October 2007 podcast transcript

Kat: I'm Dr Kat Arney and welcome to this month's podcast dedicated to breast cancer. We'll find out about the latest research, hear one woman's story, and discover the signs and symptoms to check for. But first, here's the news, with Josephine Querido.

0:49

Josephine: One of Cancer Research UK's leading epidemiologists, Professor Max Parkin, has predicted that thousands of cases of breast cancer could be prevented in the future if women act now to change their lifestyles. This includes reducing the use of prolonged hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, keeping a healthy bodyweight, and exercising more.

Each year more than 44,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer, and Professor Parkin predicts that this will rise to around 58,000 by 2024, if women don’t take steps to change their lifestyles.

But by cutting HRT use, around 2,100 cases could be prevented every year. A drop in obesity rates could prevent around 1,800 cases annually, while increasing exercise to half and hour five times a week could prevent around 1,400 cases. And cutting down on alcohol to the recommended government limit of two units a day could prevent a further 200 cases per year.

Professor Parkin, from the Wolfson Institute for Preventative Medicine, explains more.

"Nobody can predict for sure if they will get cancer of not, but there are several factors that influence a person’s risk. There are things we can’t really change, such as the age of having children. But maintaining a good body weight, taking regular exercise and avoiding excessive alcohol can all reduce the risk."

2:30

Josephine: It's been a record year for Cancer Research UK, as the charity announced that £315 million was spent on scientific research in the financial year 2005/2006. This is an increase of around £64 million on the previous year, and nearly a doubling of research funding since the charity was formed five years ago.

More than 4,250 scientists, doctors and nurses across the UK are funded by the organisation, and we aim to increase our spending on research to £400 million by the year 2010.

3:04

And finally, we're proud to announce the winners of this year's Cancer Research UK SciNews science writing competition, which was open to 14-16 year olds across the UK. The joint first prize winners are: Leanna Hillen from St. Malachy's High School in Belfast, and Emily Paterson from Albyn School in Aberdeen. You can read their complete stories, and listen to podcasts of the girls reading them at www.scinews.org.uk. But we can bring you a taster. First here's Leanna, asking if the world’s smallest spacecraft could become the world's smallest doctor...

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to explore space? Well thanks to Dr John Barker and his colleagues, we may be able to using a small computer chip the size of a grain of sand! UK engineers are calling it 'smart dust' because it could be smart enough to do lots of things. This extraordinary little device could get closer to the planets than anyone or anything."

And here’s Emily, explaining how a 12 year old boy was saved by a hamster...

"At the age of twelve, Oliver Moody's quality of life is literally being saved by a hamster. His growing has come to a halt and his organs contain lethal toxins, due to a rare disease, mucopolysaccharidosis, or more commonly known as Hurler Syndrome."

And you can find more resources about cancer for young people on the Youth & Schools section of our News & Resources website, including our set of new, fully evaluated  lesson plans that link to the Science, Citizenship and PSHE curricula.

4:39

Kat: And if you want find out more about these stories, or get the latest from the charity's scientists, and researchers around the world, then have a look at our News & Resources website.

4:58

Although advances in detection and treatment mean that around 8 out of ten women with breast cancer will survive for five years, more than 12,000 women lose their lives to the disease every year.

Cancer Research UK is the major funder of breast cancer research in the UK, spending around £22 million last year. This covers all aspects of research into the disease, from prevention to diagnosis, better treatments and improving the quality of life for women living with breast cancer.

Dr Jason Carroll recently set up his lab at the new Cambridge Research Institute. I spoke to him to find out how he's working to beat breast cancer.

5:38

Jason Carroll

We're trying to understand how oestrogen, the female hormone, can cause cancer to grow. We want to know how oestrogen can cause certain genes to get switched on that make cancers grow. About 70% of breast cancers have the oestrogen receptor, so the majority of them are driven to grow by oestrogen. We're trying to understand why that is, and we're also interested in using that information to understand why the drug tamoxifen works, and what happens when it stops working.

