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INDIANA–A diamond ring and an interpretive dance aren’t things one normally would associate with breast cancer. But Indiana’s fourth annual Love of Life Gala, held Saturday at First Commonwealth, brought the two together in an effort to raise money for and awareness about the disease.A benefit for the M. Dorcas Clark Women’s Imaging Center at Indiana Regional Medical Center, the event also included the unveiling of an annual donation to the cause: jewelry created by local jeweler Gary Wyant.

According to Debbie Woods, executive director of the IRMC Foundation, the Love of Life Gala strives to draw the interest of the community.

“Each year has been unique, and we try to do something different every year,” Woods said.

This year, the event boasted a cultured agenda of interpretive dance by the group Abraham.In.Motion, led by choreographer Kyle Abraham, a show featuring fluid works by local painter Julie Engelmann and a presentation by Amy Hupko, who talked about her recent charity trek for breast cancer research.The Love of Life Gala kicked off the sale of raffle tickets for a chance to win this year’s unique jewelry prize–a ring called “Infinite Solace,” donated by Wyant and his wife, Stacy.

The platinum and diamond ring was designed and hand-crafted by Wyant. Its one-carat radiant cut center diamond is accented with 31 additional diamonds.

Wyant said he based the design on motion and was influenced by the pink ribbon that has become a symbol of the battle with breast cancer.

“The ribbon looks a lot like the ripples created when a pebble is dropped into a pond,” he pointed out. “The outreaches of the ripple, they keep getting bigger and bigger.”

He said that reminded him of the growth of the Love of Life event, and the magnitude of work and support offered by people in the community.

Raffle tickets will be on sale through June 14, the day of the Jimmy Stewart Airport Air Show, where the winner will be drawn.

As in years past, monthly incentives for top tickets sellers are being awarded, with ticket sales coordinated by JoAnn Hauck and Viona Sesti.

The incentives this year, all provided by S&T Bank, include an autographed football signed by Jerome Bettis (in March); two tickets to the Pittsburgh Pirates Home Plate Club, including dinner and a game (April); two autographed books by Bettis and a signed Pittsburgh Penguins hockey puck (May). This year’s grand prize for top overall ticket sales is a $1,000 gift card from Southwest Airlines.

Saturday’s dance entertainment was choreographed by Abraham specifically for the event and was commissioned by First Commonwealth Bank. He said the bank was “very generous, helping me with my last performance in the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh in December.”

Abraham’s gala piece was inspired by background information he learned about the Wyants, including that their annual Love of Life gift is made in memory of grandmothers they lost to cancer.

“I was immediately drawn to some of the information I was given about the Wyant family and their donations,” Abraham said. “I wanted to create the duet and I named it after their family.”

The duet, titled “In Memory: Wyant for 2,” was performed Saturday by dancers Amber Lee Parker and Katelyn Skelley, set to the melody of “J–hannsson” by J–hann.

“The dance was created based upon the diagnosis, treatment and cure of cancer, what one goes through, what the family goes through,” noted Gary Wyant. “It was very interesting.”

“A lot of it is about support, whether it be friends or loved ones, and how we approach supporting each other,” Abraham said.

He specifically designed the duet to be “in the round,” so that the audience could observe the piece as a “living sculpture from every angle.”

Before the show, Abraham danced two solo numbers.

The first, a piece set to Fiest’s “Limit to Your Love,” was very “robotic and quirky,” he noted.

For his second solo, he incorporated gestures from the audience into the piece, choreographed to a movement from Handel’s opera “Serse.”

Abraham lives in Pittsburgh but works between there and Brooklyn, N.Y. “I had a great time,” he said. “I think everyone really enjoyed it. It was a great experience to be a part of.”

“It was very nice, very elegant,” Woods said of the performance. “It was interpretive dance, so everyone was able to interpret their own thoughts and feelings about breast cancer, have their own emotions.”

This year’s gala also showcased a quilt made years ago in honor of loved ones who battled breast cancer.

In the mid-1990s, members of the Indiana County Cancer Coalition canvassed the county, soliciting names of breast cancer survivors and of those lost to the disease for inclusion on the quilt, which was designed and created for the group by Jane Coleman of Brush Valley. The quilt has traveled to various areas of the county, as a reminder of those lost to breast cancer and a sign of hope to those who have survived.

