http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/the-cancer-blog.html The cancer blog From Thecancerblog Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT en-us http://www.thecancerblog.org/images/blogs/the-cancer-blog-3210.jpg http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/the-cancer-blog.html 100 125 http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/getting-physical-against-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/getting-physical-against-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Conventional biological wisdom holds that living cells interact with their environment through an elaborate network of chemical signals. As a result a number of therapies for the therapy of cancer and other diseases in which cell behavior goes awry focus on drugs that block or disrupt harmful chemical signals. Now, a new road for future therapies may have been opened with scientific evidence for a never seen before way in which cells can also sense and respond to physical forces........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/cancer-in-the-other-breast.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/cancer-in-the-other-breast.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Postmenopausal women, including those over 70 years old, who have been newly diagnosed with cancer in one breast have higher cancer detection rates when the other breast is scanned for tumors with MRI, in comparison to premenopausal women, say scientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida. They observed that 3.8 percent of 425 women had breast cancer in the undiagnosed breast that had not been found with a clinical or mammographic examination; all were postmenopausal. In these women, detecting and treating cancer in both breasts at the same time may save costs, patient stress, and the potential toxicity that may come from having to treat cancer later in the second breast once it is discovered, the scientists say in the March/recent issue of The Breast Journal........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/gene-mutation-that-causes-endometrial-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/gene-mutation-that-causes-endometrial-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT A mutation in a single gene can cause endometrial cancer that is responsive to a specific drug treatment, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study. The finding suggests that eventually it might be possible to screen women with endometrial cancer to see if they have that mutation and use the drug as targeted treatment, the scientists said........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/a-potent-suppressor-of-endometrial-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/a-potent-suppressor-of-endometrial-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive tract, representing 6% of all cancers. There is currently no screening method or biomarker to indicate early presence of disease. "It is a very common malignancy that affects women of all ages" comments paper author Dr. Diego Castrillon. The cancer forms from the cells that grow along the inner lining of the uterus, which is called the endometrium, and commonly it is diagnosed following patient reports of abnormal bleeding........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/cancer-patients-become-bold-advocates.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/cancer-patients-become-bold-advocates.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Sociologists at Case Western Reserve University observed that when passive cancer patients become survivors, they have plenty of bold advice to offer other cancer patients, as per a research studyin JAGS, the Journal of American Geriatric Society Eva Kahana, Robson Professor of Sociology and director of the Elderly Care Research Center at Case Western Reserve, reported the findings from interviews with 100 cancer survivors. These survivors are part of a longitudinal study of 1,107 older adults living in a retirement community........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/cancer-studies-with-yeast.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/cancer-studies-with-yeast.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT A researcher at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is investigating the potential use of non-pathogenic baker's yeast as a promising, natural treatment for cancer. Dr. Mamdooh Ghoneum presented his findings Tuesday, Feb. 2 at a special conference on "Cell Death Mechanism," sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) at the Omni San Diego Hotel in San Diego........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/overcoming-taxane-resistance-in-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/overcoming-taxane-resistance-in-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Taxanes, a group of cancer drugs that includes paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere), have become front-line treatment for a variety of metastatic cancers. But as with a number of chemotherapy agents, resistance can develop, a frequent problem in breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers. Now, cancer scientists at Children's Hospital Boston report a protein previously unknown to be involved in taxane resistance and that could potentially be targeted with drugs, making a cancer more susceptible to chemotherapy........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/palliative-care-in-health-care-reform.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/palliative-care-in-health-care-reform.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT New Rochelle, NY, January 15, 2010Opinion leaders in the field of palliative medicine explored the unparalleled opportunities that now exist for the palliative care community, which matches therapy to the desires of informed patients and their families, to help define evolving health care reform policy. The thought-provoking Roundtable discussion, "Palliative Medicine: Politics and Policy," is published online ahead of print in Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-evaluated publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The Roundtable is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/jpm........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/frequency-of-surveillance-colonoscopy.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/frequency-of-surveillance-colonoscopy.