Breakthroughs in cancer detection
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Updated: June 29, 2009 9:53 AM
New developments in the detection and treatment of breast cancer were announced for Canada last month.
Breastlight, a handheld device allowing women to more thoroughly perform self examinations using harmless light technology and TYKERB, the first oral once-a-day therapy that aggressively attacks cancer cells will be available in Canada.
The light device works by shining a bright red light through breast tissue so that women can see details inside and spot any changes early on. Regular use may lead to earlier detection of breast cancer.
Dr. Sarah Burnett, a consultant radiologist at King Edward VII Hospital in London, England said that the light should help make women feel more comfortable in being able to detect abnormalities early on and make women feel more secure about how they take care of their bodies.
“More than 400 women across Canada are diagnosed with breast cancer each week,and one in nine women are expected to develop breast cancer in their lifetime,” she said.
The light is not intended to replace a clinical breast exam or mammogram. Rather it is a personal aid that supports and encourages women to be breast aware. The device is available in the UK, and in a study of over 1,000 women using it, 1.3 per cent consulted a doctor because they were concerned with the outcome of their self-examination. Of these, three had mammograms and were subsequently diagnosed with early stages of breast cancer.
Women with breast cancer will have one more weapon in the fight against certain types of breast cancer for the first time in ten years. Dr. Kathleen Pritchard, a senior scientist at Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto hailed the drug’s approval.
“Today marks an important milestone,” she said. “TYKERB is a new way to treat HER2 positive breast cancer that gives women with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer another weapon in the fight to control their disease, where before they had no options.”
HER2 positive breast cancer puts women at greater risk for disease progression than women with tumours that do not have this complication.
Here are some facts about breast cancer:
-In 2009, an estimated 22,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
-For Canadian women, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality.
-One in nine women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime. One in 28 will die from it.
-Breast cancer is the most common cancer and cause of cancer death in women aged 20-59, accounting for 37 per cent of new cases and 22 per cent of deaths.
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