Cancer
Cancer incidence and mortality drops among American men and women, according to annual report
|
|
The overall incidence of cancer and death due to cancer dropped for the first time in men and women in the United States, according to a report published in the November 25 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Each year the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries provide a report on current cancer trends in the United States. Because smoking accounts for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths nationwide, this year’s report includes state-by-state information on lung cancer incidence and mortality, as well as on trends of tobacco use and control.
The overall decline in incidence and mortality is due largely to decreases in the three most common cancers in men (prostate, lung, and colorectal) and in two of the three most common in women (breast and colorectal cancer). Although lung cancer mortality in women has stabilized nationally since 2003, the only state to show a statistically significant decline was California. By contrast, lung cancer incidence or mortality increased in 18 states, most of which are in the Midwest or South.
Iressa Proves Just as Effective as Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer
|
|
Gefitinib, also known as Iressa, the once-promising targeted therapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has proven as effective as chemotherapy as a second-line therapy for the disease with far fewer side effects, according to an international Phase III clinical trial, led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
However, in contrast to earlier Iressa findings, the study showed that there was no additional survival benefit for patients who expressed an elevated level of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation.
The Iressa in Non-small cell lung cancer Trial Evaluating REsponse and Survival versus Taxotere (INTERST) study, published today in The Lancet, represents a paradigm shift for the treatment of the disease, according to lead author Edward S. Kim, M.D., assistant professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Thoracic Head and Neck Medical Oncology. It marks the first time in lung cancer that an oral pill has proven as effective as chemotherapy in a head-to-head trial.
Latinas more likely to regret breast cancer treatment decisions
|
|
Latina women who prefer speaking Spanish are more likely than other ethnic groups to express regret or dissatisfaction with their breast cancer treatment, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Despite receiving similar treatment, Latina women were 5.6 times more likely than white women to report high levels of dissatisfaction and regret about their breast cancer treatment decision.
The researchers found that Latinas and other ethnic groups had similar levels of involvement with their doctor in deciding the treatment plan. But Latinas were more likely to say they would have preferred to be more involved in the decision making.
Cancer survival rates impact type of Web communities used by patients
|
|
Online support communities for high survival rate cancers contain a greater amount of emotional support content than online support communities for cancers with low survival rates, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
The researchers also found that support communities for low survival rate cancers contain a greater amount of informational support content than online support communities for high survival rate cancers.
“Online communities have become an important resource for individuals seeking emotional and informational social support related to cancer,” says senior author Caroline Richardson, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System.
No Protective Effect on Cancer from Long-Term Vitamin E or Vitamin C Supplementation
|
|
Data from a large-scale prevention trial presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research show no protective effect from vitamin E on prostate cancer or vitamin C supplementation on total cancer.
The Physicians’ Health Study II is a large-scale, long-term, randomized clinical trial that included 14,641 physicians who were at least 50 years old at enrollment. These physicians were given 400 IU of vitamin E every other day or its placebo, or 500 mg of vitamin C daily or its placebo.
Researchers followed these patients for up to 10 years for the development of cancer with high rates of completion of annual questionnaires, and the confirmation of reported cancer endpoints.
Genetics of aging and cancer resistance
|
|
In the November 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Kenneth Dorshkind and colleagues at the David Geffen School of Medicine (UCLA) have identified two genes – p16(Ink4a) and Arf – that sensitize lymphoid progenitor cells to the effects of aging, and confer resistance to leukemogenesis.
Hematopoiesis (the development of blood cells) entails two main pathways: myelopoiesis (the formation of the red and white myeloid cells) and lymphopoiesis (the formation of B- and T-cells). While myelopoiesis remains constant throughout life, lymphopoiesis declines with age.
Dr. Dorshkind and colleagues demonstrated that older B lymphoid progenitor cells preferentially express p16(Ink4a) and Arf, which regulate cell cycle progression to effectively mediate senescence and tumor suppression in these aged cells. In contrast, myeloid progenitor cells consistently expressed much lower levels of these proteins.
Scientists unravel breast cancer drug resistance
|
|
British scientists have figured out why some women develop resistance to the most commonly used breast cancer drug, something that raises the risk their tumours will return, according to a study published on Wednesday.
The findings could lead to new tests to determine which women are not likely to benefit from tamoxifen and who should be given other drugs, said Jason Carroll of Cancer Research UK in Cambridge, who led the study published in the journal Nature.
“We can use this information to predict which patients will respond to tamoxifen and more importantly which ones won’t,” Carroll told reporters in a telephone briefing.
“More importantly it gives us an idea of what we should be making drugs against.”
The Relative Risk of Brain Cancer
|
|
Doctors know that you’re at a higher risk for breast, colon and prostate cancers if they’ve been found in your family. Brain cancer can now be placed on that same list, says a new study by Tel Aviv University and the University of Utah.
Dr. Deborah Blumenthal, co-director of Tel Aviv University’s Neuro-oncology Service at the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, says that a family history of brain cancer, like those of other cancers, should be reported to the family doctor during a routine medical checkup.
The new study, using data from the Utah Population Data Base (UPDB) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, was unique in the large number of cases examined, which tracked back at least three generations and as far as ten generations in some families. The brain tumors studied by the researchers include glioblastoma, the same tumor afflicting Sen. Edward Kennedy, who has been undergoing treatment since June.
