A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology concluded that rats given regular multi-vitamin and mineral supplements showed a significantly lower risk of developing colon cancer when exposed to carcinogens.

In the study rats were fed a high-fat diet (20% fat) over a 32 week period and were divided into 6 groups that were exposed to different combinations of supplements and carcinogens: the colon carcinogenesis induced in the study rats has characteristic mimicking human colon cancer. Researchers found that the rats given a high-fat plus low fiber diet and exposed to carcinogens developed precancerous lesions. whereas those given a similar intervention but also given daily multivitamin and mineral supplements, had a significant reduction (84%) in the formation of pre-cancerous lesions and did not develop tumors. The researchers concluded that multivitamin and mineral supplements synergistically contribute to the cancer chemopreventive potential, and hence, regular supplements of multi-vitamins and minerals could reduce the risk of colon cancer.”

An invitro study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research concluded that “caffeine derivatives in mate tea not only induced death in human colon cancer cells, they also reduced important markers of inflammation.” Inflammation can trigger the progression of cancer. In the study, researchers isolated, purified, and then treated human colon cancer cells with caffeoylquinic acid (CQA) from mate tea and as they increased the CQA concentration cancer cells died as a result of apoptosis. In other words, “cancer cells self-destruct because its DNA has been damaged.” The researchers identified the mechanism that led to cell death and have completed a follow up study in which they compare the development of colon cancer in rats that drank mate tea as their only source of water with a control group that drank only water. These results will be published soon.
The researcher concluded “We believe there’s ample evidence to support drinking mate tea for its bioactive benefits especially if you have reason to be concerned about colon cancer. Mate tea bags are available in health food stores and are increasingly available in large supermarkets.”

A new study published in the journal Carcinogenesis concluded that in both cell line and mouse model studies, grape seed extract killed head and neck squamous carcinoma cells without harming healthy cells. Although heard of less often than breast, prostate and lung cancer, this cancer will kill nearly 12,000 people this year in the United States and over half-a-million people worldwide. The researcher says “cancer cells are fast growing. Not only that =, but they are necessarily fast growing. When conditions exist in which they can’t grow they die.” Grape seed extract produces the condition that are unfavorable to their growth. The research showed that grape seed extract damages the DNA of cancer cells and also stops the pathways that allow repair. And at the same time there was no toxicity to the mice. The researcher said that cancer cells have a lot of defective pathways and are vulnerable if you target them. However, this is not true of healthy cells. The researchers plan further research using clinical trials.

A new study published in an advanced online edition of Tobacco Control concluded that nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) such as nicotine patches and nicotine gum used to assist with smoking cessation do not seem to be effective long-term even when used in combination with counseling.
In the prospective study researchers followed 787 adult smokers who had recently stopped smoking. Surveyed over three time periods, 2001-2002, 2003-2004, and 2005-2006, subjects were asked whether or not they used nicotine replacement therapy in the form of a patch, gum, inhaler, or spray to help them quit, and if so, how long they had used the product. Subjects were also asked if they had joined a quit-smoking program, or received help from professions such as a physician or counselor.
Results showed that for each time period studied, almost 1/3 of the recent quitters had reported a relapse. There was no difference in the relapse rate of those using NRT for more than 6 weeks with or without professional counseling and no difference in successful quitting using NRT for heavy or light smokers. The researchers xoncluded “This study shows that using NTR is no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes in the long-term than trying to quit on one’s own. “

Research published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology questioned whether or not chlorophyll could prevent cancer and concluded yes and no. They found that when tested against modest carcinogen exposure levels most often found in the environment, chlorophyll from green vegetables offered protection. However, in very high carcinogen exposure levels it actually increased the numbers of tumors.
In the study, 12,360 rainbow trout were used as lab models instead of mice. In one part, the trout were exposed to fairly moderate levels of a known carcinogen but also given chlorophyll that reduced their number of liver tumors by 29-64 percent and stomach tumors by 24 to 45 percent. However, in another part of the study using much higher and unrealistic dosages of the same carcinogen the use of chlorophyll caused a significant increase in the numbers of tumors. Thus, at the lower carcinogen doses and cancer rates relevant to humans, chlorophyll was very protective. However, the outcome of chlorophyll protection in major target organs is dependent upon carcinogen doses. The researchers concluded that the “results derived at high carcinogen doses and high tumor responses may be irrelevant for human intervention>”

Recent research published in the journal Urology concluded that noise-cancelling headphones playing classical music may reduce the anxiety and pain of a prostate biopsy that is often used to diagnose prostate cancer.
Eighty eight men were randomly assigned in the study to one of three groups. One group had no headphones, a second had noise-cancelling headphones without music, and the third had the headphones and listened to Bach concertos. Blood pressure was taken on all before and after a trans-rectal biopsy, an intrusive procedure. Among study participants, the diastolic blood pressure remained elevated after the procedure compared to before for both groups with no musical intervention. However, the men who wore the headphones and listened to Bach had no increase in blood pressure and reported less pain as measured on a questionnaire. Anxiety often causes a rise in diastolic blood pressure. This procedure is simple and easy to apply for those needing a prostate biopsy.

