Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides information and answers for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
Chat live online
Select the Live Chat button at the bottom of the page
Our highly trained specialists are available 24/7 via phone and on weekdays can assist through online chat. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with essential services and resources at every step of their cancer journey. Ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
- Referrals to patient-related programs or resources
- Donations, website, or event-related assistance
- Tobacco-related topics
- Volunteer opportunities
- Cancer Information
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
- Triggering Signals of BRCA1 Breast Cancer (K Kessenbrock)
- Testing Diverse Groups Finds New Breast Cancer Genes (L Teras)
- Black Women & Genetic Testing (J Palmer)
- Women 65+ & Genetic Tests for Breast Cancer Risk (L Teras)
- High-Risk Genes and Screening (A Patel)
- New Risk Calculation May Affect Breast Cancer Screening (L Teras)
- Black Men and Breast Cancer (H Sung)
- Platelets May Help Breast Cancer Spread (E Battinelli)
- Natural Killer Cells & TNBC (R. Chakrabarti)
- Improving Chemotherapy (O Sahin)
- Combo Treatment for TNBC (K Varley)
- Treatments Attack Cell Division (A Holland)
- ER+ Treatment in Mice (P Kenny)
- Blood DNA Monitors Metastasis Treatment (H P Ji)
- PTK6 Gene as Treatment Target (H Irie)
- Time-Lapse Cell Movies (S Spencer)
- 3D Mini Breast Tumors May Help ID New Cancer Treatments
- AI Tool Improves Breast Cancer Prognosis Accuracy
- Exercise & Sitting Time (E. Rees-Punia)
- Cancer Risk Factors in LGBTQ Populations (B. Charlton)
- CPS-3 Disparities Studies
- Cancer Disparities in the US (F. Islami)
- Housing Assistance and Mammograms (H Lee)
- Clinical Trial Treatment Cost App (L Hamel)
- Podcasts, TheoryLab
- Patients Health Insurance Tool (M. Politi)
- Breast Cancer Treatment in Ethiopia (A. Jemal)
- Better Survival Requires Better Insurance (J Zhao)
- Medicaid Eligibility Limits (J Zhao)
- New Treatment for Neuroblastoma (A Heczey)
- Oncogenic Fusions AML (S Meshinchi)
- Genetic Risks (L Teras)
- New Medulloblastoma Drugs (J Rodriguez-Blanco)
- Potential New Hope for MLL (J Grembecka)
- Increase in Brain Tumor Diagnosis (K Miller)
- Longer Life Expectancy for Survivors (J Yeh)
- Potential Target for New Osteosarcoma Drugs (C Benavente)
- At-Home Chemo for Children with HR ALL (L Ranney)
- Childhood Cancer Research Landscape Report
- Tumor-Infiltrating Neutrophils (R. Sumagin)
- New Epigenetic Target (K Rai)
- Extra Chromosomes (Aneuploidy) Effect on Cancer (J. Sheltzer)
- Discovery of a New Biomarker Is the First Step to New Treatment (C. Maher)
- Designer Virus Targets and Kills CRC Cells in Mice (S. Warner)
- Tiny Sensor in Mice May Find Cancer That's Trying to Spread (L. Hao)
- Targeting a Protein “Turned on” by Mistake (N. Gao)
- Spatial Map Intestines (J Hickey)
- CRC Treatment Podcasts
- Keto Molecule & Colorectal Cancer (M Levy)
- Availability of Healthy Food (L Tussing-Humphreys)
- 45 Min/Day of Physical Activity (A Minihan)
- Fewer than 10K Steps/Day (A Patel)
- Yogurt & Cheese & ER- Breast Cancer (M McCullough)
- Stage 2 Clinical Trials for New Endometrial Cancer Drug (V Bae-Jump)
- Hard-to-Starve Pancreatic Cancer Cells (N Kalaany)
- Coffee Risks for Colorectal Cancer (C Um)
- Food Parasite & Brain Cancer Risk (J Hodge)
- Exercise & Quality of Life in Older Survivors (E Rees-Punia)
- 21 Metabolites Linked with Breast Cancer (Y Wang)
- Replacing Sitting May Affect Weight (E Rees-Punia)
- CPS-3 Researchers Ask What People Eat and Check Urine Samples (Y Wang)
- Video Games Motivate Exercise? (E. Lyons)
- Food Choices and Colon Cancer Risk (P. Chandler)