How women can improve their quality of life after breast cancer treatment
|
|
Women need to be well-informed about options for minimising harm from breast cancer treatment / Acting early could avoid long-term problems like lymphedema
Cologne, Germany: 6 November 2008. Opting for less damaging treatments, staying active and learning about the warning signs of lymphedema: that’s how women with breast cancer can avoid developing chronic lymphedema, according to the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). Women can learn more about how to protect themselves from this common and distressing adverse effect of treatment as well as handle the condition at the Institute’s website, http://www.informedhealthonline.org.
Protecting women’s lymph systems
Breast cancer treatment is becoming more effective, with a survival rate of more than 80% for this disease in Germany.
Review examines breast cancer prevention strategies in the United States
|
|
A new review outlines potential pharmaceutical, dietary, surgical, and other approaches to reducing the risk of breast cancer among women in the United States, and examines the evidence for specific recommendations.
The review says risk reduction strategies for women at average risk of breast cancer should focus primarily on lifestyle factors. Among the recommendations: aside from following general dietary recommendations for healthy eating, there is no clear evidence that specific dietary components can effectively reduce breast cancer risk; while all women should be advised to moderate alcohol use, women at increased risk of breast cancer should moderate alcohol intake or even avoid alcohol; women should maintain a healthy body weight, since gaining over 20 pounds during adulthood has been reported to result in an increased risk of breast cancer.
The authors say use of pharmacotherapy to reduce the risk should be individualized to each patient after a thorough discussion of risks and benefits as part of a shared decision-making process.
Folic Acid, B Vitamins Do Not Appear to Affect Cancer Risk
|
|
A daily supplementation combination that included folic acid and vitamin B6 and B12 had no significant effect on the overall risk of cancer, including breast cancer, among women at high risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study in the November 5 issue of JAMA.
Folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 (water-soluble, essential B vitamins) are thought to play an important role in cancer prevention. “Background fortification of the food supply with folic acid (a synthetic form of folate), a policy that began in the United States in 1998 to reduce risk of neural tube defects, has improved folate status in the general population. Approximately one-third of U.S. adults currently take multivitamin supplements containing folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12,” the authors write. Data from randomized trials of folic acid alone or in combination with B vitamins and cancer risk are limited, not entirely consistent, and one trial has even raised concerns about harmful effects.
Shumin M. Zhang, M.D., Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues conducted a trial to evaluate the effect of combined folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 treatment on cancer risk in women at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The Women’s Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study included 5,442 U.S. female health professionals age 42 years or older, with pre-existing cardiovascular disease or three or more coronary risk factors, who were randomly assigned to receive either a daily combination (n = 2,721) of folic acid (2.5 mg.), vitamin B6 (50 mg.), and vitamin B12 (1 mg.) or a matching placebo (n = 2,721). They were treated for 7.3 years, from April 1998 through July 2005.
If the diabetes has a direct carcinogenetic effect?
|
|
The association of DM2 with solid tumors, and particularly with HCC, has been long suspected and several studies have reported increased mortality rates for neoplastic diseases in patients with DM2. However, the temporal relationship between onset of diabetes and development of HCC, and the clinical and metabolic characteristics of patients with DM2 and HCC have not been well examined.
A research article to be published on October 7, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Dr. Valter Donadon from Pordenone Hospital of Italy investigated the relationships between DM2 and risk of HCC in a large population based case-control study. They enrolled 465 consecutive patients with HCC compared with an age and sex matched control group of 490 subjects.
Their results confirm that patients with DM2 have a significantly increased risk of HCC, independent of cofactors such as HBV and HCV infection and alcohol intake, and demonstrate that DM2 pre-exists to the development of HCC in most cases, suggesting that DM2 is more likely a concourse rather than merely a consequence of the liver tumor. This conclusion is also supported by the finding of a similar frequency and severity of DM2 in patients with small HCC detected during follow-up of cirrhosis and in those with more advanced and diffuse cancers detected outside of a surveillance program.
Prostate cancer not warded off by supplements
|
|
Selenium and vitamin E supplements do not prevent prostate cancer and may in fact be a little bit dangerous, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
The study of 35,000 men showed the supplements did not work together or alone to prevent prostate cancer, the most common type of cancer in men in the United States.
“As we continue to monitor the health of these 35,000 men, this information may help us understand why two nutrients that showed strong initial evidence to be able to prevent prostate cancer did not do so,” Dr. Eric Klein of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who worked on the study, said in a statement.
Don’t Forget the Men in October’s Sea of Pink
|
|
Pink is all the rage in October as money and awareness are raised for the most common cancer for women (other than skin cancer) during Breast Cancer Awareness month. But what about some attention for one of the most common cancers in men? Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, according to the American Cancer Society.
Men in Plano have a new way to share their concerns and raise awareness, through the Us TOO prostate cancer patient support group at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. The group, which is the first Us TOO chapter in Plano, helps men and their families learn more about prostate cancer so they can make better decisions on treatment options. The group also provides support as men deal with quality of life issues as a survivor.
Tom Dillon was inspired to form the chapter after his own experience with prostate cancer.
Chronic inflammation can help nurture skin cancer, study shows
|
|
Inflammation, a frontline defense against infection or disease, can help nurture skin cancer, researchers have found.
IDO, an enzyme that works like a firefighter to keep inflammation under control, can be commandeered to protect early malignant cells, say Medical College of Georgia researchers studying an animal model of chronic inflammation and skin cancer.
“Inflammation should really help prevent a tumor,” says Dr. Andrew Mellor, director of the MCG Immunotherapy Center and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Immunogenetics. In fact, there is strong evidence that inflammation triggers the immune response. “You want a good immune response; this is what protects you from pathogens,” he says. “In this case, it’s an unfortunate exploitation by malignant cells.”
