First gene 'linked to aggressive prostate cancer found'

Scientists have discovered the first gene linked to the aggressive form of prostate cancer, raising hope that doctors will someday be able to predict how the disease will progress.

The cancer is often either slow-growing or aggressive, which has led the two types of the disease to be dubbed the ‘tiger’ and the ‘pussycat’.

The difference can be crucial as many prostate cancer treatments carry with them the risk of serious side-effects, including incontinence and impotence.

However, at the moment there is no way to predict which type a patient will suffer.

Although carrying the newly identified gene does not in itself guarantee that a patients’ cancer will be aggressive, the breakthrough raises hopes that doctors could someday discover a number of genes that would allow them to predict the diseases’ progress accurately.

Dr Jianfeng Xu, from Wake Forest University, in North Carolina, who led the study, said: "This finding addresses one of the most important clinical questions of prostate cancer – the ability at an early stage to distinguish between aggressive and slow-growing disease.

"Although the genetic marker currently has limited clinical utility, we believe it has the potential to one day be used in combination with other genetic markers to predict which men have aggressive prostate cancer at a stage when the disease is still curable."

If identified, men who carry the genes could be encouraged to attend screening at a young age, he and his team believe.

More than 35,000 men a year in Britain develop prostate cancer and around one in three go on to die from the disease.

However, many men have such a slow growing form of the disease that they will in all likelihood die from something else before they ever suffer symptoms of their cancer, posing a treatment dilemma for doctors.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), looked at the genetic make-up of 4,849 men with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and 12,205 with a slow-growing form of the disease.

Researchers discovered a genetic defect which makes carriers up to 25 per cent more likely to develop the aggressive form.

Dr Helen Rippon, from The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: “Distinguishing between aggressive and slow growing forms of prostate cancer is probably the most significant challenge facing research into the disease today.

“However, this marker is not informative enough on its own to form the basis of a new, more reliable test – up to 30 per cent of men with a less aggressive cancer also carry it.

“Nevertheless, this study raises hopes that a panel of several genetic markers might one day be established that together can determine a man’s risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.”

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Cell Phones Bad For Your Health – Again

We’ve heard the pros and cons before, but a new Australian study claims cell phones could be worse for your health than smoking or asbestos.

It’s the issue that won’t go away. Are cell phones detrimental to your health? Will the electromagnetic radiation cause brain tumors? Studies have said yes, studies have said no.

Now a new paper from a staff specialist neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital and associate professor of neurosurgery with Australian National University Medical School, Vini G. Khurana, entitled "Mobile Phones and Brain Tumors – A Public Health Concern", looks at the results of previous reportage in both the academic and popular press.

Khurana’s warning is quite dire:

“It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking, and directly concerns all of us, particularly the younger generation, including very young children.”

The latency time, he believes, “may be in the order of 10-20 years.” He feels that “the link between mobile phones and brain tumours should no longer be regarded as a myth. Individual and class action lawsuits have been filed in the USA, and at least one has already been successfully prosecuted, regarding the cell phone-brain tumour link.”

However, it’s worth noting that many studies have yet to establish a link between the use of cell phones and cancer.

Source: digitaltrends.com

Study Ffinds Long Term Heavy Use of Cell Phones Does Increase Cancer Risk

It's not uncommon that studies done on the same subject often come to vastly different conclusions; and studies on the link between increased risk of cancer and cell phone usage are no exception.

A study published last year in American Journal of Epidemiology has shown that frequent cell phone users face a 50 percent higher risk of developing certain types of tumors. Specifically the risk of developing parotid tumors is increased by 50 percent. The parotid is the largest salivary gland and is located near the jaw and ear where cell phones are typically held.

A 50 percent increased risk of cancer sounds very serious, and any increased chance of cancer should be taken seriously. However, if you stand back and look at the actual numbers the chance of getting a tumor from using a cell phone is still incredibly minute.

A study performed by Mark Kidd showed that in heavy cell phone users the risk of parotid tumors increased from 0.003 percent to 0.0045 percent.

In September of 2007 DailyTech reported that the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme published a study stating that there was no short-term link between cancer and cell phone use. The report did say that more research was needed into the association of long term cell phone use and cancer.

A study by Dr. Siegal Sadetzki showed that using a cell phone for more than 10 years does in fact raise the risk of brain cancer and notes that children are particularly at risk because of their developing skulls. Sadetzki says, “While I think this technology is here to stay, I believe precautions should be taken in order to diminish the exposure and lower the risk for health hazards.”

