Cancer Prevention Efforts Outlined In Report
An annual report from the American Cancer Society says much of the suffering and death from cancer could be prevented by more systematic efforts to reduce tobacco use, improve diet and physical activity, reduce obesity, and expand the use of established screening tests. The report, Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts and Figures (CPED), outlines gaps and opportunities that contribute to cancer mortality, and says social, economic, and legislative factors profoundly influence individual health behaviors. Since 1992, the American Cancer Society has published CPED as a resource to strengthen cancer prevention and early detection efforts at the local, state, and national levels.
Long-Lasting Fatigue After Breast Cancer Less Common Than Thought
Although breast cancer-related fatigue is common, it generally runs a self-limiting course and does not persist as long as people had thought; especially in cases of early-stage breast cancer, researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The authors explained that long-term fatigue, which is often disabling, is common after patients undergo treatment for cancer. However, they added that studies had not extensively looked at how persistent CRF (cancer-related fatigue) was; i.e. how common long-term CRF might be. In an Abstract in the journal, the researchers wrote: ".. . hence, relationships to cancer, surgery, and adjuvant therapy are unclear.
Link Between Childhood Obesity And Increased Risk Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Adulthood
Childhood obesity is a widespread global epidemic (1) and in parallel with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)(2) is now the leading cause of liver disease among children. New data presented at the International Liver Congress™ 2012 furthers this concern by showing that childhood obesity is positively linked with developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) - the most common form of liver cancer(3) - in adulthood.(4) The Danish study monitored birth weight and BMI at school age of 165, 540 men and 160, 883 women born between1930 and 1989. The study authors calculated and compared the risk of developing HCC from the 252 participants that had developed HCC at follow-up.
Swallowing Exercises Help Head And Neck Cancer Patients, Short-Term
The April issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery reports that patients who undergo chemoradiation therapy (CRT), who perform specific swallowing exercises after their CRT, experience a short-term improvement in swallowing. The study also reveals that after nine or twelve months of treatment, there was no substantial difference in swallowing function amongst patients of the intervention and the control group. Background information of the article states: "With improvements in swallowing function from post-treatment exercises, interest in the use of prophylactic swallowing exercises to prevent or minimize post-CRT swallowing dysfunction has grown.
Cancer Gene MCL1 Targeted
A research team pursuing one of the most commonly altered genes in cancer has laid a critical foundation for understanding this gene that could point the way toward developing drugs against it. A recent study of cancer genetics pointed to the gene MCL1, which encodes a protein that helps keep cells alive. The new research pinpoints compounds that repress MCL1's activity and highlights an important companion gene that predicts if a tumor is dependent upon MCL1 for survival. Together, these tools suggest a path toward new therapeutics directed at MCL1. "It was not immediately obvious that MCL1 was such an attractive therapeutic target in cancer, " said Todd Golub, director of the Broad's Cancer Program and Charles A.
Bevacizumab Doesn t Improve Survival In Some Older Lung Cancer Patients
A study published in the April 18 issue of JAMA, reveals that Medicare insured non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients aged 65+, who received bevacizumab, in addition to the standard chemotherapy regimen carboplatin and paclitaxel, did not have improved survival compared to patients who received carboplatin and paclitaxel alone. The findings of the study were presented by Deborah Schrag, M.D., M.P.H., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club. Bevacizumab was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of NSCLC in 2006. The researchers said: "A previous randomized trial demonstrated that adding bevacizumab to carboplatin and paclitaxel improved survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Elderly Cancer Patients Benefit From Immunotherapy
Cancer is much more likely in the elderly than the young, and their bodies often are less prepared to fight the disease and the often-toxic side effects of treatment. But a new study from the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio shows that some types of immunotherapy previously thought to work only in younger patients can be used to help the elderly, with less toxic effects than many common therapies, if combined in ways that account for age-related changes in the immune system. "We've shown that immunotherapy for cancer not only works in aged mice, but actually can work better in aged hosts than in young counterparts by capitalizing on the immune changes that happen with age, " said Tyler Curiel, M.
Identification Of Key Regulator Of Inflammatory Response Could Impact Treatment Of Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes And Other Diseases
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a gene that plays a key role in regulating inflammatory response and homeostasis. These findings could help lead to the development of innovative methods to reduce the inflammation associated with cancer, type 2 diabetes and other diseases. The study, which was led by Valentina Perissi, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry at BUSM, was done in collaboration with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at the University of California, San Diego. The results are published online and in the print issue of Molecular Cell. Cells respond to inflammation by producing cytokines, which are cellular signaling protein molecules that allow for intercellular communication.
Balancing The Immune System: Discovery Could Aid In The Development Drugs For Organ Transplant, Autoimmune Disorders And Cancer
Loyola researchers are reporting surprising findings about a molecule that helps ramp up the immune system in some cases and suppress it in others. The finding eventually could lead to new drugs to regulate the immune system by, for example, revving it up to attack tumor cells or tamping it down to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs. The study is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Immunology. Senior author is Makio Iwashima, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Co-authors are Robert Love, MD, a professor in the Departments of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery and Microbiology & Immunology and one of the world's leading lung transplant surgeons, and first author Mariko Takami, PhD, of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology.
Risky Treatments With Larger Rewards Preferable To Safe Bets For Cancer Patients
A new analysis provides a closer look at how much cancer patients value hope - with important implications for how insurers value treatment, particularly in end-of-life care. The analysis led by Darius Lakdawalla, director of research at the Schaeffer Center at USC and associate professor in the USC Price School of Public Policy, surveyed 150 cancer patients currently undergoing treatment, and is part of a special issue on cancer spending from the journal Health Affairs. Lakdawalla and his co-authors found the overwhelming majority of cancer patients prefer riskier treatments that offer the possibility of longer survival over safer treatments: 77 percent of cancer patients said they would rather take a "hopeful gamble" - treatments that offer a 50/50 chance of either adding three years or no additional survival - to "safe bet" treatments that would keep them alive for 18 months, but no longer.
