XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
  Breast
  Skin
  Blood
  Prostate
  Liver
  Colon
  Thyroid
  Endometrial
  Brain
  Therapy
  Risk Factors
  Esophageal
  Bladder
  Lung
  Rectal Cancer
  Pancreatic Cancer
  Bone Cancer
  Cervical Cancer
  Testicular Cancer
  Gastric Cancer
  Ovarian Cancer
  Nerve Tissue
  Renal Cell Carcinoma
 Psychiatry
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
Search

Last Updated: Aug 19th, 2006 - 22:18:38

Breast Channel
subscribe to Breast newsletter

Latest Research : Cancer : Breast

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Predictive Role of Somatostatin Receptor Scintigraphy (SRS) in Breast Cancer
Jan 22, 2006, 15:05, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena

"This is necessary before a therapeutical consequence can be given to the SRS scan results. If the results are going to be in the same line, we could predict therapy response with an accuracy of 100 percent immediately or within three weeks after treatment initiation"

 
Innovative use of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS), a nuclear medicine imaging technique looking at how the body functions at the molecular level, may provide near immediate selection of breast cancer patients for endocrine therapy and offers a new tool in fighting the disease, according to a study published in the January Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and the second leading cause of cancer death in this country. About one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer some time during her life, and more than 40,000 (1 in 33) of those die from the disease each year in the United States. Advanced or metastatic breast cancer patients receive either hormonal or chemotherapy treatment, depending on the hormone sensitivity of a woman's tumor. In some women, the female hormone estrogen promotes the growth of breast cancer cells. Endocrine or hormonal therapy removes the influence of estrogen on breast cancer cells, preventing the cancer cells from growing and spreading.

"Our technique allows a fast and accurate selection of breast cancer patients for hormonal treatment," explained Bieke Van Den Bossche, M.D., Ph.D., nuclear medicine department, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. "In routine practice, patients are assigned to hormonal treatment�or not�depending on the hormone receptor status of the primary tumor," said Van Den Bossche, co-author of "Early Prediction of Endocrine Therapy Effect in Advanced Breast Cancer Patients Using 99mTc-Depreotide Scintigraphy." She added, "With conventional imaging techniques, it takes at least three to six months to evaluate if the disease is regressing, stabilizing or progressing. Obviously, every day that a patient goes without efficient therapy is a day too many."

Hormonal treatment provides good results with minor side effects, but only patients who have tumors and metastases (spread) sensitive to hormones benefit from this type of treatment, she said. "Because only about one-third of breast cancer patients initially respond to endocrine therapy, there is a need for patient selection," said Van Den Bossche.

"The only technique used now to determine whether a patient's tumor is sensitive to hormonal therapy is examination of a piece of tumor tissue in a lab to see if hormone receptors are present," said Van Den Bossche, adding that this method has low accuracy. "With our technique, it is possible to take an imaging scan of the entire patient�and treatment should be started when metastasis occurs�to evaluate if the tumor lesions are hormone sensitive and to assess what treatment would be efficient," she noted. "Our technique can assess hormone sensitivity with a whole-body imaging scan, which can be applied whenever needed in the course of the disease for all lesions at one time," she added.

While SRS is routinely used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis, Belgian and Italian researchers used SRS for therapy prediction�a new and exciting field, noted Van Den Bossche. "We demonstrated the relationship between the expression of somatostatin receptors and the hormone sensitivity of human breast tumors along with use of somatostatin receptor imaging for selection of patients likely to respond to hormonal treatment," she said. By using 99mTc-labeled depreotide, which binds to somatostatin receptors and sends out flashes of light detected by a gamma camera, researchers were able to create an image of the presence of hormone-sensitive lesions in a patient's body. The study notes, "Sequential 99mTc-depreotide scintigraphy could allow for separation of responders and nonresponders immediately or as early as three weeks after initiation of treatment."

While these results come from an initial group of 20 patients, the team will continue to confirm the findings on a larger group of breast cancer patients, said Van Den Bossche. "This is necessary before a therapeutical consequence can be given to the SRS scan results. If the results are going to be in the same line, we could predict therapy response with an accuracy of 100 percent immediately or within three weeks after treatment initiation," she said.
 

- January's Journal of Nuclear Medicine
 

www.snm.org

 
Subscribe to Breast Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 

Besides Van Den Bossche, co-authors of "Early Prediction of Endocrine Therapy Effect in Advanced Breast Cancer Patients Using 99mTc-Depreotide Scintigraphy" include Simon Van Belle, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Medical Oncology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium; Frederic De Wintery, M.D., Division of Nuclear Medicine, OLV-Hospital, Aalst, Belgium; Alberto Signore, M.D., Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy; and Christophe Van de Wiele, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Nuclear Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.

The Society of Nuclear Medicine is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances; provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed resource in the field of nuclear and molecular imaging: The Journal of Nuclear Medicine; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and host the premier nuclear medicine annual meeting. SNM members have introduced-and continue to explore-biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.


Related Breast News

Breast cancer chemotherapy may deterioration in cognitive function
Elderly Breast Cancer Patients May Be Under-Diagnosed And Under-Treated
Tissue Geometry Plays Crucial Role in Breast Cell Invasion
Ethnic variations in hormone levels may cause differences in breast cancer risk
Researchers set benchmarks for screening mammography
Raloxifene Reduces Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women at All Risk Levels
Physical activity improves survival in breast cancer patients
Pedigree assessment tool correctly identifies women with higher risk of breast cancer
MRI more accurately determines cancer spread into breast ducts
Core needle biopsy gives an accurate picture of gene expression


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us