At the request of First Commonwealth, Indiana Art Association Co-President Julie Engelmann staged an art show to coincide with the Love of Life Gala. “First Commonwealth wanted a work ‘in motion,’ because of the dance,” she said.

So Engelmann went through her collection of personal artwork and chose pieces that she felt demonstrated movement. The resulting exhibit, titled “Dance of Light,” includes 19 pieces that will be on display 9-4 weekdays through April 4 in the First Commonwealth headquarters at Sixth and Philadelphia streets, Indiana.

The main piece in the display is “Aorta,” an abstract work she feels demonstrates vitality. “It has a lot of energy,” she said. The piece incorporates a warm yellow hue offset by blue, with a red streak through it.

“It has a flow to it that is like blood moving through the vein,” she said. “It’s a very spiritual painting, abstract.”

Many of the paintings shown in “Dance of Light” have been shown at the La Fond Galleries in Pittsburgh.

Last year’s Love of Life effort raised $26,000 for the Women’s Imaging Center.

Anyone wishing to purchase tickets for a chance to win “Infinite Solace” may call the Indiana Healthcare Foundation at 724-357-8053. Tickets may also be purchased at Wyant Fine Jewelry, 716 Philadelphia St., Indiana, where the ring is on display.

For more about Abraham. In.Motion, visit www.abrahaminmotion.org.

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Amy Hupko of Indiana has proven she’s willing to go the extra mile in the battle against breast cancer. Last fall, she walked 60 miles in three days raise money for research targeting the disease.

Hupko’s employer, First Commonwealth, was one of her sponsors for the Breast Cancer Three Day event, which took place Oct. 5-7 in Philadelphia. The walk is held at different times in various cities throughout the United States, with proceeds benefiting organizations that fund breast cancer research, such as the Susan G. Koman Foundation.

Hupko shared her experiences at the event with those attending Saturday’s Love of Life Gala, a local breast cancer fund-raising event held at First Commonwealth’s Indiana headquarters.

More than $5 million was raised at the Philadelphia event last fall, with Hupko contributing an estimated $2,400 through her sponsorships.

It was the first year Hupko participated in the event, after learning about it in a television commercial.

“That caught my attention and I thought I’d check it out,” she said. “I thought it was something I could do.”

She decided to walk in memory of her grandmother, Grace Matthews, whom she lost to breast cancer 15 years ago. A friend, Laura Grundusky of Blairsville, decided to join her on the three-day journey.

They began training shortly after they registered in February and, by late summer, they were walking up to 12 miles at a clip. In September, as a trial, Hupko finished a 20-mile trek.

“It gave me confidence knowing I could do that,” she said.

The walk consisted of three different 20-mile routes, one for each day of the event. The routes led them through downtown Philadelphia, so they were able to take in such sights as the Philadelphia Museum of Art (made famous in “Rocky”) and the zoo as they walked. Every four miles, they would stop for a drink and a snack or meal.

Each day’s walk ended in the same park, where there were two-man tents, a medical shelter and portable toilets and showers.

“They had this whole little community set up for us,” Hupko said.

The walk was a moving experience for Hupko. Everywhere they went in the city, they were greeted with cheers and thank-yous.

She quickly learned not to ask her fellow walker their stories.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “After a point, I stopped asking people because I’d start crying. It’s hard to walk and cry at the same time.”

Hupko was touched by the experience. “I’d like to do it again,” she said, though it won’t be this year.

“It was an amazing experience. If there is anyone looking for a way to challenge themselves, yet raise money for a great cause, this is the perfect way to do it,” she said.

NEW YORK MAR 13, 2008(Reuters Health) – A short-term presurgical trial of erlotinib (Tarceva) in patients with stage 1 to IIIA breast cancer may predict which patients will respond to erlotinib treatment after tumor resection.

In a multicenter study report in the February 20th issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, investigators found that estrogen receptor (ER)-positive cancers responded to this presurgical testing, but other breast cancers failed to respond to erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

This strategy of identifying which cancer patients are good candidates for a certain treatment may speed a drug’s approval process, the investigators add.

