Some months back I read about the diabetes drug, Metformin, reducing the incidence of new cancers in breast cancer survivors. What follows is a press release reporting on new research findings.

TUESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) — Despite prior research suggesting that the widely used diabetes drug metformin might help cancer patients, a new study finds it does not boost survival for older breast cancer patients with diabetes.

Previous research has found that Metformin was associated with an up to 30 percent reduction in new cancers in breast cancer patients without diabetes, noted study author Dr. Iliana Lega, a research fellow at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. Prior research has also tied use of the drug to slowed tumor growth.

“Metformin is a drug commonly used by diabetic patients to control the amount of glucose [sugar] in their blood,” Lega explained in a hospital news release. “Although existing scientific literature suggests that the drug may prevent new cancers and death from breast cancer, our study found the drug did not significantly impact survival rates in our patients.”

The study included more than 2,300 women, aged 66 and older, with diabetes who took Metformin and were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2008. The women were followed from the time of their diagnosis until their death or until early 2010.

Metformin use was not associated with any significant drop in breast cancer deaths, according to the study published online recently in the journal Diabetes Care.

“What makes our study so unique is that while the effects of Metformin have been well documented, previous research has not examined the cumulative effects of the drug on patients, particularly breast cancer patients with diabetes,” Lega said. “This is important given that diabetic patients may switch drugs over the course of their treatment.”

She and her colleagues said further research is necessary in younger patients who have both breast cancer and diabetes.

“Understanding the effects of Metformin on breast cancer patients is critical in helping address the gap in cancer outcomes in patients with and without diabetes,” Lega explained. “The findings will help physicians inform treatment plans for patients with diabetes.”

When I came across this recent article by HealthDay News, a project of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, I understood all too well the responses that many women have to taking tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors.

Hot flashes and other unpleasant side effects are a major reason one-quarter of breast cancer patients do not start or do not complete their recommended hormone-blocking therapy, a new study finds. Five years of daily pills — either tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors — is recommended for many women whose breast cancer expresses the hormones estrogen or progesterone. The drugs have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer returning and to extend survival.

Despite such benefits, this study of more than 700 breast cancer patients in Detroit and Los Angeles who were eligible for hormone therapy found that about 11 percent never started treatment and 15 percent stopped it early.Unpleasant, menopause-type side effects, such as vaginal dryness, hot flashes or joint pain, were the most common reasons women either stopped or never started the therapy.

“We need to develop better ways of supporting women through this therapy,” lead study author Christopher Friese, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, said in a university news release.

Those most likely to complete their hormone therapy were patients who were most worried about their cancer returning and those who already took medication regularly, according to the study, which was published online March 31 in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Patients least likely to begin hormone therapy included those who received less information about hormone therapy, which suggests that doctors need to properly educate patients before treatment begins, the researchers said.

Women who saw a breast cancer surgeon instead of a medical oncologist as their primary follow-up also were less likely to begin hormone therapy.

“It was particularly interesting that greater fear of recurrence was associated in our patient sample with greater adherence to endocrine therapy,” study senior study author Dr. Jennifer Griggs, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“We don’t want our patients living under a cloud of fear, so we need to develop creative ways to both reassure and motivate them,” said Griggs, a medical oncologist. “This means providing better education about the importance of staying on these medications and partnering with primary care and cancer doctors to help women manage symptoms.”

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer treatme

I wish all the mothers and grandmothers, who are in treatment, a time out from all thoughts and activities related to your breast cancer. I wish you a day of fun and love with family and friends.

For all of of you mothers and grandmothers who have moved past treatment and are getting on with life, I hope your day is all the sweeter, knowing what a gift it is to be well enough to be here enjoying the love of your children.

To all the mothers and grandmothers who are now, or were caregivers to those of us with breast cancer…thank you for your love and  selfless sharing. None of us, who’ve had breast cancer, want to think about what we would have done, how we would have done without you.

To the sisters, cousins, nieces, and aunts who also mothered us during treatment…thanks for making us feel less alone with our fears.

