New discovery could better target breast cancer in younger women

Dr. Mallika Marshall, CBS News

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Story Created: Jul 9, 2008 at 3:25 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 10, 2008 at 12:18 PM EST

It’s a discovery that could change the way some women are treated for breast cancer.

When school administrator Vanessa Silva was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 32 years old, she underwent a bilateral mastectomy followed by powerful chemotherapy.

"I did not do well with it,” Silva said. “It just felt like I was hit by a truck.”

Her treatment was aggressive because the disease is more aggressive in younger women than it is in older patients.

And now researchers at Duke University know why after analyzing tumors from both age groups.

"Tumors in young women had specific genetic components that made them more aggressive,” said Dr. Kimberly Blackwell from Duke University Medical Center.

And scientists were shocked to find how common these genetic components were in younger women.

“If breast cancers arising in younger women are all linked together by certain genetic elements it hints that there are probably very specific causes that lead to the development of breast cancer in younger women," said Blackwell.

This research may not only help scientists discover different causes of breast cancer in young women, it may also lead to a new line of treatments.

The aggressive tumors in younger women are harder to treat and new drugs that better target them would be a welcome weapon.

"We can really use those therapies to treat the cancers and we'll get much better responses than this sort of shotgun therapy that we're using now,” said Dr. Alison Eastabrook from St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center.

While Vanessa’s treatment was difficult, it did work.

"I do not have cancer,” Silva said.

But she hopes future discoveries will spare future patients from making the decisions she had to.

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