Archive for the ‘Cancer’ Category
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Researchers publishing in the June 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that those with higher levels of vitamin B6 and the essential amino acid methionine that is found in most protein had a lower risk of lung cancer including current or former smokers. The study analyzed blood samples from 385,747 participants between 1992 and 2000 and by 2006, 899 lung cancer cases were identified. These were matched by country, sex, date of birth, and date of blood collection with 1,770 control participants.
After analyzing the incidence rate of lung cancer within the total cohort, the researchers found a lower risk of lung cancer among those with higher levels of vitamin B6 (comparing the fourth vs first quartile of B6 levels) and also with higher levels of methionine. These same results were seen in those who were never, former or current smokers. The researchers concluded “results suggest that above median serum measures of both B6 and methionine, assessed on average 5 years prior to disease onset, are associated with a reduction of at least 50 percent on the risk of developing lung cancer. An additional association for serum levels of folate was present that when combined with B6 and methionine, was associated with a two-thirds lower risk of lung cancer.”
Tags: lung cancer, methionine, research, vitamin B6
Posted in Cancer, Vitamin and Minerals, lung cancer, research | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 18th, 2010
A study to be reported in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) concluded that bevacizumab may cause kidney damage as a result of severe loss of protein from the kidney into the urine. Conducting a review of published randomized controlled clinical trials to assess the risk of severe proteinuria in patients taking bevacizumab tresearchers reviewed data from 16 studies comprising 12,268 patients with a variety of tumors. Results showed that severe proteinuria occured in 2.2% of patients taking bevacizumab and when compared to patients taking chemotherapy alone patients taking bevacizumad combined with chemotherapy had a 4.79-fold increase risk of developing severe proteinuria and a 7.78-fold increase of developing nephrotic syndrome–a group of symptoms including protein in the urine, low blood protein levels, high cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, and swelling.
Those taking higher doses and those with kidney cancer had the highest risk of developing proteinuria when taking bevacizumab. More information is available at: American Society of Nephrology (2010,June 12). Popular cancer drug can cause kidney damage, study finds. Science Daily Retreived June 13, 2010 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100610171708.htm
In a second study in the online British Medical Journal researchers looked at bevacizumab to determine if it is a safe and effective treatment for wet AMD, the leading cause of visual loss in people over 50. They compared the group taking bevacizumad to those receiving standard National Health Service care (NHS) in England. Although not approved for eye problems it is currently being used as a cheaper alternative to the approved ranibizumab to prevent wet age related macular degeneration (AMD) by some people.
One hundred thirty one patients with wet AMD were randomly assigned to either bevacizumad injections at 6 week intervals or to standard NHS care. Visual acuity was measured at the start of the study and monitored over 54 weeks. Results showed that at one year 32% of the subjects in the bevacizumad group gained 15 or more letters from their baseline acuity compared with 3% in the control group. In addition, those who lost fewer than 15 letters from baseline were significantly higher in the bevacizamad group (91%) than the control (67%). There were also fewer severe adverse effects in this group. Although this study shows the drug may be effective for eye problems based upon these findings, much more testing should be carried out to determine its safety it would seem.
Tags: AMD, bevacizumad, kidney damage, proteinuria, research
Posted in Cancer, research | 5 Comments »
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Research published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in December, 2009 reported that in lab tests peach and plum extracts killed even the most aggressive type of breast cancer cells while not harming normal cells. Two phenol compounds in the fruit were responsible for the destruction of the cancer cells. These were chlorogenic and neochlorogenic found in most fruits. However, the stone fruits such as plums and peaches have especially high levels of these compounds. Two commercial varieties of the fruit were used in extract form–the “Rich Lady” peach and the “Black Splendor” plum. The researchers also said laboratory tests were carried out that confirmed the compound prevented cancer from growing in animals given the compounds.
Tags: Cancer, cancer cell destruction, extract, fruit, plum and peach, research
Posted in Cancer | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on May 26 concluded that shark cartilage showed no benefit for advanced non-small cell lung cancer when combined with chemotherapy and radiation. In this Phase III study 379 newly diagnosed untreated Stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients from 53 sites in the United States and Canada were enrolled between June 2000 and February 2006. Using a randomized design patients were given either shark cartilage or a placebo, both in the form of a liquid. Subjects drank 4 ounces of the extract twice daily during and following standard treatment. With a median 3.7 years follow up, researchers did not find a significant difference between those receiving the shark cartilage (14.4 months) and those receiving a placebo (15.6 months). The lead researcher concluded ” these results demonstrate that AE-941 is not an effective therapeutic agent for lung cancer.”
Tags: lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, placebo, research, shark cartilage, Stage III, survival
Posted in Cancer, lung cancer, research | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 28th, 2010
A research paper to be presented at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology on June 7 and now online at www.ASCO.org concluded that breast and prostate cancer patients who exercise regularly before and after cancer treatment report a better quality of life and less fatigue. Researchers at Henry Ford Cancer Center and Henry Ford Heart and Vascular Institute developed a program known as ExCITE (Exercise and Cancer Integrative Therapies and Education). This program individualizes exercise programs for patients receiving cancer treatment and they can exercise at the Henry Ford Fitness Center or at home depending upon their stage of treatment treatment.
At present 30 female breast cancer patients and 20 prostate cancer patients between age 35 and 80 are part of the study. All were newly diagnoses when admitted to the study and were followed during and for 1 year following completion of their cancer treatment.
The patients exercise capacity, skeletal muscle strength and endurance were measured before the program started. In addition, general blood work, metabolic screens, bone density and inflammatory biomarkers were obtained before the program started.