- Race, Exercise & Breast Cancer (C. Dallal)
- Diet with Colorectal Cancer (M. Guinter)
- Biomarkers May Improve Prediction (Y Wang)
- Kickstart NSCLCs Clinical Trials (L. Eichner)
- Mapping Mitochondria's “Dance” (D. Shackleford)
- E-Cig Use Ages 18 to 29 (P. Bandi)
- Stopping Smoking Earlier in Life (F Islami)
- Most with Lung Cancer Smoked (A Jemal)
- Furthering Lung Cancer Screening & Equity (S Fedewa)
- Mouse Lung Organoids for Research (C Kim)
- Quality of Life for Lung Cancer Survivors (J Temel)
- Precision Therapies for NSCLC (P Jänne)
- Cancer Deaths from Smoking (F Islami)
- Lung Cancer Surgery Disparities (A Jemal)
- BRG1-Deficient Lung Cancers (C Kim)
- Yoga for Couples with Lung Cancer (K Milbury)
- Metabolic Differences as New Drug Targets (A Marcus)
- CPS-II & CPS-3 Inform About Risks of Ovarian Cancer
- Machine Learning & Glowing Nanosensors (D Heller)
- Ovarian Cancer May Start in Fallopian Tube Cells (K Lawrenson)
- New Gene Linked with Deadliest Type (C Han)
- Gene-Testing Tools May Personalize Care (A Sood)
- Chromosome-Hoarding Ovarian Cancer Cells & Treatment (J Sheltzer)
- Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery for Metastases (X Lu)
- Turning Off 2 Proteins to Slow HGSC (P Kreeger)
- Targeted Light Therapy in Mice (M Bai)
- Nanoparticles, CAR T, and CRISPR (M Stephan)
- Endometriosis & Ovarian Cancer in Mice (M Wilson)
- Ovarian Cancer Special Section
- UV Exposure, Melanoma, & Dark Skin Types (A. Adamson)
- Melanoma and Lipid Droplets (R. White)
- Zebrafish and Acral Melanoma (R. White)
- T-Cell Lymphoma and PD1 (J. Choi)
- New Drug Destroys Cancer-Causing Protein (C. Crews)
- Virus & Merkel Cell Skin Cancer (R. Wang)
- Non-Genetic Drug Resistance (S. Spencer)
- Hijacking the Body's Sugar (R. Wang)
- Telling about High Risk (P. Kanetsky)
- Brain Metastasis and Alzheimer’s (E. Hernando)
- Exhausted Melanoma "Killer" Cells (W. Cui)
Mouse Study: New Treatment for ER+ Breast Cancers
American Cancer Society research grantee's results may offer new hope for women when certain treatments stop working.
The Challenge
Some types of breast cancer are affected by hormones, like estrogen and progesterone. Those breast cancer cells have receptors that attach to estrogen and progesterone, which help them grow. Treatments that stop their attachment are called hormone therapy.
For instance, some drugs, including letrozole (Femara), keep estrogen from being made. Others, like tamoxifen (Nolvadex, Soltamox), keep estrogen from attaching to the receptors on the cancer cells.
The Research
Studies have shown that these drugs work in large part because they also suppress the effect of a substance called amphiregulin, which is found in normal, healthy cells. Amphiregulin helps normal cells grow, but it also helps hormone-positive cancer cells grow. Unfortunately, tumors can develop resistance to these successful hormone therapies, rendering them ineffective.
Our goal is to better understand the biology that underlies hormone-resistant breast tumors so that we may identify and validate appropriate targets for therapy.”
Paraic Kenny, PhD
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
ACS Grantee
ACS grantee Paraic Kenny, PhD, recently published results of a mouse study showing that amphiregulin is closely linked to the growth of estrogen-receptor positive breast tumors. Importantly, these findings may provide a strategy to treat certain types of breast cancers
Why It Matters
This could mean drugs that reduce the effect of amphiregulin in hormone positive cancers could also be used to treat hormone negative cancers. For example, drugs that target amphiregulin in the future may be used to treat triple-negative breast cancer, which has many fewer treatment options available today.