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The Not-Too-Distant Future

BY George Sledge, IU Cancer Center

Bloomington, Indiana (May 30, 2007) —

The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are poised upon the brink of a revolution. Our understanding of the disease has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years, driven by new technology that allows scientists, for the first time, to interrogate the cancer cell at a molecular level.

What we have already learned is of signal importance to breast cancer patients. First, we now know what drives the growth of most (though not all) breast cancers. Knowing this allows the development of new targeted therapies that have the potential to be both more effective and less toxic than existing therapies. Several of these novel targeted agents are now entering the clinic. And Indiana University has led the clinical development of one of the most important of these new therapeutic approaches, anti-angiogenic therapy (treatment targeting the new blood vessels feeding breast cancer growth).

Early diagnosis and prevention remain the great challenges in breast cancer. Many investigators (including Indiana University’s Dr. Linda Malkas, Vera Bradley Chair in Oncology) are attempting to develop diagnostic techniques that will allow for early detection of breast cancers, perhaps before they can be seen on mammography or breast ultrasound. The challenge associated with early diagnosis is early therapy—treating microscopic deposits of cancer cells before they have the opportunity to invade outside of the milk ducts.

The breast cancer death rate has fallen steadily in recent years, a trend that should continue as new diagnostic and treatment approaches are developed and used for broad populations. Breast cancer will never be without its ability to concern, but it is reasonable to hope that it will soon lack its ability to rob women of their lives.

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