Archive for the ‘cancer’ Category
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Research published in the January 22 issue of Cell confirmed that obesity in mice increased the risk of cancer especially liver cancer. In their study the researchers gave 2 week old mice DEN ( a chemical carcinogen) and divided them into two groups. One group was fed a normal diet that was relatively low in fat and the other group a diet high in fat. The high fat group developed more liver cancer than the normal diet group. To further confirm the link between obesity and liver cancer they gave 2 week old mice DEN that were fed a normal diet but were prone to obesity. This group also developed more liver cancer so the researchers concluded that it was not necessarily the high fat diet but something about the obesity state. They also gave DEN to 3 month old mice on a high fat diet and they also developed more liver cancer. Usually mice on a standard diet given DEN at this age without the extra push of phenobarbitol do not develop liver cancer. But the obese mice developed liver cancer without the extra push of phenobarbitol. The researchers traced the source of the obese cancer producing effect to a rise in inflammatory factors and obese mice lacking these did not show the same rise in liver cancer nor the same distribution of fat in the body. This study suggests that anti-inflammatory drugs used for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease may also reduce the risk of cancer for those at high risk of liver cancer because of obesity. .
Tags: DEN, high fat diet, liver cancer, low fat diet, obesity
Posted in Uncategorized, cancer | No Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Forthcoming research carried out at the University of Oklahoma to be published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology concluded that a new treatment not only killed large cancer tumors but also reduced the need for mastectomies by almost 90%. Dr William Dooley is leading a group of researchers from The University of Oklahoma and 4 other research sites who are working on a treatment called Focused Microwave Thermotherapy.
In their current research, they tested the therapy on tumors that were from one inch to one and a half inches in size that usually require mastectomies. Using the heating therapy within two hours of giving chemotherapy, tumors were more suceptible to chemotherapy and shrunk rapidly. The percentage of patients needing mastectomies were reduced from 75% to 7%. The researchers plan to repeat the trials to see if the therapy is effective on tumors larger that 1 1/2 inches but smaller than 5 inches.
Posted in breast cancer, cancer | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
In an effort to let lung cancer patients avoid invasive diagnostic procedures such as biopsies or cancer producing high radiation procedures such as CT scanning and to develop a more accurate diagnostic procedure researchers are investigating blood tests. In a study presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer Dr Steve Dubinett and colleagues at the Lung Cancer Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles developed a 40-marker panel of potential lung cancer biomarkers based upon investigation of 90 patients with lung cancer and 56 controls believed to be at high risk because of smoking histories. These biomarkers correctly identified those with lung cancer 88% of the time and correctly identified those without lung cancer 79% of the time. Thus, the tests had a good sensitivity and specificity (ability of the test to correctly identify those who had the disease when they had it and to correctly identify those who did not have the disease when they did not have it). Although the researchers said the findings are preliminary and would not be available for several years, the fact that 21 of the 40 biomarker panel were significantly different between patients with stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer and the controls is promising.
Tags: biomarkers, diagnosing, lung cancer, sensitivity, specificity
Posted in cancer, lung cancer | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
A study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology noted that a 21-gene test that predicts whether early breast cancer patients will benefit from chemotherapy is influencing the decision for type of treatment ordered by physicians and patients. In their study the researchers reported that as a result of the test the physicians changed their treatment plan for 31.5 % of the cases, and patients changed their treatment plan 31.5% of the time.
The multigenetic test, Oncotype DX, examines 21 genes from a tumor sample to determine how active they are. A test score between 0 and 100 predicts the likelihood of the cancer recurring. If women have a low score, chemotherapy is not recommended. Since the test became available in 2004 (for patients with estrogen recepton-positive breast cancer that has not spread to the lymph nodes) , over 120,000 breast cancer patients have undergone the test. There are about 100,000 cases of breast cancer that fall within this category yearly.
This study looked at 89 breast cancer patients who received the gene test. They were treated by 17 medical oncologists. Doctors changed decisions for 28 patients and in 20 of these they changed from hormone therapy plus chemotherapy to hormone therapy alone. Twenty-four patients changed their decisions including 9 who dropped chemotherapy. Doctors reported the test increased their confidence in their treatment decision in 76% of the patients. The cost of the test is $3,910 and most insurance plans will cover it.
Tags: 21-gene test, breast cancer, chemotherapy, hormone therapy
Posted in Uncategorized, breast cancer, cancer | No Comments »
Friday, January 15th, 2010
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October, 2009 a study of nearly 90,000 women in the Netherlands concluded that the liquid-based cytology. a commonly used alternative to conventional Pap tests, was not superior to the Pap test in detecting cervical cancer precursors or cancer. In the study, researchers compared the screening performance of Pap tests and liquid-based cytology in terms of tests positivity rates, histological detection rates and positive predictive values (PPV). In the randomized control study, 89,784 women ages 30 to 60 who participated in the Dutch screening program at 246 family practice sites were included. One hundred twenty two practice sites were assigned to use the liquid-based cytology and screened 49,222 patients, and the other 124 practice sites were assigned to use the conventional pap test and screened 40,562 women. Subjects were screened for cervical intraepithelial neoplasms (CIN) and followed for 18 months.
Results showed that the adjusted detection rate ratio for CIN grade 1+ was 1.01; for CIN grade 2+ was 1.00, for CIN grade 3+ was 1.05; and for carcinoma was 1.69. “The adjusted positive predictive value ratios, considered at several cytological cutoffs and for various outcomes of CIN did not differ significantly from unity.” Further, “Because of the randomization, it can plausibly be assumed that the prevalence of CIN was equal in both groups. Therefore, the lack of difference in detection rates and PPV in this trial demonstrates that liquid-based cytology is neither more sensitive nor more specific in detecting cervical cancer precursors than the conventional Pap test.