In a new study published in the online edition of Nature researchers conclude that it may be possible to block the formation of secondary cancers in the body. These cancers that have metastasized are often the main cause of complications and death. Instead of focusing on the primary cancer the researchers looked at the development of the metastasized cancers and found a protein that plays a major role in their development. They also found that the secondary cancers could be prevented by blocking the protein.

They found a protein, periostin, in niches where metastases develop and without this protein the cancer stem cells cannot initiate the metastasis but instead, disappear or remain dormant. Periostin, that exists naturally as part of the extracellular matrix is only active in certain organs in adults including the mammary glands, bones, skin and intestine. It seems to play a role in the environment needed by cancer stem cells to develop metastasis because mice that were bred to lack the protein were resistant to metastasis. Researchers said “We developed an antibody that adheres to this protein, making it inoperative, and we are hoping it this way to be able to block the process of metastasis formation.” The researchers found few side effects from blocking the periostin in mice but caution that the results, although encouraging, cannot be assured to be effective in humans without further research.

New Research published in a recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that the malignancy-risk gene signature was associated with overall survival (OS) and was also a prognostic and predictive indicator for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). . The gene signature has also been useful in predicting breast cancer risk and consists of numerous proliferative genes.
In their research, they hypothesized that the malignancy-risk gene signature would have high prognostic and predictive value for early stage NSCLC. They studied the hypothesis by using 3 different NSCLC microarray datasets ranging in number from 117 to 442. An overall malignancy risk score was generated by principal component analysis to determine the prognostic and predictive value of the signature using 2 sided statistical tests.
The malignancy-risk gene signature was statistically associated with overall survival (OS) at the .001 level for the NSCLC patients. Validation with the two additional datasets demonstrated that the malignancy-risk score had prognostic and predictive values. Of the patients not receiving chemotherapy (ACT) those with a low malignancy-risk score had increased overall survival compared with those having a high malignancy-risk score at the .007 level of probability and at the .01 level for the two independent data sets.
The researchers concluded that “the malignancy-risk gene signature was associated with OS and was a prognostic and predictive indicator.”

A new study published in the online Journal of Women’s Health added to the discussion on drinking wine/alcohol and breast cancer risk by concluding that drinking red wine in moderation might reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer in women. Contradicting the widely accepted belief that all alcohol increases the body’s estrogen levels and fosters the growth of cancer cells the researchers found a chemical in the skin and seeds of red grapes that slightly lowered estrogen levels while elevating testosterone among premenopausal women drinking about eight ounces of red wine nightly for a month. White wine did not contain the same phytochemicals and results. These results varies from a study a year ago that concluded that women had a 15% increased risk of breast cancer if they drank more than 3 drinks a week.
In the study 36 women were randomly assigned to drink either Chabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay daily for a month.Then the wine was switched in the two groups for the second month. Hormone levels were evaluated twice monthly through blood collection. Results showed the results discussed above.
More research is needed to confirm this small study and determine how safe red wine is in reducing cancer risk.

Research published in Blood concluded that a compound found in fish oil kills cancer causing stem cells in the spleen and bone marrow of mice by activating a gene-p53-in leukemia stem cells that program the cell’s own death. “p53 is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates the responses to DNA damage and maintains genomic stability” according to the researcher. Killing the stem cells is important because they can divide and and produce more cancer cells.
The compound from fish oil that seems to target leukemia stem cells is delta-12-protagiandin J3, or D12-PGJ3. It killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in mice.
Current treatment for leukemia is unable to kill the leukemia stem cells and the patient must continue to take medications or the disease will relapse because stem cells are resistant to the drugs. Thus, this is an important discovery.
During the study, researchers injected each mouse with about 600 nanograms of D12-PGJ3 daily for a week. Results showed that the mice were completely cured, the blood count was normal, and the spleen returned to a normal size. There was no relapse of the disease.
The researchers are currently studying whether or not the compound can be used to treat terminal stages of CML because currently there are no drugs available that can treat this stage of the disease.