Dr. Marcia Guix of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues administered erlotinib, 150 mg orally for 6-14 consecutive days until the day before surgery, to 41 patients with stage I-IIIA invasive breast cancer. Erlotinib plasma levels and drug-induced changes in tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed in pre- and post-surgical breast tissue.

The researchers found that “5 days of treatment with erlotinib were enough to induce a maximal inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis…The inhibition of proliferation occurred in ER-positive but not in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)-positive or triple-negative cancers.”

The primary adverse effects of erlotinib therapy were diarrhea and rash, which were not severe.

Dr. Guix and associates write that “this pre-surgical study supports the feasibility of testing novel therapies during the pre-approval process to investigate a tumor profile of potential use in subsequent clinical studies that address drug efficacy.”

“We speculate that this approach may expedite the drug development process by potentially informing the exclusion of non-responsive patients who will dilute the net signal of clinical activity of a drug or a combination. In the case of erlotinib, these patients would be those with HER-2-positive and the triple-negative cancers.”

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Tufia C. Haddad and Dr. Douglas Yee of the University of Minnesota Cancer Center in Minneapolis note that one of the main strengths of this study is that it used patients — not mice — to test tumor response to a new drug.

“The idea that EGFR inhibitors should be tested in triple-negative breast cancer is supported by the preclinical data, but not by this study,” the editorialists comment. “The mice helped, but plans went awry, and they could not substitute for a well-designed clinical trial.”

The investigators enrolled “all-comers,” Drs. Haddad and Yee note. “By not pre-selecting patients, they provided important data necessary to design the next generation of erlotinib studies. Moreover, they showed how a small neoadjuvant study with built-in tissue acquisition could provide strategies to optimize erlotinib use in breast cancer.”

WASHINGTON: A new study has found that breast cancer can turn out to be more aggressive among obese women.

The study, led by Dr Massimo Cristofanilli, associate professor of medicine in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre, involved 606 women with locally advanced breast cancer.

The researchers discovered that overweight women with breast cancer have aggressive disease with lower survival rates.

“The more obese a patient is, the more aggressive the disease. We are learning that the fat tissue may increase inflammation that leads to more aggressive disease,” said Cristofanilli.

The patients were sorted according to the body mass index in three groups. The first group included women who were normal/underweight with 24.9 or below BMI while the second had overweight with at least 25 but less than 30 BMI.

And the third group included women who were obese with BMI more than 30.

The five-year follow up revealed that the overall survival was 56.8 per cent among obese women, 56.3 per cent among overweight women and 67.4 per cent among normal weight women while the 10-year survival rate was 42.7 per cent among obese women, 41.8 per cent among overweight women and 56.5 per cent among normal weight women.

They also found that the rate of inflammatory breast cancer among obese women was 45 per cent compared with 30 per cent in overweight women and only 15 per cent in women considered normal weight.

The risk of breast cancer recurrence was also higher in obese or overweight women with 50.8 per cent of obese women reporting after 5 years and by 58 per cent reporting after 10 years.

Cristofanilli suggested that physicians have to pay close attention to breast cancer patients because commonly used drugs, such as tamoxifen, tend to increase weight gain during treatment.

The findings are published in the March 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Modified Virus Vaccine Shows Promise in Mouse Model of Breast CancerResearchers have shown that vaccinating mice with a modified form of a virus containing proteins from breast cancer cells can kill large breast cancer tumors and tumors that have spread to the lungs. The rodent model of cancer used in this study closely resembles a type of breast cancer seen in humans called HER2-positive. Although other cancer vaccines have shown activity in the treatment of very small tumors, their ability to influence large, established tumors, such as many HER2-positive breast cancers, has proven difficult. The study, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appeared in the March 15, 2008, issue of Cancer Research.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines are intended to disrupt new or existing cancerous growth by stimulating the body’s immune system so that it recognizes the cancer as an invader. These vaccines use certain protein molecules on the surface of cancer cells, such as the HER2 receptor protein, as the triggers to initiate an immune response.

