Cancer
Breast Cancer Survivors Benefit From Practicing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MU Researchers Find
Survivors’ psychological and physiological health improved after training
COLUMBIA, Mo. –Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society. However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed. Now, University of Missouri researchers in the Sinclair School of Nursing say a meditation technique can help breast cancer survivors improve their emotional and physical well-being.
Blood protein EPO involved in origin and spread of cancer
Sweden - 5 December 2011- Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated that a growth hormone, PDGF-BB, and the blood protein EPO are involved in the development of cancer tumours and that they combine to help the tumours proliferate in the body. These new preclinical findings offer new potential for inhibiting tumour growth and bypassing problems of resistance that exist with many drugs in current use. The results are published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
An unexpected player in a cancer defense system
Sweden - 28 November 2011 - Researchers of Karolinska Institutet and the University of Cologne, Germany, have identified a new protein involved in a defense mechanism against cancer. The VCP/p97 complex is best known for its role in protein destruction and is involved in a type of familial dementia and ALS. In a novel study the researchers now describe how this complex also plays an important role in regulating the recruitment of the tumor suppressor protein 53BP1 to damaged DNA - suggesting an important role for VCP/p97 in our body's defense against cancer.
Van Andel Research Institute Findings Provide More Complete Picture of Kidney Cancer
Two recent studies distinguish cancer subtypes and provide promising new drug targets
Grand Rapids, Mich. (December 29, 2011) – Two recent studies by Van Andel Research Institute scientists are providing a foundation for a more complete understanding of distinct kidney cancer subtypes, which could pave the way for better treatments.
In a study published in Cancer Cell led by Kyle Furge, Ph.D. and Aikseng Ooi, Ph.D., researchers provide a more complete understanding of the biology of Type 2 papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC2), an aggressive type of kidney cancer with no effective treatment, which lays the foundation for the development of effective treatment strategies.
No higher risk of acute leukaemia in close relatives
Sweden - 15 December 2011] Parents, siblings and children of patients with the most common form of acute leukemia do not run a higher risk of developing the disease as was once believed, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.
Every year, some 400 people in Sweden are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common form of acute leukemia. Just like for other forms of the disease, the causes of AML are largely unknown and are probably a combination of hereditary and environmental factors. According to earlier studies, first-degree relatives (parents, siblings and children) of patients with AML run three times the normal risk of developing the disease.
Higher than expected proportion of “left sided” bowel cancers in screening programme
[Outcomes of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) in England after the first 1 million tests Online First 2011; doi 10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300843]
The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England is on track to cut bowel cancer deaths by its target of 16%, reveals an analysis of the first one million test results, published in Gut.
But the results also show a much higher proportion of cancers detected were left sided, suggesting that different strategies may need to be deployed to pick up disease on both sides of the body, as right sided cancers are thought to be more aggressive, say the authors.
Blasting Cancer from the Inside Out
TAU develops tumor destruction method that also creates immunity
Tel Aviv - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - Even when surgical tumor removal is combined with a heavy dose of chemotherapy or radiation, there's no guarantee that the cancer will not return. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University are strengthening the odds in favor of permanent tumor destruction — and an immunity to the cancer's return — with a new method of tumor removal.
Based on "tumor ablation," a process through which the tumor is destroyed inside the body, Prof. Yona Keisari of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Prof. Itzhak Kelson of TAU's Department of Physics and Astronomy have developed a radioactive wire, less than an inch long and about the width of a pin. When inserted into a solid tumor, the wire releases lethal radioactive atoms that irradiate the tumor from the inside out.
Readily Available and Affordable Cancer Prevention, Treatment and Pain Relief Interventions Could Decrease Deaths and Improve the Lives of Millions in Developing Countries
BOSTON – Over 2.4 million cancer deaths could be avoided each year in developing countries using prevention and treatment interventions that are affordable and could be made widely available, according to a new report being released Friday. And deaths due to children’s cancers are among those that could be curtailed most easily. Costs of treatment for certain common cancers are as little as $100 per course of treatment in developing nations.
