(Press-News.org) WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – August 27, 2013 – Women undergoing treatment for breast cancer are widely prescribed calcium and vitamin D supplements to prevent and manage osteoporosis, an unwanted side effect of breast cancer therapies. However, new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds that the recommended daily doses of these supplements may not prevent loss of bone mineral density (BMD) in these women.
Study author Gary G. Schwartz, Ph.D., a cancer epidemiologist at Wake Forest Baptist, said the purpose of the study was to examine whether a seemingly common sense prescribing practice actually works. "We evaluated clinical trial evidence for calcium and vitamin D supplementation in maintaining skeletal health of women with breast cancer," he said. "At the doses recommended, the data show that these supplements are inadequate to prevent loss of BMD."
Schwartz and co-author Mridul Datta, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Wake Forest Baptist, reviewed data from clinical trials that evaluated the effect of antiresorptive drugs on BMD and used the "before-after" data from the comparison group to assess change in BMD in pre- and in post-menopausal women. Overall, the results from 16 trials indicate that 500-1500 mg calcium and 200-1000 IU vitamin D, the doses commonly recommended, do not prevent loss of BMD in women with breast cancer. Despite supplementation, women lost BMD in virtually every clinical trial reviewed.
The study appears online ahead of print this month in the journal Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology.
Women with breast cancer lose BMD at a higher rate than their healthier counterparts, increasing their risk of fractures which are associated with significant declines in function and health-related quality of life, and in higher mortality rates.
Consequently, it is a common practice to prescribe calcium and vitamin D supplements to these women, a "low intensity" intervention that seems to make sense, Datta said, although it's never really been tested. In the clinical trials reviewed, BMD in the women was measured at the beginning and end of the studies, Datta said, so if the supplementation worked to prevent BMD loss, "you should be able to see that in the data, and we clearly didn't."
Datta said it is possible that the BMD deficits could be worse in the absence of the supplements, but the results are concerning overall because cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mortality in women with breast cancer. There is growing evidence that calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
"The take-home message is that this very common practice of supplementation doesn't really seem to be working," Schwartz said. "Future trials are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in women undergoing breast cancer therapy."
###
The research is supported by the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University Cancer Control Traineeship – NCI/NIH grant R25CA122061.
Calcium supplements may not prevent bone loss in women with breast cancer
2013-08-27
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Illegal fires set in Indonesia cause smog problem
2013-08-27
Widespread wildfires are lighting up Indonesia, but these fires were not started accidentally. These fires were set deliberately to clear land for palm oil companies. This type of "slash-and-burn" agricultural has been used for centuries to clear land for new planting, however, the setting of such fires is now illegal in Indonesia. That doesn't seem to be stopping plantation owners from continuing this practice. The Huffington Post reports that Laurel Sutherlin of the Rainforest Action Network, a San Francisco-based environmental organization sent the paper an email ...
New research shows benefit of interval training for women
2013-08-27
BOWLING GREEN, O. -- Interval training is a well-known way to get the maximum benefits of exercise in the shortest amount of time. New research shows that when it comes to running, women may get more out of high intensity interval training (HIIT) than their male counterparts.
"Sex-specific Responses to Interval Training" was conducted by Drs. Matt Laurent and Matt Kutz, Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies at Bowling Green State University; Lauren Vervaecke, Division of Applied Physiology, University of South Carolina; and Dr. Matt Green, Department of Health, Physical ...
Hispanics urged to perform skin self-exams, discuss cancer risk with physicians
2013-08-27
This news release is available in Spanish. More than three-quarters of Hispanics patients in North Carolina aren't performing skin self-exams (SSE) to detect possible skin cancers, and physicians need to do a better job of educating their patients about this potentially life-saving practice, say researchers in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Study results were reported earlier this year in the Research Letters section of the Archives of Dermatology.
"We know that the rates of melanoma, one of the deadliest skin cancers, ...
Generational shift in attitudes among young footballers towards gay teammates
2013-08-27
Young footballers on the verge of becoming professionals are now much more likely to be supportive of gay teammates than a decade ago, according to new research from sociologists at the universities of Kent and Winchester.
Conducted via interviews with 22 Premier League academy footballers aged 16-18, the research found that all the participants would openly accept one of their colleagues coming out.
The research, led by Dr Steven Roberts, of the University of Kent's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, and Professor Eric Anderson, of the University ...
Children's National study finds that apoptosis triggers replication of common viruses
2013-08-27
Washington, DC—Researchers from Children's National Medical Center have found that an alternate, "escape" replication process triggered by apoptosis—the process of cell death or "cell suicide"—appears to be common in human herpesviruses (HHV). The findings have implications for better understanding of viruses and of disease conditions and treatments, like chemotherapy, that stimulate apoptosis. The study was published online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Virology.
HHV are linked to a range of childhood and adult diseases, including chickenpox, mononucleosis, roseola, ...
New treatments better than standard ones just over half the time
2013-08-27
Tampa, FL (August 27, 2013) -- University of South Florida Distinguished Professor Benjamin Djulbegovic, MD, PhD, has studied the ethics of randomized clinical trials and their effectiveness in evaluating the outcomes of new treatments for decades.
Now, in a paper published Aug. 22 in the top journal Nature, Dr. Djulbegovic and colleagues report that on average new treatments work better than existing ones just over half the time. On scientific and ethical grounds, they say, the randomized controlled trial (RCT) system's little more than 50-50 success rate over the past ...
New moms and obese people risk complications from influenza: McMaster study
2013-08-27
Hamilton, ON (August 27, 2013) – Although up to 500,000 people world-wide die of severe influenza each year, there has been no clear evidence about who is susceptible for influenza complications and it may not be who people think, says a study from McMaster University.
This is important because issues during past influenza seasons and pandemics have included vaccine shortage; the time needed to develop vaccines for specific influenza strains and which groups are first in line for vaccination.
New mothers and obese people, two groups not typically regarded as risk groups, ...
Johns Hopkins researchers find promising therapeutic target for hard-to-treat brain tumor
2013-08-27
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found a specific protein in nearly 100 percent of high-grade meningiomas -- the most common form of brain tumor -- suggesting a new target for therapies for a cancer that does not respond to current chemotherapy.
Importantly, the investigators say, the protein -- NY-ESO-1 -- is already at the center of a clinical trial underway at the National Cancer Institute. That trial is designed to activate the immune systems of patients with other types of tumors that express the protein, training the body to attack the cancer and eradicate ...
Snapping turtles finding refuge in urban areas while habitats are being polluted
2013-08-27
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- In the Midwest, people have a fear of encountering snapping turtles while swimming in local ponds, lakes and rivers. Now in a new study, a University of Missouri researcher has found that snapping turtles are surviving in urban areas as their natural habitats are being polluted or developed for construction projects. One solution is for people to stop using so many chemicals that are eventually dumped into the waterways, the scientist said.
"Snapping turtles are animals that can live in almost any aquatic habitat as long as their basic needs for survival ...
Researcher controls colleague's motions in first human brain-to-brain interface
2013-08-27
University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.
Using electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to Andrea Stocco on the other side of the UW campus, causing Stocco's finger to move on a keyboard.
While researchers at Duke University have demonstrated brain-to-brain communication between two rats, and Harvard researchers have ...