The modified virus used as a vaccine in this study showed activity against ErbB2-positive tumors. The ErbB2 gene is known as HER2 in humans, and neu is its counterpart in mice. Approximately 20 percent to 25 percent of breast cancers in women are HER2-positive and tumors overexpressing the HER2 receptor protein are more aggressive and more likely to recur than tumors that do not overexpress the protein. Thus, the HER2 receptor protein is an important target.

“A therapeutic vaccine may offer an advantage over treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, that target a single site on a cancer cell because it may induce the production of several different antibodies that can target multiple regions on a receptor, making it harder for the tumor to mutate and escape the effects of therapy,” said Jay A. Berzofsky, M.D., Ph.D., of the Vaccine Branch at NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR).

The research team, led by Berzofsky, along with Jong Myun Park, Ph.D., and Masaki Terabe, Ph.D., of the Vaccine Branch, and John Morris, M.D., of the Metabolism Branch of the CCR, conducted a series of experiments studying the effectiveness of a vaccine containing a modified form of adenovirus, a type of virus that primarily affects the respiratory tract, that expresses portions of neu (Ad-neuECTM) in the treatment of breast cancer in mice. They also investigated the possible mechanism by which the vaccine induces the destruction of tumor cells.

To create their breast cancer model, the team induced tumors by injecting TUBO cells — a mouse mammary cancer cell line that highly expresses the neu receptor on its surface — under the skin in mice. The research team found that when the Ad-neuECTM vaccine and TUBO cells were injected at the same time, tumors did not develop. In another experiment, the vaccine was administered seven, 10, or 15 days after TUBO cells had been injected into mice, and tumors had formed. The researchers observed that the tumors were smaller seven days after vaccination; all the tumors had disappeared between 25 and 45 days after the mice were vaccinated. The mice remained tumor-free through the end of the study.

The researchers also looked at the effects of the vaccine on tumors of different sizes. They found that although tumors as large as 2 cubic centimeters continued to grow for seven days after immunization, these tumors did begin to regress by 10 days and disappeared about 30 days after a single vaccination. In a separate experiment, the researchers observed that tumors as large as 3.5 cubic centimeters disappeared after a single dose of Ad-neuECTM. Vaccination, however, was not sufficient to treat tumors larger than 5.5 cubic centimeters. Although these tumors did shrink, they started to regrow two weeks after a single vaccination.

Metastatic tumors are more difficult to treat than original tumors, so Berzofsky’s team also investigated the efficacy of the Ad-neuECTM vaccine on cancer cells (TUBO) that had traveled from the site of injection to the lungs of the mice. They found that the timing of vaccine administration and the number of metastatic tumors in the lungs played a role in the effectiveness of the vaccine. Mice given the vaccine on the same day as the TUBO cells were injected did not develop metastases to the lungs. However, when the vaccine was administered six days after TUBO cells, metastatic tumors did form in the lungs and took more than two weeks to regress. In mice with 25 metastatic tumors in their lungs, the tumors disappeared in about 21 days with a single dose of the vaccine, and mice with over 200 metastatic tumors in their lungs became tumor-free within 38 days.

Conventional chemotherapy is often immediately active against tumors, while therapeutic vaccines take time to act. Tumors tend to grow for a while before regressing because of the time required for the vaccine to induce an immune response. Once the immune response was triggered, the tumors in this study were controlled and eradicated within four to five weeks.

The researchers found that in vaccinated mice, the total ErbB2/neu protein receptor levels decreased by 45 percent.

It remains to be demonstrated the exact cause of how the TUBO cell is inhibited in this mouse model resembling HER2+ breast cancer. More studies in animal models should help clarify the underlying mechanism of this growth inhibition.

“These results show the potential for a vaccine that induces antibodies to an overexpressed cell surface receptor such as HER2,” said Berzofsky. This study was done in mice and could progress one day to testing in humans.

For more information on research in Berzofsky’s lab, please go to http://ccr.cancer.gov/staff/staff.asp?profileid=5776.