BMJ: High fibre diet linked to reduced risk of colorectal cancer
Research: Dietary fibre, whole grains, and risk of colorectal cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies
Editorial: Fibre and prevention of chronic diseases
Eating a diet high in fibre, particularly from cereal and whole grains, is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, finds a new study integrating all available evidence published on bmj.com today.
Intake of dietary fibre and whole grains is known to help protect against cardiovascular disease, but its association with colorectal cancer risk is less clear. And, although the idea that dietary fibre reduces the risk of colorectal cancer has been around for nearly 40 years, studies attempting to explain the association have not had consistent results.
American Academy of Dermatology Association commends California for enacting the most restrictive indoor tanning law in the country
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (Oct. 9, 2011) —Today California Gov. Edmund G. Brown signed a bill into law that will prohibit the use of indoor tanning devices for all Californians under the age of 18.
“The American Academy of Dermatology Association applauds the state of California for being the first in the nation to prohibit the use of indoor tanning devices for all children and adolescents under the age of 18 — the most restrictive law in the country,” said dermatologist Ronald L. Moy, MD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology Association. “We commend Gov. Brown, Sen. Ted Lieu and the other members of the California legislature for their efforts to help reduce the future incidence of skin cancer by protecting youth from the dangers of indoor tanning.”
NIH Study Finds Broad Spectrum Of Cancer Risk For Organ Transplant Recipients in US
Organ transplant recipients in the United States have a high risk of developing 32 different types of cancer, according to a new study of transplant recipients which fully describes the range of malignancies that occur. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and their colleagues evaluated medical data from more than 175,700 transplant recipients, accounting for about 40 percent of all organ transplant recipients in the country. The results of this study appeared in the Nov. 2, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Leukemia and Brain Tumor Survivor will walk in Heroes of Hope Race for Brain Tumor Research on November 6, 2011
Veronica Cappalonga, 28, knows a lot about living with cancer. Diagnosed at age 6 with leukemia and at 22 with a malignant brain tumor, the Los Angeles (Mar Vista area) resident will walk in the Nov. 6 Heroes of Hope Race for Brain Tumor Research – not only to help raise funds, but also to show that survivors can fight these diseases with dignity.
Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute Collaborates with Leading Research Institute on Drug Development
New collaboration on clinical trials, personalized therapies, care could lead to more effective cancer treatment
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 18, 2011) – Cedars-Sinai has combined efforts with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Arizona so researchers may offer joint clinical trials and collaborate to develop personalized therapies that could lead to more effective cancer treatments.
Health Groups Issue Proposed Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines
Recommendations Aim to Reduce Risk without Reducing Benefits of Screening
ATLANTA – October 19, 2011 –The American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) have proposed new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. The proposed guidelines, which are now posted for public comment, generally advise that women reduce the number of tests they get over their lifetime to better ensure that they receive the benefits of testing while minimizing the risks. The proposed guidelines also include a preference for co-testing using the Pap test and HPV test for women age 30 and over.
American Cancer Society Report Finds Burden of Breast Cancer Deaths Shifts to Poor
ATLANTA – October 3, 2011 – A new report from the American Cancer Society finds that a slower and later decline in breast cancer death rates among women in poor areas has resulted in a shift in the highest breast cancer death rates from women residing in more affluent areas to those in poor areas. The authors point to screening rates as one potential factor. In 2008, only 51.4% of poor women ages 40 and older had undergone a screening mammogram in the past two years compared to 72.8% of non-poor women.
Study Finds Liver Cancer Increasing in Many Low Risk Countries, Decreasing in Many High Risk Countries
ATLANTA –October 6, 2011– A new study finds liver cancer incidence rates continue to increase in some low-risk parts of the world such as North America, and are decreasing in some of the highest risk countries of Asia. Despite this, the incidence rates in Asian countries remain twice as high as those in Africa and more than four times as high as rates in North America. The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention and appears early online.
