In brief: Breast cancer breakthrough seen

Baltimore – Johns Hopkins researchers say they have uncovered the path that breast cancer takes to the lungs, information that could lead to therapies to block metastases responsible for 90 percent of breast cancer deaths.

“Metastasis transforms breast cancer from a local, curable disease to one that is systemic and lethal,” said Dr. Gregg L. Semenza, director of the Vascular Program in the Institute for Cell Engineering, in a statement. Semenza and other researchers found that a medication used to treat irregular heartbeats can block the HIF-1 protein’s production and stop liver and prostate cancer cells from growing. They studied whether digitalis can do the same with metastatic breast cancer, and in mice, there were fewer and smaller tumors in the lungs. Clinical trials could be next.

Newlyweds killed in Hawaii crash

HONOLULU – The newlywed bride and groom killed when a tour helicopter crashed on a Hawaii hillside were both young nuclear engineers from the Pittsburgh area.

Westinghouse Electric Co. spokesman Vaughn Gilbert said Friday that Nicole and Michael Abel were recently married.

He says it’s a tragic loss for the families involved and for Westinghouse and many friends and colleagues spoke glowingly of them.

The couple was on board a Blue Hawaiian Helicopter tour of west Maui and Molokai on Thursday when the aircraft crashed.

All four passengers and 30-year-old pilot Nathan Cline were killed.

The names of the other two passengers haven’t been released, but authorities say they were from Ontario, Canada.