Sadetzki recommends using a hands-free device at all times and holding the phone away from the body along with shorter less frequent calls. She also says limit the time kids spend on the phone.

Source: www.DailyTech.com

Obesity Increases Cancer Risk, Analysis Of Hundreds Of Studies Shows

Researchers from the University of Manchester, Christie Hospital and University of Bern in Switzerland have today published findings in the Lancet medical journal which further support the link between obesity and risk of developing cancer.

Following on from findings reported by the World Cancer Research fund last year, the study reveals that risk is increased not only in common cancers such as breast, bowel and kidney, but also in less common cancers such as blood cancers (myeloma and leukaemia) and melanoma (a form of skin cancer).

Dr Andrew Renehan and colleagues from the University of Manchester and Christie Hospital, did a meta-analysis (a combined analysis of 221 previous studies), looking at over 250,000 cases of cancer, to determine the risk of cancer associated with a 5kg/m2 increase in body mass index (BMI).

The researchers found in men, a 5kg/m2 increase in BMI raised the risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma by 52%, thyroid cancer by 33%, and colon and kidney cancers each by 24%.

In women, a BMI increase of 5kg/m2 increased the risk of endometrial (59%), gallbladder (59%), oesophageal adenocarcinoma (51%) and kidney (34%) cancers.

They also noted weaker, but significant, positive associations between increased BMI and rectal cancer and malignant melanoma in men; postmenopausal breast, pancreatic, thyroid, and colon cancers in women; and leukaemia, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in both sexes. They found associations were stronger in men than in women for colon cancer - 24% in men compared with 9% in women.

The study looked at cancer data from all over the world, and while the results for North America, Europe, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region were broadly similar, there was a stronger link between increased BMI and both premenopausal and post menopausal breast cancers in Asia-Pacific populations.

The senior author on the study, Dr Andrew Renehan, said: "This was a hugely comprehensive piece of research looking at 221 different studies in 20 types of cancer. For some cancer types, associations differ between sexes and populations of different ethnic origins and this should inform the exploration of biological mechanisms that link obesity with cancer."

He added: "Over the past five years, there was been increasing proof that obesity is linked with cancer risk, but despite this, we do not know whether weight reduction in people protects them against cancer. The findings of this study are important to address these issues and explore ways to prevent cancers in the future."

In an accompanying comment, Dr Susanna Larsson and Dr Alicja Wolk, Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, say: "The number of deaths per year attributable to obesity is about 30000 in the UK and ten times that in the USA, where obesity has been estimated to have overtaken smoking in 2005 as the main preventable cause of illness and premature death."

They conclude: "Efforts will be needed to increase education on diet and physical activity, train health professionals, restrict advertisements of high-calorie and low-nutrient foods, limit access to unhealthy foods in schools and workplaces, levy taxes on sugary drinks and other foods high in calories, fat, or sugar, lower the prices of health foods, and promote physical activity in schools and workplaces. National cancer plans should include all these factors to reduce obesity, and thus decrease cancer incidence and increase survival."

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Many Prostate Cancers Will Not Need Treatment

One of the largest studies of its kind concludes that most older men with early prostate cancer do not shorten their survival odds if they adopt a "wait-and-see" approach to the disease.

In fact, most such patients will die of other causes or they simply won't develop any complications from the cancer, the researchers found.

"Many elderly men with lower risk cancer may do well with conservative management," concluded study author Grace Lu-Yau, a cancer epidemiologist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and an associate professor at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and School of Public Health.

"Each patient facing a treatment decision has to ask himself what is the potential survival benefit of various treatments and the potential side effects of various treatments, then compare this potential risk of side effects with the potential risk of cancer complications if the cancer is left untreated - and ask themselves which treatment option is their personal preference," Lu-Yau said.

She presented the findings to reporters at a special teleconference Tuesday, part of the 2008 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium taking place in San Francisco.

The question of whether to treat or not treat prostate cancer has long absorbed experts.

Although one in six men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, many of the malignancies are slow-growing, and there is currently no reliable way to identify which men will benefit from treatment. Better knowledge of the natural history of the disease (i.e., what happens without any treatment) would help guide treatment decisions, Lu-Yau said.

This study is one of the first to look at the natural history of prostate cancer since PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood testing has become commonplace. PSA tests can detect a prostate cancer six to 13 years earlier than previous methods.