For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI Web site at http://www.cancer.gov, or call NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation’s Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in American women and the second leading cause of cancer death. Last year, the American Cancer Society estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer would be diagnosed in the U.S. and 40,460 women would die of the disease.Risk for breast cancer is higher in women with a family history of the condition. In fact, up to 10 percent of breast cancers are believed to have a hereditary basis. The most common inherited gene mutations associated with female breast cancer are BRCA1 and BRCA2. Researchers estimate women who carry one of these mutations have up to an 85 percent risk of developing breast cancer over their lifetime. These cancers often occur at a younger age than in women without the gene mutation. In addition to breast cancer, women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have up to a 65 percent lifetime risk for developing ovarian cancer.Choosing Prophylactic Double MastectomyWomen who are at high risk for developing breast cancer (such as those with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations) may take an unusual step to reduce their risk of breast cancer – prophylactic double mastectomy, or surgical removal of their breasts. Studies suggest, for women at moderate to high risk, prophylactic mastectomy can reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 90 percent.Making the choice for a prophylactic mastectomy isn’t easy. Most women have a great deal of emotional attachment to their breasts. Even with breast reconstruction, sexual partners may treat a woman differently. Women also face the risks associated with surgery, including pain, infection or development of complications.Deborah Lindner, M.D., an OB-GYN at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, found out she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene. She says that having the gene is not an automatic sentence of future breast cancer. However, a survey of other female blood relatives found 85 percent of the BRCA1 carriers developed breast cancer. With such a strong link and family history, she decided to have a prophylactic double mastectomy.Finding a surgeon who was willing to perform the procedure turned out to be a challenge. She was only 33, and many doctors told her she was too young to have the surgery. But with some persistence, she found a surgeon who understood her risk and sincerity at having the mastectomy.Lindner says women who have a strong family history of breast cancer should consider being tested for genetic mutations that may increase their personal risk for the cancer. Not all families are open about their medical history, so it may take some discussion to get details. If genetic testing indicates the presence of one of the mutations, women should seek advice from a genetic counselor and a surgeon/oncologist who has experience with breast cancer prevention methods.Sorting Through the OptionsThe Society of Surgical Oncology says prophylactic double mastectomy is justified in three groups of women: (1) those with a known mutation of a breast cancer gene, (2) those with a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in several first-degree relatives or across several generations and (3) women with high risk breast conditions, like lobular carcinoma in situ. However, prophylactic mastectomy is not the only option. One study found many women who opted for the procedure were not fully prepared to deal with the results, like sorting through reconstruction options, pain, numbness and scarring. Women also often underestimated their final appearance after the surgery.Experts say women should consider all available options before deciding on an irreversible treatment. Here are some other options:Increased surveillance. Women at high risk for breast cancer need to be more diligent with monthly breast self exams. Clinical breast exams may be given once or twice a year starting in the early 20’s. Annual mammograms may be initiated between 25 and 35. Some women may also be offered breast MRI exams. It’s important for women who choose this option to understand it’s really not a preventive measure. Instead, increased surveillance is meant to catch breast cancer in its earliest, and hopefully, more treatable stages. Researchers also point out that mammograms are less sensitive in young women. About 25 percent of high-risk women who opt for surveillance will eventually die of breast cancer.Chemoprevention. Chemoprevention is the use of drugs to reduce risk for cancer. Several drugs have been used for this purpose. Tamoxifen blocks the effects of estrogen on breast tissue. The drug may reduce the risk of breast cancer in high risk women by nearly 50 percent. However, side effects include an increased risk for endometrial cancer and blood clotting. Tamoxifen appears to be most helpful for women with the BRCA2 gene and less effective for those with BRCA1.Raloxifen, another medication that blocks the effects of estrogen on breast tissue, is approved for post-menopausal women. Risk of side effects appears to be lower with raloxifen than with tamoxifen.Aromatase inhibitors are currently being used to prevent recurrence in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.Prophylactic oophorectomy. Prophylactic oophorectomy is the surgical removal of the ovaries. The ovaries are the main source of estrogen production in the body. The American Cancer Society reports, in high-risk women, the procedure reduces the risk of breast cancer by about 50 percent. In addition, since women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation are at high risk for ovarian cancer, the procedure also reduces the risk for this condition. However, the surgery leads to immediate menopause-like symptoms, like hot flashes, vaginal dryness and night sweats.A resource organization for high-risk women who are considering their options is Bright Pink: