EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Breast Cancer Awareness

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This month, we're turning our attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time dedicated to increasing awareness, supporting early detection, and highlighting the ongoing research shaping the future of breast cancer treatment and prevention.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 19-Oct-2026 21:16 ET (20-Oct-2026 01:16 GMT/UTC)

15-Oct-2026

UT MD Anderson shares latest research breakthroughs

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

First-in-class targeted therapy shows promise against hard-to-treat cancers

Tile-based radiation therapy dramatically reduced recurrence of brain metastases

Targeting individual metastases in oligometastatic breast cancer did not improve survival

Personalized guidance boosts family genetic testing for hereditary cancers

AI tool uncovers signals that either attract immune cells to tumors or keep them out

15-Oct-2026

Lactation drug could reduce breast cancer risk after childbirth, study suggests

University of British Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international team of scientists has found that a lactation drug could reduce the risk of breast cancer in mothers after childbirth.

Journal: Cancer Discovery
Funder: Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Terry Fox Research Institute

15-Oct-2026

Inflammatory breast cancer: Fast-moving form often lacks lump as warning sign

Mayo Clinic

You probably know that a lump in the breast may be a symptom of breast cancer. But what about breast cancer that develops without that warning sign? Inflammatory breast cancer is a fast-moving cancer that doesn't usually form a lump; instead, the skin on one breast changes rapidly, explains Tina Hieken, M.D., a surgical oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

15-Oct-2026

Clinical trial to evaluate blood test for early detection of breast cancer

University of Southern California - Health Sciences
Business Announcement

Keck Medicine of USC has launched a clinical trial to evaluate whether a blood test can help detect breast cancer earlier than mammograms alone.

14-Oct-2026

IIT develops a new strategy against cancer: immunotherapies with a switch

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia - IIT
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A genetic switch that activates immune cells as they fight tumours: this is the new strategy developed by an international research team coordinated by Velia Siciliano at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT – Italian Institute of Technology) in Naples and described in the scientific journal Nature Communications. The study marks another step towards engineering precise and more effective synthetic immunotherapies against solid tumours, such as melanoma and breast cancer.

Journal: Nature Communications

14-Oct-2026

Jawbone necrosis in advanced breast cancer: Finnish study highlights the importance of oral health

University of Oulu, Finland
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Antiresorptive drugs, which reduce bone breakdown, are an important part of treatment for breast cancer that has spread to the bones. However, their use can be associated with osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ), a condition in which bone tissue in the jaw dies. In a Finnish registry study, osteonecrosis of the jaw was diagnosed in 12.6% of patients treated with denosumab during long-term follow-up.

Journal: Clinical Oral Investigations

14-Oct-2026

Lasers, Doppler effect personalize chemotherapy drug selection for cancer tumors

Purdue University

Physicist David Nolte is developing a laser-based"bio-dynamic" imaging system that could improve the care of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Nolte's system can rapidly evaluate the outcome of different drugs on patient biopsies obtained during diagnosis to ensure patients get the chemotherapy treatment that would be most effective on their specific tumor.

Journal: Scientific Reports