Abortion Drug may Prevent Breast Cancer

I hope noone has diaried this already - a search of the recent diaries didn't turn up anything, so I'm going to go ahead and post this.

From Reuters

WASHINGTON - The chemical compound in the abortion pill RU-486 blocked formation in mice of breast tumors caused by a mutant gene blamed in many women’s breast and ovarian cancers, researchers found.

 

I just find this rather ironic given all right wing anti-abortion propoganda claiming that abortion causes breast cancer.

A team led by University of California at Irvine scientist Eva Lee found that the compound, mifepristone, prevented breast tumors by blocking progesterone in mouse breast tissue cells.

They said they found that progesterone, which is involved in the female reproductive cycle, stimulates the proliferation of breast cells carrying a gene linked to breast cancer, possibly feeding tumor growth.

In its normal form, BRCA-1 protects against cancer, suppressing tumor formation by assisting cells to repair DNA damage that could lead to cancer-causing mutations.

In this study, the researchers focused on how mifepristone influences the way the mutated gene functions in tissue, using mice with the rodent version of the mutated gene.

Mice given mifepristone were tumor-free by the time they were a year old, while the mice that did not get it all developed tumors by the time they were 8 months old, the researchers found.

Progesterone stimulates the development of tumors when the mutated gene is present because it accelerates cell division, but mifepristone interfered with a process needed for progesterone to spur the division of cells, the study found.

 
 
Quite apart from the possibilities this opens up for the development of future treatments for breast cancer, I hope this makes it harder for anti-abortionists to spread the innacurate idea that having an abortion could, potentially, kill you. Women in this country have a hard enough time finding someone to perform the procedure, wading through hordes of crazed protesters at the clinic and dealing with the emotional aspects of termination (assuming it is an emotional decision, which I understand is not the case for everyone) to have to deal with this sort of medically uninformed nonsense.

I'm hoping more information about this study is available in the coming days. The more these findings are publicized, and the more people become aware of them, the harder it will be for propagandists to spread their 'version' of the truth. It's not a complete fix, but hopefully, its a start.

•  Well, just because it has the potential

  to save women's LIVES doesn'tmake it good, does it?

  Ohhow I hate the christian RIght's War on WOmen.

  by irishwitch on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 06:25:22 PM PDT

  •  You and me both

    by keila on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 06:27:06 PM PDT

  •  You know those dominionists

    "Sanctity of human life" in nothing but an empty phrase to them.

    by wiscmass on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 06:50:57 PM PDT

•  That's an interesting result

  but I imagine using RU-486 long term to supress this breast cancer mode would have it's own risks.

  Still, a good start.  Now that they have a hint that supressing progesterone (and everything else that RU-486 does in the body) can have such dramatic results, they can start to look for compounds that hit the specific receptors on the breast cells in question.

  by Ugluks Flea on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 06:55:06 PM PDT

•  This is just a slight quibble with the title

  Why don't you just use the name of the drug in the title. We all know what it is and those interested in the topic will show up.

  I realize that RU-486 is an abortifacient, and technically it is correct terminology. "Abortion Drug" just seem to be using the terminology the Religious Right wants us to.

  It is an interesting article. I had not seen this yet.

  by SeattleLiberal on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 07:05:29 PM PDT

  •  But everybody might not recognize

    "Mifeprex" or "mifepristone," which are the drug's correct names in the U.S.

    It also shows great promise as a treatment for psychotic depression that is unresponsive to other drugs.

    Two small studies, the latest appearing last month in the journal Biological Psychiatry, have found that mifepristone is effective in helping people whose severe depression is accompanied by delusional beliefs or hallucinations. Of the 30 patients in the recent study, those who took mifepristone for seven days at dosages higher than those used for abortions showed substantial and rapid improvement in their symptoms, the researchers found. The drug produced only mild side effects in the study.

    :::

    If mifepristone does reach the market, it will be the first medication specifically approved for psychotic depression, which psychiatrists say is the most difficult form of depression to treat.

    :::

    A chemical compound used for abortions may seem an odd candidate for a depression drug. But mifepristone attracted the attention of researchers for good reason.

    Mifepristone induces abortion by blocking the action of progesterone, a hormone necessary for implanting a fertilized egg in the lining of the uterus.

    But in higher doses, the drug also blocks another hormone, cortisol, which is secreted by the adrenal glands and plays a critical role in the body's response to stress. Patients with psychotic depression, studies have shown, often have elevated levels of cortisol.

    Dr. Anthony Rothschild, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, who has studied psychotic depression, said he and Dr. Schatzberg had hoped to test RU-486 as a treatment in the late 1980's.

    "You just couldn't get it because of the political controversy," Dr. Rothschild said.

    At last -- real help for the religious right. ;-)

    (And so much for "Post-Abortion Syndrome" -- the mythical PTSD-tye depressive illness supposedly caused by abortion)

    by moiv on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 07:40:51 PM PDT

    •  I was thinking RU-486

      But I see what you mean.

      by SeattleLiberal on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 08:58:05 PM PDT

•  Thanks for posting, Keila

  Great catch!

  by moiv on Thu Nov 30, 2006 at 07:42:34 PM PDT

•  a few notes....

  I read this and didnt not immediately comment because I wanted to make sure I gave facts.  I looked up an one of my med-surg textbooks the genetic implications of BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 in relation to breast cancer.

  A women who carries an altered for of the genes BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 has a 50% to 85% risk of developing breast cancer in her lifetime... HOWEVER 95% of women who develop breast cancer do not possess these genes.

  Just wanted to point out that information because even if this study proves to be 100% effective in humans it would only address roughly 5% of women with breast cancer... that is pretty damn sad if you ask me but that 5% means everything if its your mom or sister....  

  by Hind2 on Fri Dec 01, 2006 at 09:52:45 AM PDT