Dr. Gerald Zon’s latest “Zone in with Zon” blog post, dated October 7, 2013, and published by TriLink BioTechnologies of San Diego, reviews some of the latest advances in breast cancer research in recognition of October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Dr. Zon begins with an outline of some of the grim statistics about the deadly impact of breast cancer today and then goes on to describe existing treatments and a number of exciting and promising new therapeutic approaches that are being developed. Statistics from the NIH predict 232,340 new breast cancer cases and 39,620 deaths in 2013 in the U.S., Dr. Zon said. Nevertheless, in women diagnosed with breast cancer in the period of 1999 through 2006, the 5-year survival rate was 90%, which represents a significant improvement since the mid-1970s and is attributed to more screening and improved treatments. Among these treatments are tamoxifen and another selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), raloxifene, which have been approved by the FDA, and the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab, which is an accepted treatment for breast cancers that overproduce a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or HER2. Dr. Zon also provided a description of cancer research expert Esther H. Chang, M.D., Ph.D., who has made significant achievements in specifically targeting tumors using antibody-fragment-tagged liposomal nanoparticles. Dr. Zon noted that Dr. Chang has referred to this process as involving “tiny little Fed Ex trucks.” Dr. Zon noted that tumor-targeted nanomedicine delivery of the p53 gene (SGT-53) has already successfully completed Phase I safety trials. He went on to note that nanomedicine researchers are currently seeking to develop a number of revolutionary tools.Login Or Register To Read Full Story