GCKR and PNLPA3 genetic variants acting in combination may confer susceptibility to fatty liver disease in obese children |  |
- GCKR and PNLPA3 genetic variants acting in combination may confer susceptibility to fatty liver disease in obese children
- Overweight and obese women at greater risk of breast cancer recurrence
- Everolimus plus exemestane improves bone health in post-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer
- Mayo Clinic-TGen study role testosterone may play in triple negative breast cancer
| Posted: 23 Mar 2012 09:42 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New research found the genetic variant Patatin-like phospholipase domain containing protein-3 (PNPLA3) acting in conjunction with the glucokinase regulatory protein (GCKR) is associated with increased susceptibility to fatty liver disease in obese children. The study, published in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, determined the PNPLA3 and GCKR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were responsible for up to 39% of the hepatic fat content in this pediatric population. Obesity is a global health concern and children are not unscathed by this epidemic. As a result, experts say nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the leading cause of chronic liver disease in children and adolescents in industrialized countries. Previous studies indicate genetics significantly impacts the susceptibility of developing fatty liver and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), particularly in early-onset disease, which places greater interest on childhood obesity. For the current study, a team led by Dr. Nicola Santoro from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut recruited 455 obese children and adolescents who underwent genotyping and fasting triglycerides and lipoprotein particles testing. Participants in this pediatric cohort had a mean age of 13 years with 181 Caucasian, 139 African American and 135 Hispanic children. Researchers measured hepatic fat content (HFF%) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a subset of 142 children. Study findings show that rs1260326 in the GCKR gene is associated with higher triglycerides levels and higher levels of very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) in Caucasian and African American children. The GCKR SNP was associated with fatty liver in each of the three ethnic groups. A joint effect between PNPLA3 and GCKR SNPs was responsible for 32% of the HFF% in Caucasian, 39% in African American and 15% of Hispanic... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Overweight and obese women at greater risk of breast cancer recurrence Posted: 23 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Vienna, Austria: Women who are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed with breast cancer are at higher risk of cancer recurrence or related death than are leaner women, according to a new study to be presented to the 8th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-8) today (Friday). This finding held true even though the study mandated that chemotherapy dosage be adjusted for body weight, and adds further to the evidence that lifestyle factors can influence cancer prognosis, a researcher will tell the conference. Dr. Jennifer Ligibel, a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA, and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, studied data from 1909 patients who were enrolled into a study called CALGB 9741 between 1997 and 1999. The study was set up to investigate different dosing schedules for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients where cancer cells were found in the lymph nodes (node-positive cancer). The presence of such cells in the lymph nodes means that there is a higher chance of cancer returning after surgery. After extracting height and weight data from the patient records, they went on to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). 1.2% of the patients were underweight, 32.6% normal weight, 32.9% overweight, and 33.3% obese. 49% of patients were menopausal, 65% had oestrogen-receptor positive cancers, where the presence of oestrogen encourages the tumour to grow, and 70% received the oestrogen-receptor blocking treatment, tamoxifen. Several other studies have shown that being overweight or obese at the time that a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer is linked to a higher risk of recurrence. However, questions have been raised in the past whether obese women were receiving relatively lower doses of chemotherapy due to their weight. Our study mandated that each patient received a chemotherapy dose adjusted... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Everolimus plus exemestane improves bone health in post-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer Posted: 23 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Vienna, Austria: Results from a phase III clinical trial evaluating a new treatment for breast cancer in post-menopausal women show that the combination of two cancer drugs, everolimus and exemestane, significantly improves bone strength and reduces the chances of cancer spreading (metastasising) in the bone. Professor Michael Gnant told the eighth European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-8) today (Friday) that the latest results from the BOLERO-2 trial would change clinical practice. These results indicate a new standard of care for women with advanced oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer that is resistant to hormonal therapy, he said. BOLERO-2 had shown previously that the combination of the two drugs significantly improved outcomes, stopping further tumour growth for nearly 11 months, in a group of patients with a form of breast cancer that is highly resistant to treatment. However, as some anti-cancer drugs are associated with reduced bone mineral density and an increased risk of fractures, it was important to discover whether everolimus and exemestane, used with or after treatment with other drugs such as non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors (e.g. anastrozole), affected bone strength. Prof Gnant, Co-ordinator of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at the Medical University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria), and colleagues from several different countries looked at markers for bone turnover and bone resorption (the rate at which bone forms, degrades and renews itself) in the 724 patients enrolled in the trial and randomised to receive either everolimus and exemestane or exemestane alone (the placebo group). The patients had an average age of 62, were from 24 different countries and had been treated previously with aromatase inhibitors. They were enrolled between June 2009 and January 2011, and the researchers assessed three different bone markers at the time of enrolment and after six and twelve weeks. They found that levels of all... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Mayo Clinic-TGen study role testosterone may play in triple negative breast cancer Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Could blocking a testosterone receptor lead to a new way to treat an aggressive form of breast cancer? That's a question researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) are exploring. Preliminary results of a Mayo Clinic - TGen collaborative study shows the testosterone receptor may be a potential target to attack in treating triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Lead researcher Barbara Pockaj, M.D., a surgical oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona will present the results of the study at the 65th annual Society of Surgical Oncology conference on March 23 in Orlando, Fla. TNBC is highly aggressive and affects approximately 10 to 20 percent of breast cancer patients. The disease is characterized by larger, faster-growing tumors than other types of breast cancer and has limited treatment options. Unlike other forms of breast cancer in which treatments are tailored to specifically target hormone receptors such as estrogen and progesterone or the HER-2 proteins that promote the growth and spread of cancer cells, triple negative cancer cells do not possess markers for estrogen, progesterone or HER-2, Dr. Pockaj says. There are no targeted therapies other than chemotherapy to TNBC, she says. Researchers at Mayo Clinic and TGen say that could change if the androgen (testosterone) receptor shows potential as a therapeutic target. The goal of the study was to define what may be fueling TNBC, thereby identifying new potential options for effective targeted treatment, says co-lead researcher Heather Cunliffe, Ph.D., Associate Professor and head of TGen's breast and ovarian cancer research unit. The team discovered that the androgen receptor is expressed in a significant proportion of these tumors, and moreover, the androgen-receptive positive tumors shared a unique clinical behavior. Researchers found 22 percent of the patients with TNBC had the androgen receptor in... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
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