Lu-Yau and her colleagues looked at data on more than 9,000 men with Stage I or II prostate cancer diagnosed between 1992 and 2002 who did not undergo treatment. The mean age of participants was 77 years.

Seventy-two percent of these men died of other causes or didn't have enough cancer progression to warrant surgery or radiation, the researchers found. For the remaining 2,675 men who did receive treatment, the median time between diagnosis and start of therapy was more than 10 years.

Not surprisingly, men with less aggressive disease survived longer than those with more aggressive tumors.

"For elderly men with localized prostate cancer, the potential survival benefit for treatment is most likely modest, therefore it is very critical to weigh the risk of having side effects of various treatments with the risk of developing cancer-related complications down the road," Lu-Yau said. "The majority of patients will die of other causes or remain alive without significant major complications."

A second study presented at the conference found that giving salvage radiation therapy (SRT) to men whose PSA levels rise after having their prostate removed can reduce their risk of dying from the cancer by more than 60 percent.

SRT is typically given only after a recurrence, not after an initial diagnosis of prostate cancer, noted study lead author Dr. Bruce Trock, associate professor of urology, epidemiology, oncology and environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Existing studies have either not been large enough or long enough in duration to determine if SRT prolongs survival.

In this retrospective analysis of 635 men who had experienced a recurrence after having their prostate removed, 62 percent of those who did not receive any salvage therapy were still alive after 10 years, versus 86 percent of those who received SRT and 82 percent of those who received SRT plus hormone therapy.

Men whose PSA doubling time (the amount of time it took for PSA levels to double from when in first becomes detectable) was six months or less had the greatest benefit.

"If another study was able to replicate our data, it could lead to clinical trial that would eventually support a way to determine who should get immediate adjuvant radiation and who could wait until the time of recurrence to have SRT," Trock said. "The question is, could a benefit be achieved in some of these men if you waited to see whether they recurred or not?"

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

No-Carb Diet May Curb Prostate Cancer

In Lab Tests On Mice, Prostate Tumors Grow Slower With No-Carbohydrate Diet

www.cbsnews.com

Forgoing carbohydrates may slow the growth of prostate cancer, according to preliminary lab tests in mice.

The researchers aren't making dietary recommendations for men. But they say the topic deserves further study.

"This study showed that cutting carbohydrates may slow tumor growth, at least in mice," Duke University urologist Stephen Freedland, MD, says in a news release.

"If this is ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can control, our diets," says Freedland, who plans to start such trials next year.

Freedland's team split 75 mice into three groups:

• Low-fat diet: 12 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 72 percent carbohydrate
• Western diet: 40 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 44 percent carbohydrate
• No-carb diet: 84 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 0 percent carbohydrate

The no-carb diet was modeled on a special diet sometimes given to prevent seizures in children with epilepsy, Freedland's team notes.

After 24 days on the diets, the mice got an injection of human prostate cancer cells.

The mice on the no-carb diet outlived the mice on the Western diet. The no-carb mice also had tumors that were a third smaller after 51 days than the mice on the Western diet.

Tumor growth and survival were similar for the mice on the low-fat and no-carb diets.

"One could argue that the [no-carb] diet provides no advantage and future studies should focus on a low-fat diet," the researchers write in today's online edition of The Prostate.

But they suggest that the no-carb diets may have other advantages, such as greater weight loss and lower levels of a tumor-promoting chemical.

The study's limits include the fact that it only involved mice and its relatively short time span.

Whether the findings apply to people - and the long-term effects - remain to be seen.

As Freedland's team notes, the no-carb diet used in their study was very high in fat, and high-fat diets have been linked to greater risk of prostate cancer, heart disease , and other health problems.

The type of fat may make a difference. For instance, Freedland and colleagues got different results in a past study that used corn oil as mice's main source of fat rather than milk fat or lard.

Other researchers have shown that intensive diet and lifestyle changes may slow prostate cancer without requiring anyone to give up carbohydrates.

Keep slim or risk cancer

Report ties meat, body fat to cancer

www.guardian.co.uk

Even people of a healthy weight should slim if they want to reduce their risk of developing cancer, a landmark study advised today.

Everyone should aim to be as slim as possible without being underweight, said the World Cancer Research Fund.

Its analysis of 40 years of international research into the links between lifestyle and cancer also advised that people should not eat processed meat, such as ham and bacon, gain no weight after 21 years of age, and avoid drinking alcohol.

The researchers found "convincing" evidence that excess body fat can cause six different types of common cancers, including those of the breast, bowel and pancreas.

