Mayo Clinic Finds Surgeon Caseload, Practice Setting Affect Treatment Of Small Kidney Tumors
Patients with small kidney tumors are more likely to be offered treatment options based on surgeons' case volume and type of practice than on tumor characteristics, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Fellowship-trained surgeons who practice in academic medical centers with high volumes of patients with kidney tumors were 70 to 80 percent more likely to follow American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines by recommending partial nephrectomy. Surgeons in private practice who see few patients with kidney tumors more often offered radical nephrectomy: removal of the entire kidney. Mayo Clinic researchers presented their findings during the AUA Annual Meeting in Washington.
Zebrafish Models Identify High-Risk Genetic Factors For Leukemia Patients
Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer; it also occurs in adults. Now researchers working with zebrafish at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have identified previously undiscovered high-risk genetic features in T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL), according to an article published online May 9, 2011, in the cancer research journal Oncogene. When compared to samples from human patients with T-ALL, these genetic characteristics allowed scientists to predict which patients may have more aggressive forms of the disease that either recur after remission or do not respond to treatment. While there are several subtypes, in all leukemias the body overproduces certain blood cells that have not matured properly.
Taking Additional Selenium Will Not Reduce Cancer Risk
Although some people believe that taking selenium can reduce a person's risk of cancer, a Cochrane Systematic Review of randomised controlled clinical trials found no protective effect against non-melanoma skin cancer or prostate cancer. In addition, there is some indication that taking selenium over a long period of time could have toxic effects. These conclusions were reached after researchers scanned the medical literature, looking for trials that studied the effects of taking selenium supplements and observational studies on selenium intake. The researchers located 49 prospective observational studies and six randomised controlled trials. Looking at the data from observational studies gave some indication that people may be marginally protected from cancer if they had a higher selenium intake than those with a lower intake, and that the effect was slightly greater for men than women.
Roswell Park Surgeon Performs Nigeria s First Known Radical Prostatectomy
Imagine learning that you have prostate cancer and need to undergo a radical prostatectomy - but in order to have the surgery, you'll have to travel to India or England. That's the reality for prostate cancer patients in Nigeria, and it puts the treatment out of reach for the vast majority of men who need it. But things are beginning to change, and it all started in an operating room at Shawsand Medical Centre in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. That's where Willie Underwood III, MD, MPH, MSci, of the Department of Urology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), recently performed the country's first documented radical prostatectomy. At his own expense, and on his own time, Dr.
Kidney Cancer Patient Recommended For MBE By David Cameron Is Refused Life-Prolonging Treatment By NHS
Clive Stone, a kidney cancer patient and campaigner from David Cameron's constituency of Witney, will travel to Buckingham Palace tomorrow to receive his MBE having been personally recommended to receive the award by the Prime Minister. On Friday, however, Mr. Stone was told that his application for Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), a treatment to help remove cancerous tumours that have now spread to his brain, had been refused by his local Primary Care Trust. Health bosses from Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) are due to meet tomorrow to discuss whether or not Mr. Stone's case can be granted "exceptional" status which would allow him the operation.
Screening Colonoscopies Done More Often Than Recommended On Medicare Beneficiaries
A significant number of screening colonoscopies are being carried out more often than the recommended intervals, while older individuals treated at Veteran Affairs centers, where positive fecal blood tests merited follow-up colonoscopies, were not getting them, or they caused problems when colonoscopies were performed, researchers from the University of Texas wrote in Archives of Internal Medicine. In one article, the authors explain that colonoscopies for the detection of colorectal cancer may be used too often as a screening tool, which raises the risk of adverse events and not enough benefit, money being wasted, and the overuse of limited medical equipment.
Researchers With UCLA s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Discover Way To Amp Up The Power Of Killer T Cells
Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a way to amp up the power of killer T-cells, called CD8 cells, making them more functional for longer periods of time and boosting their ability to multiply and expand within the body to fight melanoma, a new study has found. The study, done in mouse models of metastatic melanoma that had spread to the brain, has important clinical implications, as the method could boost the cancer-killing power of experimental immunotherapies being tested now in various cancers, including deadly glioblastoma and metastatic melanoma, both of which are very difficult to treat successfully. Study senior author Dr.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Reports Long-Term Immune Responses From Therapeutic Cervical Dysplasia And Cancer DNA Vaccine
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, has reported data demonstrating long-term durability of immune responses induced by VGX-3100, its investigational DNA vaccine for treating cervical dysplasia and cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). These results were presented at the 15th Annual Conference on Women's Health Care Issues, hosted in New York by the International Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology-USA, by Mark Bagarazzi, MD, Inovio's chief medical officer. The data were generated through a long-term assessment of participants in Inovio's Phase I study of 18 adult females with moderate or severe cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2/3), a high-grade premalignant lesion that may lead to cervical cancer.
20,000 Breast Cancer Cases Could Be Prevented Annually, UK
About 20, 000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented each year by being more physically active, reducing alcohol consumption and keeping to a healthy weight, according to new figures from World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). There were approximately 47, 600 new cases of breast cancer in the UK in 2008, the most recent year for available figures. WCRF estimates about 42 per cent of these - roughly 20, 000 cases - could have been prevented through healthier lifestyle choices. The figures, which were released to mark WCRF's Cancer Prevention Week, have led the charity to call on women to make the lifestyle changes necessary to cut their breast cancer risk.
Are Cancer Risk And Survival Outcomes Impacted By Sexual Orientation?
Does being homosexual influence one's risk of developing cancer? Why do bisexual and lesbian women who survive cancer appear to be less healthy than heterosexual female cancer survivors? These are some of the questions scientists from Boston University School of Public Health researched and reported in the journal Cancer. The authors say that their findings may help experts define what types of services and programs are most effective for gay, lesbian and bisexual cancer survivors. As background information, the researchers explained that cancer surveillance studies have never asked patients about their sexual orientation. So, there is very little data about on how many gay, lesbian or bisexual cancer survivors there are, and how they are.
