New Treatment Method to Help Women Suffering From Fibrocystic Disease
August 19, 2014
Fibrocystic disease may affect up to 50 percent of all women
(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) –A new patent has been issued for a method that uses the SOD-mimetic agent TEMPOL to treat fibrocystic disease of the breast (FD). Approximately 20 percent of women suffering from FD, which is more commonly known as fibrocystic change, require clinical treatment for the disease. Associated with lumps and swelling of the breasts, serious cases of FD can cause significant pain and discomfort, and can also complicate the diagnosis of breast cancer.
“There is potential for cases of FD to be extremely painful, causing some women to change their livelihood to cope with the discomfort of the disease. We hope that this new method for treating the condition will help to change lives and become a game changer in the battle against fibrocystic change,” says Dr. Peter Proctor, a Houston-based clinician, researcher and long-time member of the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine (SFRBM).
Until now, other antioxidant drugs have had limited success in treating FD, and many women have only found relief through a lumpectomy or mastectomy. TEMPOL is intended to inhibit or slow the development of fibrocystic disease of the breast, alleviating the painful lumps without the need for surgery. The treatment, although effective, is not a cure; when women stop taking TEMPOL, the lumps and symptoms will return.
Women with FD who also have a familial history of breast cancer are also at a higher risk of breast cancer. FD complicates the diagnosis of breast cancer because when many breast lumps are present, it can be difficult to biopsy every one. With this new treatment, nonmalignant breast lumps will likely disappear, making it easier to examine and diagnose any remaining lumps as potentially cancerous.
“Our members are doing important work everyday, and being able to effectively treat FD is a great example of that. Thanks to this new method, women across the country who are suffering from fibrocystic disease of the breast will now have new treatment options available to them,” says Dr. Henry Forman, a researcher at USC and current SFRBM president.
About the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine Founded in 1987, SFRBM is an international organization of 1,500 scientists, investigators and clinicians who conduct research in the area of redox biology as well as oxidants and antioxidants. These areas have shown explosive growth over the last decade and are now integral to major initiatives in basic, applied and translational research, including development of new therapies in cancer, heart disease, aging and cardiovascular disease.
