Cancer
Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates on Rise Among Medicare Beneficiaries Due to Expansion of Coverage
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Colorectal cancer screening rates increased for Medicare beneficiaries when coverage was expanded to average-risk individuals, but racial disparities still exist, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
“Despite the expansion of Medicare coverage for colorectal cancer screening, disparities persisted among the ethnic groups we examined,” said Arica White, Ph.D., M.P.H., former doctoral student at The University of Texas School of Public Health, part of UTHealth. In 1998, Medicare began covering fecal occult blood test (FOBT) annually and sigmoidoscopy coverage every 4 years for average-risk beneficiaries and in July 2001 coverage was expanded to include colonoscopy for average-risk beneficiaries every 10 years.
The research is published in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Topical treatment may prevent melanoma
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While incidents of melanoma continue to increase despite the use of sunscreen and skin screenings, a topical compound called ISC-4 may prevent melanoma lesion formation, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
“The steady increase in melanoma incidence suggests that additional preventive approaches are needed to complement these existing strategies,” said Gavin Robertson, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, pathology, dermatology and surgery, and director of Penn State Hershey Melanoma Center.
Researchers targeted the protein Akt3, which plays a central role in 70 percent of melanoma by preventing cell death and has the potential to prevent early stages of melanoma.
Addiction to sunbeds gave me skin cancer… and left me with a gaping hole in my leg
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A woman who admits her sunbed addiction left her looking like an ‘Oompa Loompa’ was left with a gaping hole in her leg after a battle with skin cancer.
Doctors were forced to gouge away part of Stacey Pickess’s leg when her twice-weekly sunbed habit left her with a malignant melanoma.
The 28-year-old beautician managed to beat the cancer - but has been left with a hole the size of a golf ball in her lower leg as a constant reminder.
Blood Test Could Predict Metastasis Risk in Melanoma
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Scientists at Yale University have identified a set of plasma biomarkers that could reasonably predict the risk of metastasis among patients with melanoma, according to findings published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“The rate at which melanoma is increasing is dramatic, and there is a huge number of patients under surveillance,” said Harriet Kluger, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. “Our current method of surveillance includes periodic imaging, which creates huge societal costs.”
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh most common cancer in women. It is estimated that 68,130 people in the United States were diagnosed in 2010, and 8,700 died. With proper screening, melanoma can often be caught early enough to be removed with surgery, and mortality typically comes when the cancer metastasizes. The risk of metastasis varies from less than 10 percent for those with stage 1A melanoma, to as high as 70 percent with stage 3C.
A cancer marker and treatment in 1?
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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say antibodies to a non-human sugar molecule commonly found in people may be useful as a future biomarker for predicting cancer risk, for diagnosing cancer cases early and, in sufficient concentration, used as a treatment for suppressing tumor growth.
The work was led by Richard Schwab, MD, assistant clinical professor of medicine, and Ajit Varki, MD, professor of medicine and cellular and molecular medicine, with other faculty at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center and the UCSD Glycobiology Research and Training Center. Collaborators include researchers from the groups of Xi Chen at UC Davis, Inder Verma at the Salk Institute and scientists from Sialix, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Vista, CA.
It is published in the April 19 online issue of the journal Cancer Research and in the May 1 print edition.
Social isolation, stress-induced obesity increases breast cancer risk in mice
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Stress from social isolation, combined with a high-fat diet, increases levels of a brain neurotransmitter – neuropeptide Y, or NPY – in mice that then promotes obesity, insulin resistance, and breast cancer risk, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC).
Major increases in NPY levels are seen when isolation and the high fat diet are combined. Still, the mice that were isolated for two weeks and fed a control diet had elevated NPY levels and increased terminal end buds, a structure in the mammary gland where mammary cancers form.
The researchers say their findings, reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, appear to link a number of findings in humans, such as the fact that social isolation is associated with an increased risk of cancer development and mortality, and that obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer.”
New device to test blood can spot cancer cells, HIV on the fly
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A Harvard bioengineer and an MIT aeronautical engineer have created a new device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample, potentially allowing doctors to quickly determine whether cancer has spread from its original site.