They said that to enjoy maximum protection against cancer everyone should be at the lower end of the healthy weight range.

Sir Michael Marmot, who chaired the expert panel, said: "We are recommending that people aim to be as lean as possible within the healthy range, and that they avoid weight gain throughout adulthood.

"This might sound difficult, but this is what the science is telling us more clearly than ever before. The fact is that putting on weight can increase your cancer risk, even if you are still within the healthy range.

"So the best advice for cancer prevention is to avoid weight gain, and if you are already overweight then you should aim to lose weight."

People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9 are considered to be within a healthy weight range. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered "overweight", while anyone with a 30+ rating is classified as clinically obese.

But the study said the risk of cancer rises as people get nearer to a BMI of 25 and everyone should try to be as close to the lower end of the weight range as possible.

The researchers said body fat was a key factor in the development of cancer, claiming that its links to cancer are much stronger than generally realised.

The report is based on an analysis of 7,000 cancer studies published since the 1960s, and includes recommendations from a panel of 21 world-renowned scientists.

The report concludes there is strong evidence that excess body fat is a trigger for cancers of the oesophagus, pancreas, bowel, kidney, the lining of the womb, and breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

The survey also links diet to the risk of developing certain cancers, particularly those of the bowel.

The researchers particularly warned against eating processed meat, including ham, bacon, pastrami, salami, and frankfurters.

The study also found a strong link between eating red meat and colorectal cancer and recommend that people consume no more than 500g of cooked red meat a week.

All alcoholic drinks should be avoided to protect against cancer, but the study acknowledged that modest consumption was said to have a protective benefit for heart disease. Alcohol was particularly linked to mouth, oesophagus and breast cancers.

Mothers are advised to breastfeed exclusively for six months and to continue with complementary breastfeeding after that to protect against breast cancer and "probably" protect their child against obesity later in life. The most recent data shows that in 2004 nearly a quarter of men and women in England were obese, as well as 10% of girls and 8% of boys aged under 20.

A government report published earlier this month warned that if trends continue some 60% of UK men, 50% of women and a quarter of all children could be clinically obese by 2050.

Funny Diet and Weight Loss Stories

Vitamin D Won't Help Prevent Most Cancers

www.forbes.com

High blood levels of vitamin D did not lower the overall cancer death rate in a long-term study, researchers report.
However, they did note a marked reduction in colorectal cancer deaths linked to the vitamin.

The findings, by a team from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, run counter to some earlier data suggesting that vitamin D might help prevent malignancy.

"Over the past several years, a number of publications have suggested that vitamin D can reduce deaths from various forms of cancer," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "This is a further bit of evidence that leads us to call for further investigations before we make recommendations for the general population."

Even the finding that the vitamin might lower colon cancer risk merits further study, added Lichtenfeld, who was not involved in the research. "We have called for further research to see if vitamin D does or does not reduce deaths from cancer," he said. "We do not have sufficient evidence at this time to make a recommendation, for example, that people increase their intake of vitamin D to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer."

In their study, the NCI team looked at data on almost 17,000 participants in the third Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were followed for anywhere from six to 12 years. There were 536 deaths from cancer in the group during that time.

The study found no relationship between overall cancer deaths and circulating blood levels of vitamin D, said the report, published in the Oct. 30 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

However, people with higher levels of circulating vitamin D had a 72 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer mortality than those with lower levels, the report found.

These numbers can't be taken to mean that vitamin D prevents colorectal cancer because the study was not large enough and didn't run long enough to provide definitive information, said Cindy Davis, a program director in the NCI nutrition sciences research group and co-author of an accompanying editorial.

"Cancer is a very long process, and there is an even longer period between incidents of mortality," Davis said. "There was only a very small number of cancer deaths. If there is a relationship, this study is not large enough to show one."

Some other studies have given evidence that vitamin D may provide protection against colon cancer, but others have not, she noted.

In addition, Davis added, "We don't know what the optimum level of vitamin D is, we don't know whether genetics might affect the benefits, and we need to consider interactions with other dietary components. Some people may be put at risk. Evidence suggests an increase in kidney stones [with excess vitamin D], and while a kidney stone is not cancer, it is a problem."

The current recommendation for vitamin D is 200 International Units a day, Davis said, and "I believe that when possible, people are better off meeting their nutritional needs through diet rather than through supplements."

Some foods, such as milk, are fortified with vitamin D, and the nutrient can be found in some fish and fish oils, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The skin also manufacturers vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight.

