Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of carcinomas amongst women world-wide. The oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and antioxidant enzyme genes are cancer-related genes which play a significant role in the initiation, metastasis and growth of lots of cancers, including breast cancer. Estrogen which is an important steroid hormone in the regulation and differentiation of the normal breast appears to be involved in the carcinogenesis of this tissue as well.
Breast cancers that DO have estrogen receptors are supposed to be "estrogen receptor-positive," while those breast cancers that DO NOT have estrogen receptors are "estrogen receptor-negative."
In women with estrogen receptor-positive cancers, cancer cell development is under the control of estrogen. Consequently, such cancers are frequently susceptible to treatment with tamoxifen, since tamoxifen runs by blockading the interaction between estrogen and the estrogen receptor.
On the contrary, the development of estrogen receptor-negative cancer cells is not run by estrogen, or treated with tamoxifen.
These "estrogen-receptor-negative" or "ER-negative" cancers account for roughly one-third of breast cancers, or some 65,000 a year in the United States.
ER-negative breast cancer cells — unlike those in ER-positive tumors — lack structures called estrogen receptors on their surfaces. Estrogen molecules, then, have no port of entry to the cell. Something other than estrogen must be driving the growth and spread of these cancer cells, but scientists haven't discovered what it is. If they could identify the factor (or factors) at the root of ER-negative cancers, scientists may devise designer drugs that can home in on them. But there's been little research centered on ER-negative cancer.
A follow-up to a study published in 2005 on low-faw diets and breast cancer prevention deduces that the diet enhances survival and stops reappearance for patients who had estrogen-receptor negative tumors. Patients who had estrogen-fueled tumors did feel a number of advantage from cutting fat from their daily intake, but the survival rates were not considerably different from those who did not decrease dietary fat.
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