new cause of resistance to herceptin IDd-- hold off on those ice cream sundaes!!!!

[Nguyen]

Anyone feels free to jump in if I am not correct.

Essentially researchers discover (via test tube and mouse model) that another possible cause of Herceptin might be fatty cells, particularly if breast cancer cells grow next to fatty cells. The abstract implies two Herceptin resistance mechanisms for tumor cells growing next to fatty cells. These tumor cells undergo some sort of changes, and the fatty cells cause the immune system killer cells to reduce the number of bullets it can fire at the cancer cells. So the researchers suggest develop treatment that block communication between fatty and tumor cells.

So the message is to reduce fat intake (hence hold off those sundaes). Strangely enough obesity is a cancer risk factor for post menopause women, but slightly decreases bc risk for pre menopause women. Post menopause women have less hormone so it's another clue.

Nguyen