To our dear friends who are mothers, and those who are not…thanks for mothering us during an incredibly difficult time of our lives. You made our time in treatment bearable with your calls, your visits, the hours of listening, the dinners, your company in treatment rooms, and at medical appointments, childcare and child comfort when we were to sick to do so, the errand running and most of all…your upbeat, positive attitudes.

To those women, on our treatment team, that treated us as individuals with feelings and fears that needed attention, not just women with breast cancers that required medical interventions…thank you!

As women, as caregivers, as survivors, as mothers, we all have so much to celebrate about ourselves today!

This Mother’s Day give the life-saving gift of a mammogram.

Reach out to your mother 0r  grandmother and remind this important woman in your life  that it is time for that mammogram she has been putting off for so long. Offer to make the appointment for her and go with her.

You will hear the usual excuses for not getting a mammogram:

• Too busy…no woman is so busy that she can’t take a half hour to have a life-saving screening
• Can’t afford it…Call local Departments of Health for sites that offer free mammograms
• Afraid of the outcome…most of us are afraid, but we are more afraid of having breast cancer
• It hurts…a bit, but not as much as childbirth

Offer to:

• Make the appointment for her at a site and a time that is convenient
• Insure that she will be screened by a female, if that is an issue for her
• Go with her
• Translate for her if she has a language barrier

If all else fails, remind her of how important she is to her children, whatever age the children are. No one wants to see her  mother or grandmother suffer through extensive breast cancer treatment. Remind her that a mammogram can identify a breast cancer in its earliest stage, before it can be felt, before it requires prolonged treatment.

I know it is not easy to nag a loved one about getting a mammogram, but you will be doing your part to see that your special lady is around to enjoy more Mother’s Days .

P.S. If you are due for a mammogram, make getting one your Mother’s Day gift to yourself. You and mom or grandma can make it a family affair!

The following article by HealthDay News appeared on the womens health dot gov. website on April 1^st.

The benefits of genetic testing to assess the risk of breast and ovarian cancers linked to the BRCA gene are limited to a small number of women, a new report indicates.

Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes greatly increase a woman’s risk of developing these cancers.

Women with these mutations have a 70 percent chance of developing breast cancer — which is five times greater than in the general population — and increase their lifetime risk of ovarian cancer from less than 2 percent to as high as 46 percent.

An important step in preventing these cancers is helping women understand their risk, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

In preparing a draft report and recommendations, the task force examined available evidence to determine if genetic counseling and testing could benefit women most likely to have BRCA mutations.

The task force concluded that more than 90 percent of American women — those whose family history does not indicate an increased risk for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations — will not benefit from genetic testing or counseling.

This is because current tests often provide inconclusive results and these women could be burdened with the uncertainty of whether they are at increased risk for cancer. Many of these women might choose to take powerful medications or have major surgery to reduce their risk of cancer, which would be unnecessary if they were not at increased risk.

Therefore, the task force said it continues to recommend against genetic counseling and BRCA testing in these women.

“At this point, scientific evidence only shows that BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing is beneficial for women who have reviewed their family history of breast or ovarian cancer with a primary-care professional and discussed the pros and cons of the screening test with a trained genetic counselor,” task force chairwoman Dr. Virginia Moyer said in task force news release.

“We hope that further research into ways to use genomic science, such as identifying women who have harmful BRCA genes but do not have a family history of cancer, could improve screening practices and even prevent some cancers,” she added.

The task force said it also found evidence to recommend that primary-care health providers screen women who have family members with breast or ovarian cancer to determine if their family history is associated with an increased possibility of having BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

In situations where this is the case, women should receive in-depth genetic counseling to thoroughly review family history and — if indicated and after weighing the pros and cons of BRCA testing — undergo the test, the report said.

The recommendations apply to women who have not been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer but who have family members with breast or ovarian cancer and whose BRCA status is unknown.

“Every year, too many American women and families are faced with the challenge of dealing with breast and ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Moyer said. “We need better treatments, better screening methods and, most importantly, better ways to prevent cancer.”

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about BRCA mutations and cancer risk