Migraine headaches in women are associated with a considerable reduction in breast cancer risk, a new study¹ confirms. Published in the July 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, it confirms research published last year by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The more recent study discovered a 26 percent reduced risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women clinically diagnosed with migraines.

A new study from the University of Chicago¹ comparing the effects of estrogen and retinoic acid on breast cancer cell genes shows that they have inverse effects- estrogen tips the scales towards cell proliferation and retinoic acid inhibits cellular growth.

The findings, reported in the June 25, 2009, issue of the journal Cell, may lead researchers to a whole new set of drug targets for breast cancer. The most widespread forms of breast cancer are driven by the female estrogen hormone. Estrogen and retinoic acid modify the expression of many of the same genes, and this control of gene expression regulates basic cellular processes, say the report’s authors. When regulation is unbalanced, it can lead to cancer.

Two blood proteins blood that could become important markers for long-term breast cancer survival have been identified by research out of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC)¹. The proteins, C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA), are linked with chronic inflammation, known to contribute to cancer development and progression, according to the study in the May 18 2009 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

A new bio marker for breast cancer metastasis called Tumor Microenvironment of Metastasis (TMEM) has been found by researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The density of TMEM was found to be associated with the development of distant organ metastasis via the bloodstream, the most common cause of death from breast cancer. The discovery was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research March 24, 2009 online edition.

The study may result in the first test to predict the likelihood of breast cancer metastasis via the bloodstream. This is a development that has the possibility of changing the way breast cancer is treated.

About 36% of East Asians (Japanese, Koreans and Chinese) have an enzyme deficiency that causes their skin to redden, or flush, when they drink alcohol. Heavy alcohol consumption significantly raises the risk for esophageal cancer among such individuals, say scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and Japan's Kurihama Alcohol Center. A paper⁽¹⁾ on the topic is in the March 24, 2009 issue of PLoS Medicine.