2018 Paint paper pink

2018 Paint the Paper Pink Lincoln Daily News October 2018 Page 73 cancer cells repair DNA damage so they can live. Blocking PARP in cancer cells prevents them from repairing DNA damage, ultimately leading to their demise. Some of the new TNBC genes work the same way as BRCA1 and BRCA2, so studies are underway to learn if tumors with mutations in these other genes can also benefit from platinum drugs or PARP inhibitors. [American Cancer Society Newsroom] Most breast cancers are classified by 3 substances that can affect the cancer’s growth: 1. The female hormone estrogen 2. The female hormone progesterone 3. The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) Estrogen and progesterone bind with their specific receptors and move to the cell nucleus and alter the activity of many genes. That can result in some genes helping cancers grow. The binding of HER2 and its receptor can also switch on many genes and influence how much a cancer cell grows. If the cancer cell doesn’t have a receptor for estrogen, then estrogen doesn’t help the cancer grow. That cancer is classified as estrogen- receptor negative (ER negative). The same is true if the cancer cell doesn’t have a receptor for progesterone or for HER2. If a breast cancer cell doesn’t have receptors any of these, the cancer is called triple negative. It may seem like no receptors would be good because the hormones and HER2 can’t help the cancer grow. But having a triple-negative breast cancer isn’t good. Here’s why: current breast cancer treatments either reduce the amount of these hormones or block the receptors. That means hormone therapy won’t work against TNBC and neither will drugs that target HER2. Why It’s Called Triple Negative