A genetic mutation already known to be more common in Ashkenazi Jewish breast cancer patients is also prevalent in Hispanic and young African-American women with breast cancer, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Northern California Cancer Center. They reported the finding from a study of 3,181 breast cancer patients in Northern California. It revealed that although Ashkenazi Jewish women with breast cancer had the highest rate of the BRCA1 mutation at 8.3 percent, Hispanic women with breast cancer were next most likely, with a rate of 3.5 percent. Non-Hispanic whites with breast cancer showed a 2.2 percent rate, followed by 1.3 percent of African-American women of all ages and 0.5 percent in Asian-American women. Of the African-American breast cancer patients under age 35, 16.7 percent had the mutation. The study, which will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, marks the largest study to date to look at the prevalence of BRCA1 mutations among patients in the four ethnic and racial groups. The information could help doctors decide which patients to refer to genetic counseling, the researchers said.

 

University of California at Los Angeles scientists have confirmed that fish oil, long touted as an accessible and inexpensive weapon to delay or prevent Alzheimer’s, is indeed a deterrent against the disease, and they have identified the reasons why. They report in the online edition of the Journal of Neuroscience that the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in fish oil increases the production of LR11, a protein that is found at reduced levels in Alzheimer’s patients and which is known to destroy the protein that forms the “plaques” associated with the disease. The plaques are deposits of a protein called beta amyloid that is thought to be toxic to neurons in the brain, leading to Alzheimer’s. Since having high levels of LR11 prevents the toxic plaques from being made, low levels in patients are believed to be a factor in causing the disease. Alzheimer’s is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that causes memory loss, dementia, personality change, and ultimately death. The national Alzheimer's Association estimates that 5.1 million Americans are currently afflicted with the disease and predicts that the number may increase to between 11 million and 16 million people by the year 2050. The researchers found that even low doses of DHA increased the levels of LR11 in rat neurons, while dietary DHA increased LR11 in brains of rats or older mice that had been genetically altered to develop Alzheimer’s disease. To show that the benefits of DHA were not limited to nonhuman animal cells, the researchers also confirmed a direct impact of DHA on human neuronal cells in culture as well.

BREAST CANCER: AVASTIN IMPROVES SURVIVAL FOR PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED DISEASE

Inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply tumors slows the progression of metastatic breast cancer according to results of a large clinical trial of Avastin, an anti-angiogenic therapy developed and sold by South San Francisco-based Genentech. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that Avastin in combination with chemotherapy significantly prolongs progression-free survival for women with breast cancer compared to chemotherapy alone. Rush University Medical Center participated in the clinical trial, which was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, and conducted by a network of researchers led by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. The study of 722 women with recurrent metastatic breast cancer found that the women who received Avastin in combination with standard chemotherapy had a doubling of delay in worsening of their cancer by approximately five months, on average, compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone. Those on Avastin had progression-free survival of 11.3 months compared to 6 months on standard chemotherapy alone. Avastin is a therapeutic antibody designed to specifically inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein that plays an important role in angiogenesis, the formation of blood vessels to fuel tumor growth, and the maintenance of existing blood vessels throughout the lifecycle of a tumor. By inhibiting VEGF, Avastin chokes of the blood supply to a tumor.

 

Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco’s Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center have for the first time identified brain sites that fire up more when people make impulsive decisions. In a study comparing brain activity of sober alcoholics and non-addicted people making financial decisions, the group of sober alcoholics showed significantly more “impulsive” neural activity. The researchers also discovered that a specific gene mutation boosted activity in these brain regions when people made impulsive choices. The mutation was already known to reduce brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The newly found link involving the gene, impulsive behavior and brain activity suggests that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction, the scientists report in the Journal of Neuroscience.

 

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have proven in animal studies that fibrosis in the liver can be not only stopped, but reversed. They said their discovery, published in PLoS Online, opens the door to treating and curing conditions that lead to excessive tissue scarring such as viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma, and burns. Six years ago, the UC San Diego School of Medicine research team discovered the cause of the excess fibrous tissue growth that leads to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and developed a way to block excess scar tissue in mice. At that time, the best hope seemed to be future development of a therapy that would prevent or stop damage in patients suffering from the excessive scarring related to liver or lung disease or severe burns. In their current study, researchers show that by blocking a protein linked to overproduction of scar tissue, they can not only stop the progression of fibrosis in mice, but reverse some of the cell damage that already occurred. In response to liver injury, hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activated by oxidative stress results in large amounts of collagen. Collagen is necessary to heal wounds, but excessive collagen causes scars in tissues. In this paper, the researchers showed that activation of a protein called RSK results in HSC activation and is critical for the progression of liver fibrosis. They theorized that the RSK pathway would be a potential therapeutic target, and developed an RSK inhibitory peptide to block activation of RSK.