Na borstkanker zoveel mogelijk bewegen*
Uit een studie onder ruim 300 borstkankerpatiënten blijkt dat de kans op terugkeer van de
kanker veel groter is bij vrouwen met hoge bloedwaarden van het hormoon estradiol. Dit ondanks dat ruim 2/3 van de vrouwen met een
antihormoon-medicijn zoals tamoxifen behandeld werden. Bij vrouwen waar de kanker terugkeerde werd een estradiolwaarde gemeten die twee keer hoger was als bij vrouwen die kankervrij bleven.
Om deze waarden te verlagen zijn veel bewegen en een goed gewicht de belangrijkste voorwaarden.
Breast Cancer Recurrence Linked To High Levels Of Estrogen
Women whose breast cancer came back after treatment had almost twice as much estrogen in their blood than did women who remained cancer-free - despite treatment with anti-estrogen drugs in a majority of the women - according to researchers in a study published in the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The findings suggest that high levels of estrogen contribute to an increased risk of cancer recurrence, just as they lead to the initial development of breast cancer, said the study's lead author, Cheryl L. Rock, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
"While this makes sense, there have been only a few small studies that have looked at the link between sex hormones in the blood and cancer recurrence," she said. "This is the largest study to date and the only one to have included women taking agents such as tamoxifen to reduce estrogen's effect on cancer growth.
"What the results mean for women who have already been treated for breast cancer is that they should do as much as they can to reduce estrogen in their blood, such as exercising frequently and keeping weight down," she added. "Taking anti-estrogen drugs like tamoxifen may not completely wipe out the hormone's effect in women who have high levels of estrogen."
Participants from this study were drawn from the larger Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study (WHEL), a dietary intervention trial that followed 3,088 women who had been treated for early stage breast cancer but who were cancer-free at the time they enrolled and were followed for more than seven years.
In the current nested case-control study, 153 WHEL participants whose cancer had recurred were matched with 153 participants who remained cancer-free. These pairs were alike in terms of tumor type, body size, age, ethnicity, use of chemotherapy and other variables. Two-thirds of the participants were using tamoxifen, Rock said.
When they enrolled, researchers tested the women's blood for concentrations of the steroid hormones estradiol (the primary human estrogen) and testosterone. They analyzed different forms of estradiol and testosterone in the blood, such as how much was bound to transport proteins (such as to the sex hormone binding globulin, or SHBG) and how much was "free" circulating and able to enter a cell.
Researchers found that higher estradiol concentrations, in all forms, significantly predicted cancer recurrence. Overall, women whose cancer came back had an average total estradiol concentration that was more than double the average for women who remained cancer-free. Increased levels of testosterone or SHBG levels were not associated with recurrence, contradicting the findings of several previous studies.
Although genetic and metabolic factors likely influence the relationship between circulating sex hormones and risk of breast cancer recurrence, Rock said the study provides solid evidence that higher concentrations of estradiol in the blood contribute to risk for breast cancer
recurrence.
The Walton Family Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institutes of Health funded the
study.
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes nearly 27,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 70 other countries. AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment, and patient care. AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent publication and its sixth major journal, Cancer Prevention Research, is the only journal worldwide dedicated exclusively to cancer prevention, from preclinical research to clinical trials. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship, and
advocacy. (Mei
2008)
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