Tags: cervical cancer, diagnostic test, liquid-based cytology, Pap test, screening tool
Posted in cancer | No Comments »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
At last some good news for males who love their daily coffee. Researchers at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference in December reported that men with a higher daily coffee intake had a significantly lower risk of advanced and lethal prostate cancer. Coffee contains antioxidants, minerals and caffeine which could impact cancer risk.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School’s Channing Laboratory and School of Public Health. and from McGill University evaluated data from around 50,000 participants in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
Regular and decaffeinated coffee intake was evaluated in 1986 and every 4 years thereafter until 2006. During that period 4,975 men developed prostate cancer.
Those who drank 6 or more cups of coffee daily had a 19% lower risk of prostate cancer compared with those who did not drink coffee so there was a small protective effect for the coffee drinkers. However, for advanced and fatal cancer rates the risk of each was 59% lower in men who consumed the most coffee and among those who never smoked the risk was 89% lower. Results were similar for regular and decaffeinated coffee. These results are potentially important and should be confirmed by other studies.
Tags: advanced cancer rates, coffee, fatality., prostate cancer, risk
Posted in cancer, nutrition, prostate cancer | No Comments »
Friday, January 1st, 2010
The University of Iowa and the Mayo Clinic reported at the December annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology that they found an association between higher levels of Vitamin D and greater survival of individuals being treated for lymphoma. In the study funded by the National Cancer Institute the researchers measured the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in the sample of 374 patients newly diagnoses with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. They found that half had deficient serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of less than 25 nanograms per milliliter. This group also had twice the rate of dying during the study period and 1 1/2 times the adjusted rate of disease progression than those with optimum levels of Vitamin D. This was the first study to look at lymphoma outcomes and vitamin D. The researchers concluded that although the results look promising for the use of Vitamin D supplements or periodic time in the sun in the treatment of lymphoma, these results need to be validated by other research studies.
Tags: lymphoma, research, vitamin D
Posted in Uncategorized, cancer, research, supplements | No Comments »
Friday, December 25th, 2009
A study in the December 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Associan reported that soy foods which are popular in the United States can help reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and subsequent death when eaten in moderate amounts. They also claim that it may reduce the risk of death in women with estrogen receptor-positive cancers and women taking tamoxifen.
The research, led by Dr Xiao Ou Shu, professor of medicine and cancer epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University, observed over 5,000 Chinese women between the ages of 20 and 75 who had been diagnosed with breast cancer during the 2002 to 2006 period. Information was collected on cancer diagnosis, treatment received, diet, and post-diagnosis progression. The researchers found that women with the highest soy consumption reported 32 percent lower risk of cancer recurrence and 29 percent reduced risk of death than those who consumed less than 5.3 grams of soy daily.
Tags: breast cancer, reduced deaths, reduced recurrence, research, soy, Tamoxifen
Posted in breast cancer, cancer, nutrition, research | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 18th, 2009
A study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference from December 6 to 9 by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health reported that men with prostate cancer
who do physical activity as little as 15 minutes a day can reduce their overall mortality rates. They looked at both overall survival of men with prostate cancer and death rates specific to prostate cancer. They concluded that a moderate amount of regular exercise may improved overall survival and 5 or more hours a week of vigorous exercise may reduce the risk of death from prostate cancer.
Physical activity of 2,686 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study before and after a diagnoses of prostrate cancer (men with metastases when diagnosed were excluded) was assessed. Men who participated in biking, swimming, jogging, or playing tennis about a half hour weekly had a 35% lower risk of overall mortality. Men who walked 4 or more hours weekly had a 23% lower risk of all-causes of mortality compared to men who walked less than 20 minutes a week. However, walking did not show an effect on specific prostate cancer mortality but strenuous exercise did and men who participated in 5 or more hours of vigorous physical activity weekly had a decreased risk of dying from prostate cancer.
Although the specific mechanisms of exercise on prostate cancer are unknown, the researchers said exercise is known to influence a number of hormones hypothesized to stimulate prostate cancer, improve immune functioning, and reduce inflammation. The interaction of these factors is still being. studied and more research is forthcoming.
Tags: exercise, prostate cancer. research
Posted in cancer, exercise, prostate cancer | 1 Comment »
Friday, November 27th, 2009
A prospective study published in the British Journal of Cancer (October 27) concluded that men who are not sitting for most of the time during work or occupational activities and who walk or bicycle more than 30 minutes daily during their adult life have a reduced incidence of prostate cancer. In the study 45,887 men aged 45 to 79 were followed for 10 years. There were 2735 cases of prostate cancer and 190 deaths. There was an inverse relationship between levels of physical activity and prostate cancer. Those in the top quartile of lifetime physical activity decreased by 18% (95% confidence level) compared with those in the lowest quartile their risk of prostate cancer. Men who sat at work half of the time had a 20% reduction in prostate cancer risk over those who sat most of the time. There was also an inverse relationship between the incidence of prostate cancer among those with average physical activity at work and walking and bicycling duration. Thus, physical activity seems important for reducing the risk of prostate cancer.
Tags: exercise, Holistic Health Show, prostate cancer, research
Posted in cancer, exercise, prostate cancer | 1 Comment »