The microfluidic device, described in the March 17 online edition of the journal Small, is about the size of a dime, and could also detect viruses such as HIV. It could eventually be developed into low-cost tests for doctors to use in developing countries where expensive diagnostic equipment is hard to come by, says Mehmet Toner, professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
Toner built an earlier version of the device four years ago. In that original version, blood taken from a patient flows past tens of thousands of tiny silicon posts coated with antibodies that stick to tumor cells. Any cancer cells that touch the posts become trapped. However, some cells might never encounter the posts at all.
Smoking in combination with immunosuppression poses greater risk for transplant-related carcinoma
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Spanish researchers have found that liver transplant recipients who quit smoking have a lower incidence of smoking-related malignancies (SRM) than patients who keep smoking. In fact, SRMs were identified in 13.5% of deceased patients and smoking was associated with a higher risk of malignancy in this study. Full findings are published in the April issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
While smoking is a well-known malignancy risk factor both in the general population and in liver transplant recipients, smoking in combination with immunosuppression is presumed to be the main risk factor for transplant-related carcinomas. Several authors have suggested that a longer duration of immunosuppressive treatment or a stronger immunosuppression could be related to a higher risk of malignancy. However, the Spanish researchers failed to find such an association. Rather, they suggest that smoking after transplant which increases the risk, and smoking cessation following transplant surgery which decreases the risk, are more significant indicators.
“Smoking is related to some of the most frequent causes of post-transplant malignancy,” says study leader Dr. J. Ignacio Herrero of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. “We investigated whether the risks of developing malignancies was different in patients who ceased smoking than in patients who maintained smoking after transplantation.” Risk factors of lung, head and neck, esophagus, kidney and urinary tract (other than prostate) cancers after liver transplantation were examined in the present study.
New insights into cancer treatment
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Leuven - Jean-Christophe Marine (VIB, K.U.Leuven) strongly argues against the use of Cop1-inhibitory drugs. The protein Cop1 has –for a long time - been seen as an attractive drug target for cancer. But Jean-Christophe Marine found out that Cop1 acts as a tumor suppressor, and thus inhibits tumor formation. His new data will have direct implications for the development of cancer drug targets.
Tumorigenesis: loss of control
Tumors form when control over the cell division is lost; a process that could be compared to losing control over the speed of your car. Two main players are involved; oncogenes which could be compared to the gas pedal of the car. A defective oncogene would be analogous to a gas pedal that is stuck in the ‘on’ position. In such a situation the tumor suppressor genes function as the brakes of the car - they keep the cell from dividing even in response to oncogene activation. If the brakes fail, the car goes out of control; similarly, when something goes wrong with the tumor suppressor genes, cell division gets out of control.
Cop1: brake or gas pedal?
Although Cop1 has been implicated in tumorigenesis, its precise role has remained a conundrum. Biochemical studies had shown that Cop1 promotes the degradation of target proteins. These studies, however, have yielded conflicting results leaving an open question as to whether Cop1 degrade tumor suppressors or oncogenes.
Teens and young adults with cancer face unique challenges and require targeted care
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Adolescents and young adults are neither children nor adults and those affected by cancer require targeted care that crosses the boundaries between pediatric and adult oncology, according to several pioneers in this still-developing field of adolescent and young adult oncology. An illuminating roundtable discussion by these experts will be published in the premier issue of Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com). The Roundtable has been published ahead of the print issue and is available at http://www.liebertpub.com/JAYAO. The full issue will launch in April 2011.
“AYA cancer presents the medical community with several unique problems. First, it requires true collaboration between pediatric and medical oncologists as the age range crosses both disciplines. Next, our AYA cancer patients not only have cancer but are also often dealing with ongoing developmental and psychosocial issues at the same time; as such, we must be aware of how a cancer diagnosis interferes with their normal development. The Roundtable discussion helps put AYA cancer in perspective for those who have not yet considered the 15-39 year old cancer patient as a distinct and relevant patient group,” according to Editor-in-Chief Leonard S. Sender, MD, of the University of California, Irvine and CHOC Children’s Hospital.
The roundtable discussion, “Trailblazers in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology,” was moderated by Archie Bleyer, MD, Medical Director of Clinical Research for the St. Charles Health System in Bend, Oregon. Participants were leading physicians of pediatric, adolescent, and young adult oncology who have helped mold and advance this area of specialization trace the history and driving forces behind programs and disease management strategies now in place that target this patient population. Representing the experiences and revolutionary changes that have taken place in the United States, England, and Canada, Dr. Bleyer was joined by Karen Albritton, MD, Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program at Cook Children’s Medical Center and University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth; Ronald Barr, MB ChB, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology and Medicine at McMaster University in Canada; Ian Lewis, MB ChB, Professor of Cancer Research in Children and Young People at Leeds Teaching Hospital in the United Kingdom; and Editor-in-Chief Leonard Sender, MD, Medical Director of the Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s Hospital and Director of the Young Adult Cancer Program at the University of California, Irvine’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in Orange, CA.
