-standing problem, isolating pure mammary gland stem cells. These cells are invaluable in understanding breast cancer and could help in the development of new drugs against the disease.Read More

dos Santos, C., Rebbeck, C., Rozhkova, E., Valentine, A., Samuels, A., Kadiri, L., Osten, P., Harris, E., Uren, P., Smith, A. & Hannon, G. (2013). Molecular hierarchy of mammary differentiation yields refined markers of mammary stem cells, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI:

Stem Cells Freak
Clinical Research | Health
Citation
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4:20 PM | Researchers isolate, for the first time, mammary gland stem cells of unprecedented purity
In a new study, researchers from the laboratory of Professor Gregory Hannon at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory seem to have solved a long-standing problem, isolating pure mammary gland stem cells. These cells are invaluable in understanding breast cancer and could help in the development of new drugs against the disease.Read More

dos Santos, C., Rebbeck, C., Rozhkova, E., Valentine, A., Samuels, A., Kadiri, L., Osten, P., Harris, E., Uren, P., Smith, A. & Hannon, G. (2013). Molecular hierarchy of mammary differentiation yields refined markers of mammary stem cells, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI:

Stem Cells Freak
Clinical Research | Health
Citation
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4:20 PM | Researchers isolate, for the first time, mammary gland stem cells of unprecedented purity
In a new study, researchers from the laboratory of Professor Gregory Hannon at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory seem to have solved a long-standing problem, isolating pure mammary gland stem cells. These cells are invaluable in understanding breast cancer and could help in the development of new drugs against the disease.Read More

dos Santos, C., Rebbeck, C., Rozhkova, E., Valentine, A., Samuels, A., Kadiri, L., Osten, P., Harris, E., Uren, P., Smith, A. & Hannon, G. (2013). Molecular hierarchy of mammary differentiation yields refined markers of mammary stem cells, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI:

Stem Cells Freak
Clinical Research | Health
Citation

April 11, 2013

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6:49 PM | Alcohol and Breast Cancer Survival
A new study suggests that moderate drinking has little effect on survival after diagnosis, and may reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Well
Health

April 09, 2013

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1:02 AM | (Photo courtesy of Princeton University) Metadherin (MTDH) plays...
(Photo courtesy of Princeton University) Metadherin (MTDH) plays a dual role in cancer metastasis and chemoresistance. A recent study has shown that this gene is overexpressed in greater than 40 percent of breast cancers and contributes to the poor clinical prognosis of these women. A transgenic mouse line was generated to study MTDH in greater detail. The production of an enzyme used to mark expression was placed under the control of the MTDH regulatory elements. This commonly used strategy […]
Big Ideas from the Benchtop
Biology | Science Communication
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