Cancer
City-dwellers have higher risk of late-stage cancer than rural residents
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People who live in urban areas are more likely to develop late-stage cancer than those who live in suburban and rural areas. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the June 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study’s results indicate a need for more effective urban-based cancer screening and awareness programs.
Diagnosing cancer at an early stage can improve outcomes. Studies show certain groups, such as low income populations, are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at later stages. While some studies have also found that geography can affect the timing of cancer diagnoses, research on rural-urban disparities has produced mixed and conflicting findings.
To investigate the rural and urban differences in late-stage cancer diagnoses, Sara L. McLafferty, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois and Fahui Wang, Ph.D., of Louisiana Sate University analyzed data from the Illinois State Cancer Registry from 1998 to 2002. The investigators noted that Illinois is an appropriate area to study because it encompasses a diverse range of geographic regions from the densely populated Chicago metropolitan area to low-density, remote rural areas. They assessed late-stage cancer diagnoses of the four major types of cancer (breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate) throughout the state, comparing data from cities with those from less-populated regions.
Major Statin Study Reveals Several Important Findings for Reducing Prostate Cancer and Disease
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Statins, drugs widely prescribed to lower cholesterol, may have protective effects on prostate health. This large Mayo Clinic cohort study looked at three different aspects of urological health – prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction and prostate enlargement. Initial research results are being presented April 25–30, 2009, at the American Urological Association (AUA) meeting in Chicago.
VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources, including excerpts from an interview with Drs. St. Sauver, Karnes and Breau describing the research, are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog. These materials are also subject to embargo, but may be accessed in advance by journalists for incorporation into stories. The password for this post is password Statin049.
These Mayo Clinic study findings came from data in the Olmsted County Study of Urinary Health Status among Men, a large cohort study of men living in Olmsted County, Minn. This study has followed 2,447 men ages 40 to 79 from 1990 to the present to assess various urologic outcomes among aging men.
Scientists Discover How to Improve Immune Response to Cancer
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A team of scientists at The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research (CFIBCR) at Princess Margaret Hospital and international collaborators have discovered how to trigger an improved immune response to cancer that could be included in new clinical trials that use a patient’s own cells to destroy tumours.
The findings, published online today in Nature Medicine (DOI: 10.1038/nm.1953), demonstrate the tantalizing potential of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, says principal investigator Dr. Pamela Ohashi, co-director, CFIBCR.
In the lab study, the scientists combined interleukin-7 (IL-7) – a key component of the immune system – with a viral vaccine to improve the ability of the cells of the immune system to attack tumours. The result was clear: The combination boosted immunity to tumours.
Hormone therapy lowers colon cancer risk
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Hormone replacement therapy may raise a woman’s risk of breast cancer and heart disease but it lowers her risk of colon cancer, according to two studies released on Wednesday.
The studies presented at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research further complicate the debate about HRT, used to relieve the effects of menopause including hot flashes and insomnia.
Millions of women stopped taking HRT when a Women’s Health Initiative study showed in 2002 that the hormones raised the risk of stroke, heart disease and breast cancer. Hardest hit was Wyeth’s Premarin, which is soon to be acquired by Pfizer Inc.
Young Volunteers Help Close Social Gap in Cancer Care
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The diagnosis of cancer is a jarring experience. Patients face a battery of diagnostic tests, clinic visits, specialist consultations and intense treatments that drastically affect their quality of life. Oncology healthcare professionals work tirelessly to meet the growing demands of cancer, but often gaps exist in the social aspects of cancer care.
Addressing this gap is a passionate, specially trained group of volunteers involved in the Healing Beyond the Body Program (HBB) at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH). Their role is to connect with the patients in the various clinics and provide support and information by sharing practical treatment tips, helping to prepare for clinic visits and just by being there in the waiting room before a chemotherapy session.
Duke Chen is an undergraduate life science student at the University of Toronto who enjoys spending time with patients and is pursuing a career in health care as a result of his time spent in the HBB program
Natural protein may halt colorectal cancer’s spread
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Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center researchers in Milwaukee have learned that a protein, CXCL12, that normally controls intestinal cell movement, has the potential to halt colorectal cancer spreading. These studies represent a potential mechanism by which CXL12 may slow cancer spreading. Controlling this process could lead to new biological therapies for colorectal cancers.
“Colorectal cancer ranks third in cancer-related deaths in the United States in 2008,” says principal investigator Michael Dwinell, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. “Finding therapies to prevent its spread to secondary organs would increase patient prognosis considerably.” Luke Drury, a graduate student in the interdisciplinary program for biomedical research at the Medical College, was his research associate. Their abstract will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Denver, April 21.
Cancer “culprits” in tobacco smoke revealed
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Scientists have detected two substances in tobacco smoke that directly cause lung cancer, and they said on Sunday the finding may help one day predict which smokers will develop the disease.
They said people with high concentrations in their urine of a nicotine byproduct called NNAL had double the risk of developing lung cancer compared to smokers with lower NNAL concentrations in their urine.
And smokers who had high urine levels of both NNAL and another nicotine by-product called cotinine had more than eight times the risk of lung cancer compared to smokers with the lowest concentrations of these two compounds.
Homeopathy appears compatible with cancer therapy
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There is limited evidence that homeopathic remedies ease the side effects of cancer treatments, but they at least seem to cause no serious adverse effects or drug interactions, according to a report published Tuesday.