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT How often patients receive surveillance colonoscopy may need to be better aligned with their risks for colorectal cancer, as per two papers published this month by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers. The studies provide evidence that colonoscopy is both overused and underused in particular patient populations with serious implications for health care spending........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/new-biomarkers-for-colon-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/new-biomarkers-for-colon-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Researchers in China are reporting discovery of two proteins present in the blood, of people with colon cancer that may serve as the potential biomarkers for accurately predicting whether the disease will spread. Their study is in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication. Maode Lai and his colleagues note that in 2008, 150,000 new cases of colon cancer and over 50,000 deaths from the disease occurred in the United States alone. Surgery is the main method of treating the disease. However, half of patients with colon cancer undergoing surgery develop a recurrence of the disease within 5 years due to its spread, or metastasis, to other parts of the body. The spread of colon cancer can be difficult to detect and there are currently no reliable chemical markers in the body for predicting its spread, the researchers say........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/therapy-in-oesophageal-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/therapy-in-oesophageal-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Cancer of the gullet, or oesophagus, is one of the ten most common cancers in the Western world, and there have been recent alarming increases in the number of cases each year in the US and UK. There is no good therapy, and sufferers frequently face a short, painful battle which ends all too quickly in death. A number of of the cancers diagnosed are in people with a long history of heartburn. Chronic heartburn leads to the lower parts of the gullet being bathed in a toxic acid solution, and the lining of the gullet defends itself against this by changing itself into something which looks a lot like the lining of the lower intestines. Eventhough the damaged tissue, called Barrett's oesophagus, is not malignant in itself, its presence warns doctors that the patient has taken the first step towards cancer, and triggers a rigorous programme of monitoring, coupled with treatment to prevent further damage........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/celebrex-prevents-skin-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/1-2010/celebrex-prevents-skin-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT People with the heritable disorder of the skin called Gorlin syndrome who are genetically predisposed to develop basal cell carcinoma of the skin may have a new chemoprevention treatment on the horizon. As per results of a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, Phase II study, the use of celecoxib was effective in inhibiting the development of basal cell carcinomas in a relatively rare group of patients who are highly susceptible to carcinoma. These findings appear in the recent issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/the-cancer-trap.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/the-cancer-trap.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Current research suggests that TNF-receptor associated protein-1 (TRAP-1) may prevent cancer cell death. The related report by Leav et al, "Cytoprotective Mitochondrial Chaperone TRAP-1 as a Novel Molecular Target in Localized and Metastatic Prostate Cancer," appears in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology....... ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/targets-for-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/targets-for-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have identified a key step in the biological process of programmed cell death, also called apoptosis. Apoptosis is important in human biology as it removes unwanted and sometimes dangerous cells from our bodies, protecting us against cancer development. It can also, however, lead to the development of degenerative diseases when healthy cells are errantly destroyed........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/brca1-gene-and-infertility.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/brca1-gene-and-infertility.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT A New York Medical College doctor who specializes in restoring or preserving fertility in female cancer patients has discovered a possible link between the presence of breast cancer genes and infertility. In a paper published last week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kutluk Oktay, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology and principal investigator on the study, concluded that mutations in the BRCA1 gene, which have been linked with early onset breast cancer, are also linked to an early loss of egg reserves. This finding may help to explain why women who carry a mutated BRCA1 gene have greater rates of infertility as well as a greater risk for breast and ovary cancer........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/heart-drugs-show-promise-for-fighting-colon-cancer.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/heart-drugs-show-promise-for-fighting-colon-cancer.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Researchers in Sweden are reporting for the first time that a group of drugs used to treat heart failure shows promise for fighting colon cancer. The study is in ACS' Journal of Natural Products, a monthly publication. Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States, with more than 150,000 cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year........ ]]> http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/protecting-cancer-patients-from-h1n1-influenza.html http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/12-2009/protecting-cancer-patients-from-h1n1-influenza.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:42 GMT Despite a 100-fold increase in H1N1 influenza cases in the Seattle area during spring 2009, an aggressive infection control program to protect immunocompromised cancer patients and thorough screening measures resulted in no corresponding increase in H1N1 cases among the total patient population at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, as per a newly released study by scientists and physicians at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the SCCA........ ]]>