Postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer who develop arthralgia and/or myalgia (A/M) while being treated with anastrozole may want to consider a switch to letrozole therapy, researchers said at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). Women who experienced greater than equal to grade 2 A/M while receiving anastrozole and switched to letrozole developed significantly less A/M and had an improved quality of life compared with baseline.

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Abviva Inc. (formerly known as Genesis Bioventures) has been issued a pivotal patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the core technology used in the company’s breast cancer diagnostic test. The Mammastatin Serum Assay (MSA) is a blood test used for the early detection of breast cancer through the identification and measurement of the amount of Mammastatin in women.

Canadian medical device company ART (Advanced Research Technologies Inc.) announced the first sale of its SoftScan optical breast imaging system. The device was purchased by Sunnybrook Research Institute, where Dr. Gregory Czarnota would conduct a pilot study to determine the SoftScan system’s role in monitoring response to breast cancer treatment, particularly neoadjuvant therapies. SoftScan helps to monitor the response to breast cancer treatment by identifying tumors by their metabolic signatures.

The use of oral contraceptives reduces the risk of ovarian cancer, according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. The longer women use the pill, which contains progestin or a combination of the estrogen and progestin hormones, the lower is their risk of developing ovarian cancer at a later stage. While the pill is linked to breast and cervical cancer, the risk associated with these is lower than the protection offered by oral contraceptives against ovarian cancer, said study co-author Dr. Valerie Beral of Oxford University’s Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit.

Women undergoing breast surgery have a more than 5% chance of developing surgical site infections, according to a study published in the January issue of Archives of Surgery. Such infections could result in hospital bills exceeding $4,000, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine said. On average, it took 47 days after surgery for the diagnosis of an infection to be made.

The researchers added that the incidence of infection could be lowered by measures including “strategies to optimize the timing and dosage of prophylactic antibiotics administered before the surgical incision, glucose control in diabetic patients, promotion of meticulous hand hygiene, and strategies to promote timely removal of drains.”