Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Friday, March 12th, 2010
In a report published in the March issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO) researchers concluded that lung cancer patients who are optimistic have a more favorable outcome than those with a pessimistic outlook. Building upon previous findings the researchers at the Mayo Clinic evaluated 534 adult lung cancer patients who had completed a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) around 18 years before being diagnosed with lung cancer between 1997 and 2006 in a retrospective study. The MMPI determined whether the patient was optimistic or pessimistic. All patients (men and women) who were classified as optimistic survived an average of six-months longer than the pessimistic group.The five-year survival rate for the optimistic group was 32.9% and for the other group 21.1%. This relationship was independent of smoking status, cancer stage, treatment, comorbidities, age and gender. More research is needed to validate this finding.
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Friday, February 12th, 2010
A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that along with stopping smoking a diet rich in soy lowers the risk of lung cancer in men. In addition to previously know soy isoflavones having anticancer properties in breast and prostate cancer the research now extends soy to lung cancer. The researches believe that men who use soy products may also participate in other activities that lower the risk of lung cancer. Although more studies are needed to comfirm these results their results show that non-smoking men who use soy products are less likely to develop lung cancer.
Tags: lung cancer, research, soy products
Posted in Uncategorized, lung cancer | No Comments »
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 »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
New research to be published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism discussed a novel way to halt or reverse rheumatoid arthritis by using am imitation of a suicide molecule that floats undetected into immune cells that are responsible for this type of arthritis. Using this approach the researchers were able to stop the disease in 75% of the study mice without any observed toxic effects as is the case with current drugs. The mechanism is that healthy immune cells usually die after attacking an invading virus or bacteria. However, in rheumatoid arthritis the immune cells do not die but live on and go rogue proliferating in the blood, building up in the joints and invading cartilage and bone.
Researchers discovered that immune cells in rheumatoid arthritis are low in a critical molecule (Bim) that cause the immune cells to self- destruct. To correct this fault they developed an imitation of this molecule (called BH2) that was injected into study mice with rheumatoid arthritis that caused the immune cells to destruct, joint swelling was reduced and bone destruction decreased. Thus, they concluded that the molecule could prevent the disease and trigger a remission in those who have it. Further research is planned to develop a more precise method of delivering the drug.
Tags: halt progression, immune cells, research, rheumatoid arthritis
Posted in Uncategorized, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis | No Comments »
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Research reported in the BMJ formerly called the British Medical Journal within the last two weeks reported that people with early lung cancer who quit smoking can double their chances of survival if they quit smoking. Previous data from 10 studies were analyzed to determine how long smokers survived after being diagnoses with early lung cancer. Those who continued smoking had a 29 to 33 percent chance of surviving five years but those who quit had a 63 to 70 percent chance of surviving 5 years. Lung cancer is the top cancer worldwide and the prognosis is usually poor. When diagnosed early the prognosis is much better.
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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 »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
A research study in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry reported that Calcitrol, an active form of Vitamin D, was found to induce a tumor suppressing protein that could inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. In the study at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, the researchers built upon previous research that concluded that increased serum levels of Vitamin D were associated with an improved prognosis in breast cancer patients. This study looked at the factors that determine the effect of calcitrol on inhibiting breast cancer growth and looked specifically at the protein involved in this process. They concluded that the results provide an important process in which vitamin D may work to reduce the growth of the breast cancer cells and form a basis for a design of new anticancer agents that can target the protein.
Tags: breast cancer, Calcitrol. vitamin D, research
Posted in Uncategorized, Vitamin and Minerals, breast cancer, research | 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 »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
A study published in the February, 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research looked at the incidence of depression among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The study involved 200 arthritis patients from 4 rheumatology clinics with 8 doctors participating. The patient visits were audio-taped and there was a second interview after the visit to assess symptoms of depression.
The researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that about 11% of the patients had moderately severe to severe depression symptoms. Only 20% of these patients discussed their depression with their rheumatologist and when they did it was most often initiated by the patient and not the doctor and the discussion was short. Based upon these preliminary findings the researchers recommended that rheumatologist screen arthritis patients for symptoms of depression.
Tags: depression, research, rheumatoid arthritis
Posted in Uncategorized, arthritis | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
After 7 months of scientific and clinical studies the President of Bejing’s Chaoyang Hospital in Bejing during the last week announced a new herbal remedy called “Jin Hua Qing Gen Fang” as effective in treating A/H1N1 flu. He said it shortens the length of time patients have a fever and improves their respiratory system with no noted harmful side effects to patients. It was developed by a team of over 120 medical specialists at a cost of about 1.47 million U.S. dollars and was used in both scientific and clinical studies. Studies included experiments on more that 4,000 mice and clinical studies on 410 patients with A/H1N1 flu. It was picked from more than 100 classic anti-flu prescriptions based upon Chinese herbal medicine.
It is about 1/4th the cost of Tamiflu the current treatment of choice that was recommended by the World Health Organization. The goal is to make this available to all as an alternative to current drugs.
Tags: A/H1N1 flu, Jin Hua Qing Gen Fang, new herbal remedy, research, Tamiflu
Posted in Uncategorized, drugs, herbs, research | 2 Comments »
