Cancer
Biologic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and the risk of cancer
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The relationship between rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease marked by chronic inflammation of the joints and tissue surrounding vital organs, and the incidence of cancer is complicated. Epidemiologic studies have generally demonstrated that blood, lung, and skin cancers are increased among RA patients, while breast and colon cancers are decreased. Whether these cancer rates are caused by the nature of RA or by immunosuppressive drugs used to treat RA is an issue of ongoing debate and investigation.
Findings of various clinical trials and observational studies conflict over the risk of malignancy related to the use of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFá) blockers, a biologic therapy shown effective at controlling the symptoms of RA in patients who fail to respond to traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
New cancer fighter may help ICU patients beat infections
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HSP 90 inhibitors, which are finding favor in fighting cancer, may also help battle overwhelming infection in intensive care patients, researchers say.
Studies in an animal model of sepsis, a major cause of ICU patient death, indicate HSP 90 inhibitors help degrade proteins perpetuating inflammation, says Dr. John D. Catravas, director of the Medical College of Georgia Vascular Biology Center.
Exercise, housework cut uterine cancer risk
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Premenopausal women who are very physically active—especially those who put in the most work around the house—may be cutting their risk of developing cancer of the uterine lining.
Among 253,023 women followed for more than six years, those who had not yet reached menopause at the study’s outset and were the most physically active were 34 percent less likely to develop endometrial cancer than their more sedentary peers. Three to four hours of household or recreational activity each day produced the greatest benefit.
Control tobacco, food ads to beat cancer -panel
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A new presidential report on cancer takes on not only tobacco companies but the food industry while calling on the federal government to “cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods” and switch to policies that encourage Americans to eat vegetables and exercise.
The report, issued on Thursday, also urged changes in public and private insurance policies to encourage doctors to spend more time counseling patients on how to stay healthy by eating right, exercising and avoiding tobacco.
Cancer panel attacks U.S. food subsidies
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A new presidential report on cancer takes on not only tobacco companies but the food industry while calling on the federal government to “cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods” and switch to policies that encourage Americans to eat vegetables and exercise.
The report, issued on Thursday, also urges changes in public and private insurance policies to encourage doctors to spend more time counseling patients on how to stay healthy by eating right, exercising and avoiding tobacco.
Bak protein sets stressed cells on suicide path, researchers show
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When a cell is seriously stressed, say by a heart attack, stroke or cancer, a protein called Bak just may set it up for suicide, researchers have found.
In a deadly double whammy, Bak helps chop the finger-like filament shape of the cell’s powerhouse, or mitochondrion, into vulnerable little spheres. Another protein Bax then pokes countless holes in those spheres, spilling their pro-death contents into the cell.
Discovery about Obesity Drug Helping Scientists Develop New Cancer Treatments
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Based on their surprising discovery that an obesity drug can kill cancer cells, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have made a new finding about the drug’s effects and are working to design more potent cancer treatments.
Published online today in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the study is the first to report how the drug orlistat (Xenical® or Alli®) binds and interacts with a protein found in tumor cells. The drug blocks the protein’s function and causes cell death.
Delays in cancer diagnosis for children remain poorly understood
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Though delays in the diagnosis of cancer in children are short and attributable to clinical presentation and healthcare system complexity, the impact of such delays on prognosis remains unclear, according to a new study. Published in the August 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, a review of the published literature found that delays could be generally attributed to gatekeeper-type healthcare systems, clinical presentation and stage of disease, as well as parent/patient factors. The study concludes that further research should focus on understanding the impact of delays in diagnosis on morbidity and mortality in children with cancer.
Pediatric cancers, such as leukemia and brain tumors, are rare, but in some countries are the leading cause of death in children from birth to 15 years old. In the U.S., almost 10,000 children are diagnosed with cancer annually.
Being overweight ups risk of colon cancer
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For men, the risk of colon cancer increases with body weight in a nearly linear manner, a study shows. For women, the risk is more variable but still trends upward, particularly for those younger than age 67.
The findings highlight the importance of weight control for colon cancer prevention, Dr. Kenneth F. Adams, of the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues conclude in a report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Gene Test Not Needed If Cancer Drug Given in Low Dose
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Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have shown that when the cancer drug irinotecan is given in low doses for multiple days, it eliminates the need to delay treatment to perform costly genetic testing that determines if the patient is at risk for serious treatment side effects, such as neutropenia. Neutropenia is an abnormal reduction in the numbers of immune cells, called neutrophils; the disorder leaves individuals more vulnerable to infections.
The finding means that clinicians can begin treatment sooner and eliminate the cost of this specialized test, which determines if the child carries a variation in the gene UGT1A1 that is linked to this side effect of neutropenia. By giving the drug in small doses for two weeks instead of the standard single large dose once a month, children can begin treatment with irinotecan immediately. Irinotecan is used to treat childhood solid tumors such as neuroblastoma, sarcomas and kidney tumors.
Cancer gene carriers cut risk with ovarian surgery
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Women who carry a gene mutation that increases their risk of breast cancer appear to be able to lower their risk of breast and gynecologic cancers by undergoing the removal of their ovaries, results of a 10-year follow-up study show.
Dr. Fatima Laki and colleagues at the Institut Curie in Paris analyzed the survival rates of 89 women with BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 mutations who has their ovaries removed, a procedure also referred to as salpingo-oophorectomy, between 1994 and 2004 at their institution.
Rising obesity a cancer “time-bomb” - expert
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Rising obesity levels mean Britain is facing a cancer “time-bomb”, a health expert said on Monday.
Greg Martin, science and research manager at the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), warned that urgent action is needed if the country is to avert a surge in cancer cases.
Women undergoing HRT face increased risk of getting cancer
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It was once described as the last frontier in the emancipation of women, a pill that would ease the transition through the menopause and allow those who took it to slip into a contented middle age. Now the world’s largest study of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has shown that it may have caused 1,000 deaths from ovarian cancer between 1991 and 2005.
The new finding strengthens the evidence that HRT poses a serious danger to women. Previous results from the same study have shown that the risk of breast cancer and endometrial cancer (of the lining of the womb) is also increased by the treatment.
Stress may help cancer cells resist treatment, research shows
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Scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to report that the stress hormone epinephrine causes changes in prostate and breast cancer cells that may make them resistant to cell death.
“These data imply that emotional stress may contribute to the development of cancer and may also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments,” said George Kulik, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of cancer biology and senior researcher on the project.
Survival rate with melanoma has improved
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The overall survival of people diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, has improved over the past 25 years or so, German researchers report.
They note in their report in the medical journal Cancer that melanoma is quite curable if it’s caught early; however, the improvement in survival they have observed may not be entirely due to early diagnosis.