Subjects were offered exercise and diet recommendations based upon their baseline exercise tolerance, weight, overall health and type of cancer treatment. For patients having hot flashes, nausea/vomiting, insomnia and neuropathy resulting from the cancer treatment acupuncture was used. Patients reported feeling better and having less fatigue as a result of the program that is ongoing.
Tags: breast cancer, Cancer, enercise, protstate cancer, research
Posted in Cancer, breast cancer, exercise, prostate cancer | 19 Comments »
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Researchers at the University of Illinois reported in Gynecologic Oncology that hens fed a flaxseed-enriched diet for one year had a significantly lower rate of late-stage ovarian tumors than a control group that did not have the enriched diet. However, the hens fed the flaxseed-enriched diet did not have a lower incidence of ovarian cancer than the control group. These results are important because currently most women are stage 3 or 4 when diagnosed with ovarian cancer and “metastases that accompany late stage ovarian cancer are the main cause of death from the disease.” Thus, there is currently a high death rate from ovarian cancer. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of flaxseed in inhibiting the formation of colon, breast, skin, and lung cancer and testing flaxseed for ovarian cancer was a next step. These finding should lead to clinical trials with flaxseed as a chemosuppressant of ovarian cancer in women.
Tags: flaxseed, hens, late stage cancer, ovarian cancer, research
Posted in Cancer, ovarian cancer, research | 3 Comments »
Friday, May 14th, 2010
Some parvoviruses have been shown to kill tumor cells without harming healthy tissue and have been tested previously in cancer therapy.
Using a particular parvovirus, the parvovirus H-1, researchers at the German Cancer Research Center studied with rats who received brain tumor cells by implantation. When the brain tumors reached a specific size the rodents were given parvoviruses either by direct injection into the tumor or into the blood stream. In rodents injected directly into the tumor the tumor shrank visibly after three days and disappeared in eight of the 12 rodents treated. They survived without any symptoms. The untreated rodent controls had severe disease symptoms within 3 weeks following the tumor implantation.
In the rodents who received injections into the blood stream six of nine rodents showed regression of the tumor and all treated rodents survived for one year with no signs of side effects.
There was no infection-related damage in the nervous tissue surrounding the tumor in the treated rodents and the virus did not spread to the whole organism. Parvovirus DNA was found in all organs after several days following transfer but that only lasted for a short time. Despite the viruses infecting healthy tissue they did not reproduce as they did in the tumor tissue where they reproduced and the viral protein production was detected. In rats that did not have tumors, the virus did not reproduce. The researchers concluded that the presence of cancer cells seem to be necessary for the parvovirus to reproduce. They believe these viruses are suitable for use in cancer treatment. More information is available at:
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (2010, May 5) Viruses effective against brain cancer in animals. Human trials set to start. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 9, 2010., from http://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2010/05/100504095106.htm
Tags: brain cancer, parvovirus, research
Posted in Cancer, Uncategorized, brain cancer, research | 3 Comments »
Friday, April 30th, 2010
Researchers from Mayo Clinic reported at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that people who have a higher intake of vitamin K in their diet have a lower risk of developing Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The study enrolled 603 newly diagnosed Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma patients and 1007 matched cancer-free “controls.” They completed a food questionnaire about their usual intake of 120 food items two years prior to their cancer diagnosis (subjects) or at the time of their enrollment into the program (controls). They were also asked about supplements used and vitamin K was estimated from this data. Based upon the data, the risk of developing Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma was about 45% lower for participants who had vitamin K intakes in the top quartile (>108 ug/day) compared to subjects whose intake was in the bottom quartile (<39 ug/day). This association was consistent when accounting for age, gender, education, obesity, smoking history, alcohol use and intake of foods with high amounts of antioxidants.
Although the association between dietary intake of vitamin K and development of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma was shown, the use of vitamin K supplements showed that increasing intake of vitamin K from supplements did protect against this type of cancer but there was a point beyond which there was no reduction in risk. They suggested that taking high does of supplements are unlikely to be helpful and that the protective effect observed may be due to vitamin K or to some other dietary or lifestyle factors beyond the scope of this study. However, these data add to the literature that supports a diet with lots of green leafy vegetables that prevent many cancers and other diseases.
Tags: Mayo Clinic, non-hodgkins lymphoma, nutrition, research, vitamin K
Posted in Cancer, nutrition, research | 3 Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
A paper recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry discusses a new cancer drug called OSU-CG12 that is in the experimental stages. It deprives cancer cells of sugar (energy) that they need when they grow rapidly and outstripe their blood supply leaving them short of energy. The principal investigator, Ching-Shih Chen, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Internal Medicine, and Urology at Ohio State University said this “energy restriction may offer a powerful new strategy for treating cancer because it targets a survival mechanism used by many types of cancers.”
The researchers started with a drug developed for type II diabetes that also showed anticancer properties in laboratory experiments called ciglitazone. They altered the structure of the ciglitazone molecule producing OSU-CG12 that increased its activity. Using prostate cancer and breast cancer cell lines they showed that OSU-CG12 was 10 times more effective at killing cancer cells than ciglitazone. It was also 10 times more effective than a second drug, resveratrol, a natural product found in grapes and red wine having weak anticancer activity that also used a restricting energy mechanism with cancer cells. In addition to restricting glucose from entering cancer cells, OSU-CG12 suppressed the cells ability to metabolize the sugar. Deprived of energy, the cancer cells begin consuming themselves accompanied by other biochemical events that lead to the death of the cells by a natural process called apoptosis. Research continues to modify and enhance the efficacy of OSU-CG12.
Posted in Cancer, breast cancer, drugs, natural products, prostate cancer, research | 10 Comments »
