Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month! In the United States, October has been designated as a month to increase awareness and to raise funds to help accelerate biomedical research in the valiant search for a cure (The actual origins of NBCAM are a little shady, but I won't get into that here).

Figure 1: A pink ribbon, go find and wear one today!

All across the country, charities are organizing walks, concerts, and various other events to get people to donate to the cause and to start meaningful conversations about breast cancer. Every year, 1 in 8 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer and it is estimated that we lose 40,000 women a year to this terrible disease. While these statistics are painful to look at, modern medicine has increased survival rates to levels never thought possible. I am continually encouraged and inspired by the strong women who continue to beat breast cancer every year and it is extremely important that we keep fighting for this cause. Below is a brief summary of what breast cancer is and what is the latest research in the field.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast (typically the cells that line the milk ducts) become cancerous. The mechanisms by which cells develop into cancer are complicated and varied and the risk factors that play into your likelihood of developing cancer are equally varied. Many of you have heard of BRCA1 and BRCA2, so called "breast cancer genes", which caused Angelina Jolie to receive a double mastectomy in 2013. This terminology, however, is a little misleading!

Having BRCA1 and BRCA2 is actually normal, as these genes are responsible for repairing damage to DNA (which is one way in which cells can turn into cancer cells). It's when these genes are mutated that cancer can arise. It's estimated that about 5-10% of breast cancers are related to this mutation, which leaves a significant portion of breast cancer cases open to a slew of other causes. Obesity, smoking, environmental conditions; it's all been implicated in potentially causing breast cancer. *Note* The research linking breastfeeding (or not breastfeeding) to an increased risk for breast cancer remains inconclusive.

As I mentioned, survival rates for breast cancer have reached all time highs. Nevertheless, breast cancer is still a significant killer of women (and men!) every year. It accounts for 25% of all cancers in women and resulted in half a million deaths worldwide in 2012. Recommended screenings for breast cancer are recommended for women over the age of 50, but it never hurts to start performing self exam today!

What is currently being done to treat breast cancer?

Currently, the conventional approaches to treating breast cancer are a combination of therapies used in other cancers, including radiation and chemotherapies. With respect to BRCA1/2, a new class of drugs known as PARP inhibitors are currently in clinical trials that are being in used in patients with the above mutations. PARP1 (poly ADP ribose polymerase) is a protein that repairs DNA damage. Removing this beneficial protein results in the death of cancer cells, which divide so quickly that they rapidly succumb to a lack of significant DNA repair. Your normal cells divide more slowly and have other mechanisms for fixing this damage, so (for the most part). your normal cells remain unharmed via PARP1 inhibition.

There are also a few anti-angiogenesis drugs currently being tested in the clinic. As you can imagine, tumors require significant amounts of energy and nutrients to grow. One way it accomplishes this is through angiogensis, which is a process that leads to the creation of new blood vessels that lead to the tumor itself. If you can block this, you can effectively "starve" the tumor!

Lastly, there are some drugs known as HER2 inhibitors being tested in the clinic as well. HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) is a receptor that sits on the surface of cells. When this receptor is in overabundance, it tends to lead towards certain types of aggressive cancers, so drugs currently developed are trying to destroy these receptors.

All of these treatments are very promising and are creative attacks on cancer mechanisms. This is a very brief summary of the sort of therapies that are being developed around the world; there are many other interesting treatments that are constantly being investigated, both in the clinic and in the laboratory! While we will always have to live with cancer as a part of our lives, I am confident that with continued research we will be able to reduce cancer from a high-level threat to a minor inconvenience.