In a review of eight clinical trials that included 664 cancer patients, researchers found preliminary evidence that certain homeopathic remedies may lessen some cancer therapy side effects. However, lead researcher Dr. Sosie Kassab, of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital in the UK, and co-investigators stress that these trials need to be replicated before any recommendations can be made.
One study found that topical calendula—an extract from marigolds—may be helpful for skin inflammation from radiation therapy for breast cancer. Another suggested that a mouthwash called Traumeel S—a mix of various plant extracts and minerals—can help ease treatment-related inflammation in the mouth.
Developing New Treatments for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
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Brian Rowan, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Research for the Tulane Cancer Center, is studying treatment options for an aggressive type of breast cancer that is prevalent in New Orleans among African-American women—triple-negative breast cancer. The term triple-negative refers to the fact that these tumors do not have estrogen, progesterone or HER2 receptors, effectively eliminating hormonal and targeted herceptin therapy from the list of possible treatment options. This limits therapeutic choices for these patients to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Rowan is studying a therapy that targets a protein called Src kinase, which is required for tumor growth in triple negative breast cancer. Rowan and his team are working with Kinex Pharmaceuticals in Buffalo, N.Y. to test a new Src inhibitor called KX-01. Phase I trials for this new drug are complete and preliminary results indicate that KX-01 kills triple-negative breast cancer cells in both Petri dishes and in animal tumor models.
“KX-01 in combination with chemotherapy kills even more cancer cells,” said Rowan.
Expert Advice on Prostate Cancer Screenings
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Recent studies have questioned the wisdom of getting regular tests for prostate cancer. Tulane University School of Medicine prostate cancer expert Dr. Oliver Sartor is available to talk about the latest treatments for prostate cancer and who should continue to seek annual tests for the deadly cancer.
Sartor is sought after by patients across the country because of his expertise in hard-to-treat cases and cutting-edge therapies at the forefront of cancer research. “Patients come to me because I deal with difficult cases, particularly those that have failed initial therapies,” Sartor says. “However, I am increasingly being consulted on early-stage cases to help patients understand and balance the risks and benefits of their therapeutic options.”
Multiple Sclerosis Associated with Lower Cancer Risk
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A new study shows that people with multiple sclerosis may be at a lower risk for cancer overall, but at a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as brain tumors and bladder cancer. The study is published in the March 31, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers looked at the medical records of 20,000 people with multiple sclerosis and 204,000 people without the diagnosis. After 35 years, they found that the people with MS had a decreased overall risk of cancer by 10 percent compared to people who did not have the disease. The result was more pronounced in women. However, for people with MS the risk for certain cancers, such as brain tumors and bladder and other urinary organ cancers, increased by up to 44 percent compared to people without MS.
Scientists also evaluated the parents of people with MS to determine whether there was a possible genetic link. They found that there was no overall increased or decreased risk of cancer among either mothers or fathers of those with MS, compared to parents of people without MS.
New cancer cash has little impact on UK survivals
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Britain’s state-run health service has failed to boost survival rates for cancer patients substantially, despite tripling investment in cancer care over the past decade.
A major study published on Friday found survival rates have improved only marginally since a national cancer plan was launched in England in 2000.
The disappointing outcome will raise fresh questions about whether Britain’s monopoly National Health Service—watched closely by governments around the world, including the new U.S. administration—has the right system to help cancer patients.
Ovarian changes may link obesity and infertility
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Obese women have alterations in the environment around the ovary before they ovulate that appear to play a role in the well-documented association between obesity and reduced fertility, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
“Characteristics of eggs are influenced by the environment in which they develop within the ovary,” lead author Dr. Rebecca Robker, from Adelaide University, Australia, said in a statement. “Our study found that obese women have abnormally high levels of fats and inflammation in the fluid surrounding their eggs, which can impact an egg’s developmental potential.”
A new measure for the malignancy of melanoma
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Every tumor, starting from a size of a few millimeters, depends on a supply of nutrients and oxygen. Therefore, using special growth factors, it induces vascular wall cells of neighboring blood vessels to sprout new capillaries in order to get connected to the blood circulation.
This process called angiogenesis involves a number of different growth factors and their respective receptors on the vascular wall cells. The departments of Prof. Dr. Hellmut Augustin and Prof. Dirk Schadendorf of DKFZ and Mannheim Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg have investigated the role of a growth factor called angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) in malignant melanoma. The docking station of Ang2 is the receptor Tie2 on the surface of endothelial cells, which form the inner lining of blood vessels. Together with other signaling molecules, Ang2 induces sprouting of endothelial cells and the formation of new capillaries.
When measuring the Ang2 concentrations in blood samples of melanoma patients, the investigators discovered that larger tumors and more advanced disease stages correlate with high levels of Ang2. If one tracks the Ang2 levels of individual patients over time, a rise parallel to disease progression can be observed. In contrast, patients who have lived with the disease for a long time, i.e., whose disease is not or only slightly progressive, have lower Ang2 levels. The scientists found out that Ang2 concentration in blood serum is a more precise indicator of the progression and stage of the disease than previously used biomarkers.
Red and white wine both raise breast cancer risk
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It seems that both red and white wine are “equal offenders” when it comes to increasing the risk of breast cancer, according to a study published today.
“We were interested in teasing out red wine’s effects on breast cancer risk. There is reason to suspect that red wine might have beneficial effects based on previous studies of heart disease and prostate cancer,” Dr. Polly Newcomb, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, noted in a hospital statement.
“The general evidence is that alcohol consumption overall increases breast cancer risk, but the other studies made us wonder whether red wine might in fact have some positive value,” she explained.