Cancer breakthrough to prevent heart failure and increase survival rates
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A breakthrough by scientists at Queen’s could help reduce heart failure in cancer patients around the world, and ultimately increase survival rates.
Scientists at Queen’s Centre for Vision and Vascular Science have discovered the role of an enzyme which, when a patient receives chemotherapy, can cause life-threatening damage to the heart. This has, until now, restricted the amount of chemotherapy doses a patient can receive; but while protecting the heart, this dilutes the chemotherapy’s effectiveness in destroying cancerous tumours.
By identifying the role of the enzyme - NADPH oxidase - work can now go ahead into making chemotherapy treatments more effective and reduce the toxic effects of cancer treatment on the heart.
Study examines effectiveness of mammography screening for women with prior breast cancer
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Mammography screening in women with a personal history of breast cancer detects second breast cancers at an early stage, but has lower accuracy, compared to screening in women without prior breast cancer, according to a study in the February 23 issue of JAMA.
“The high prevalence of breast cancer survivors is due to general gains in life expectancy and to improved survival in women with a personal history of breast cancer (PHBC), attributable to improvements in local and systemic treatments and early detection,” the authors write. Women with PHBC are at risk of developing second breast cancers and are recommended for annual screening mammography, but few high-quality data exist on screening accuracy in PHBC women, according to background information in the article. The authors add that valid estimates of the accuracy of screening mammography are needed to guide clinical practice and policy and to inform clinicians and PHBC women of expected screening outcomes.
Nehmat Houssami, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, conducted a study to examine the accuracy and outcomes of screening mammography and factors associated with screening outcomes in women with a PHBC, who were matched to non-PHBC women and screened (1996-2007) through facilities affiliated with the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. There were 58,870 screening mammograms in 19,078 women with a history of early-stage (in situ or stage I-II invasive) breast cancer and 58,870 matched (breast density, age group, mammography year, and registry) screening mammograms in 55,315 non-PHBC women.
Strong social ties benefit breast cancer patients
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Breast cancer patients who have a strong social support system in the first year after diagnosis are less likely to die or have a recurrence of cancer, according to new research from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and the Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine. The study, led by first author Meira Epplein, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine at VICC, was published in a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Patients in the study were enrolled in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survivor Study, a large, population-based review of female breast cancer survivors in China, which Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine have carried out since 2002 under the leadership of principal investigator Xiao Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Medicine at VICC, and senior author of the study.
From 2002 to 2004, a total of 2,230 breast cancer survivors completed a quality of life survey six months after diagnosis and a majority responded to a follow-up survey 36 months after diagnosis. The women were asked about physical issues like sleep, eating and pain, psychological well-being, social support and material well-being. The answers were converted to an overall quality of life score.
Genes map study finds clues to pancreatic cancer
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xperts in the genetics of cancer said on Thursday they have found out why some people can live for years with the same kind of rare pancreatic cancer that affects Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
They identified new genes that, when mutated in a certain way, appear to cause a relatively less harmful form of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.
Patients with these mutations lived twice as long as those whose tumors carried other mutations, the team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore report in the journal Science.
Scientists bring cancer cells back under control
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Scientists at The University of Nottingham have brought cancer cells back under normal control - by reactivating their cancer suppressor genes. The discovery could form a powerful new technology platform for the treatment of cancer of the breast and other cancers.
Breast cancer is diagnosed in about 1.4 million women throughout the world every year, with half a million dying from the disease. A common cause of cancer is when cells are altered or mutated and the body’s tumour suppressor genes are switched off.
Research, published today in the Journal Molecular Cancer, reveals how Dr Cinzia Allegrucci from the School of Veterinary Science and Medicine and Dr Andrew Johnson in the Centre for Genetics and Genomics reactivated tumour suppressor genes and stopped the cancer from growing by treating them with Axolotl oocyte extract. After 60 days there was still no evidence of cancerous growth.
