Breast Cancer Treatment Safe During Pregnancy

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At the same briefing, experts described how targeted therapies in lung cancer have moved away from toxic chemotherapy to medications that can be taken as relatively nontoxic pills. In some patients, this approach was just as effective as standard chemotherapy in shrinking tumors and boosting survival. The drawback, however, was that these treatments are only useful in patients with certain genetic profiles.

Another presentation dealt with medications used to stop the growth of the blood vessels that tumors rely on to survive, a process called angiogenesis. Animal experiments showed that it is possible to target a protein in cancer tumors called VEGF to reduce the size of tumors, even in cancers that have spread to other parts of the body.

However, the same drugs can target VEGF in healthy cells, and it also appears the cells can become resistant to these drugs and allow bigger blood vessels to grow to feed cancer cells, the researchers said.

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Runowicz said she remains optimistic about the future of cancer treatment.

Highly targeted treatments means that specific patients can get drugs that are especially effective against their particular cancer, Runowicz said. "We will be able to use the drugs that work," she added.

But preventing cancer remains an even more important strategy. "It's far better not to get the disease," Runowicz said. "We can reduce cancer by simple things like diet, exercise and stopping smoking," she said.

More information

For much more on breast cancer, head to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org ).

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