We're using the most sophisticated and cutting edge genomic technology, which means we can look at billions of bits of information at any one time. And we're boiling this information down to try and make sense of how these drugs work by looking at the whole genome rather than specific focus regions. I hope that the research will help us to discover the genes and proteins that are important in cancer - the genes that make oestrogen do what it does, and make tamoxifen do what it does.

We hope that this knowledge will help the development of smart drugs against these pathways to treat breast cancer. We're starting to get a handle on this right now - but before we can make these drugs, we need to know what to target.

7:30

Kat: Many breast cancers are discovered by women themselves, but what's the best way to check yourself? Here's Jean Slocombe, one of Cancer Research UK's cancer information nurses, to give us the low-down.

7:40

Jean Slocombe

It's all about knowing your own breasts, and knowing what's different for you. You should check your breasts about once a month - if you do it too often you might not notice anything changing, but if you don't do it often enough you might miss something.

Women should be looking for any lumps or bumps, or anything thickening of the breast tissue. Look at your breasts in the mirror -has one become bigger than the other? Are they changign shape? Is there any dimpling? Has the nipple suddenly become inverted, or is there discharge? Look at the skin of the breast - occasionally that can reveal clues that something isn't quite right.

If you think that something is wrong, get along to your doctor as soon as you can. They will examine you and send you to a breast clinic if they think you need further tests. About nine of of ten breast lumps are not cancer. They can be lots of other things - and some people's breasts are just lumpy.

Men can get breast cancer too, but it's very rare. About 300 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK. And men can help their partner with breast awareness too - they do say two heads are better than one!

9:40

Kat: Screening plays a vital role in picking up breast cancers early. In the UK, all women between 50 and 70 are regularly invited for a free mammogram, and women over 70 can ask to carry on with screening. In fact, in England breast screening is thought to save around 1,400 lives every year.

Barbara Powell was diagnosed with breast cancer after going along for a routine mammogram. I asked her to share her story.

<10:05

Barbara Powell

I just went for my routine mammogram and a month later I was recalled, because there was a tiny spot that was suspicious. It turned out to be cancer, and I had an operation a month later. If I hadn't gone for screening I would never have known. I didn't feel a lump, I never felt ill, but it was just the right time to go.

My message to everyone is "please don't duck out of screening". Be smart, and be aware of your body. A lot of women are scared of examining their bodies because they're worried about what they might find, but please go for your mammograms.

The "Kylie Minogue effect" has meant that older women don't think they will get breast cancer, but the statistics show that the older you are, the greater your risk. For example, I'm 65, and my risk is about one in 30, and when it comes to 70, it's one in 11. If you have cancer in the family you can have mammograms at an earlier age, and you can ask for screening over the age of 70. The facilities are there, so you only have to ask.

11:39

Kat: If you want to find out more about any aspect of breast cancer, from signs and symptoms to treatments and the latest research, then have a look at our patient information website, CancerHelp UK.

And if you want to raise money for our vital research towards beating breast cancer, then there's loads of things you can do. Whether it's hosting a pink party, doing a sponsored walk or anything else you can imagine, find out how you can join together with us./p>

12:17

We've reached the end once more so we hope youve enjoyed the podcast. Don't forget that your feedback is vital in helping us improve the show, so please send us your comments and suggestions by email to podcast@cancer.org.uk. And you can sign up to our RSS feed to get the latest Cancer Research UK podcast delivered straight to your computer every month.

We'll be back next month with all the latest news from the NCRI conference, the biggest cancer conference in the UK. Until then, good bye.

• Credits:
• Presented and produced by Kat Arney
• News by Josephine Querido and Kat Arney
• Post-production by Henry Sowcroft
• Original music written and performed by Kat Arney and Henry Scowcroft
• With special thanks to all the participants