D. Michal Freedman, the NCI epidemiologist who led the study, said its main finding "was the lack of a relationship between total cancer deaths and vitamin D levels." Freedman downplayed the colorectal cancer data as "a secondary finding."

"The study doesn't address the issue of the effects of vitamin D in the blood," Freedman said. "The issue of what people should be taking in terms of vitamin D involves a lot of other factors."

In a related study published in the same issue of the journal, a team at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, found that treatment with a derivative of vitamin A might help reduce former smokers' risk of developing lung cancer.

Patients who received the derivative, called 13- cis-retinoic acid, displayed reduced lung cell growth of the type that might later form cancers, the team reported.

Israeli leader to have surgery for early-stage prostate cancer

www.startribune.com

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert revealed Monday that he had been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and would undergo surgery, but he said his condition was not life-threatening and he would stay on the job.

"According to what my doctors have told me, it is a matter of a microscopic growth that hasn't spread and can be removed by a short surgical procedure," Olmert said at a news conference.

He said he had been told there would be no need for radiation or chemotherapy.

Olmert said the surgery was planned "in the next few months," and an aide said it would not occur before U.S.-sponsored peace talks set to begin in November or December in Annapolis, Md.

Olmert, 62, said that while he was not legally obliged to disclose information about his medical condition, he wanted to bring it promptly to the public's attention on his own initiative.

Olmert had a biopsy on Oct. 19 and received the results about a week later, said Dr. Shlomo Segev, one of his physicians.

Olmert took office in January 2006 after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a stroke. Sharon has remained in a coma ever since, and his case prompted demands for full medical disclosure by the prime minister.

Girls to Get Cervical Cancer Jab

www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk

Girls aged 12 to 13 are to be vaccinated to help protect against cervical cancer, the Scottish Government has said. A "catch-up" immunisation campaign for older teenage girls aged up to 18 is also planned to be launched from next September.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the vaccination campaign will extend over several years.

By the time it is completed, it is hoped around 120,000 girls in Scotland under 18 will have taken part. Some estimates of the cost of each jab have been put at ?250, resulting in a potential bill of ?30 million for the country.

Similar vaccination measures have been announced by the Department of Health in England, with a catch-up campaign starting for girls older than 13 from Autumn 2009. But health chiefs in Scotland are hoping to bring forward vaccinations for girls older than 13 a year in advance.

The Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are still looking at how this will work, but we want to move to the catch-up campaign as soon as possible. We are hoping to start it in the autumn of 2008, but it might be that it stretches out over a few years."

The girls will be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV causes around 70% of cases of cervical cancer, which kills more than 1,000 women in the UK each year.

The jab, which is not compulsory and is most likely to be delivered in schools, is expected to revolutionise the approach to beating the disease. It is thought the vaccine will be given in three doses over a six-month period.

Earlier this year the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that vaccines should be introduced routinely for girls aged around 12 to 13 years. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon also committed the new government to introducing the HPV vaccine, subject to an independent review of the costs to the NHS.

In Scotland the lifetime risk of a woman developing cervical cancer is one in 124. During 2004, 282 new cases were diagnosed and 102 women died of cervical cancer in the country.

Risk factors of breast cancer

www.jamaica-gleaner.com

THE RISK of developing breast cancer should be of concern to women and men alike. There are several risk factors associated with breast cancer. You may be curious to know what a risk factor is. A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of developing diseases such as arthrosclerosis, diabetes and cancers.

Some risk factors, such as age, race and gender, cannot be changed as they are linked to the person. Other risks are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Today, with the increase in lifestyle diseases, several risk factors for cancers are triggered by lifestyle and personal behaviour. These include diet, smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentary lifestyle.

Age

The breast cancer risk factors that you will not be able to change include age, race and gender. As you age, your risk of breast cancer increases. At age 55 and over, two of every three women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, five to 10 per cent of breast cancers are hereditary. The fact that mother or father had the disease increases the likelihood of getting breast cancer. By a process of mutation, genes change and when inherited from a parent the risk of breast cancer increases.

Abnormal genes

The most common inherited mutations are those of the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 genes. These are normally responsible for preventing cancer by making proteins that help the cells from growing abnormally. When these abnormal genes are inherited, they increase the risk of breast cancer in woman at a younger age by 80 per cent compared to those women who are not born with mutated genes.

Persons who are at risk of breast cancer through inheriting mutated genes may be anxious to have genetic testing done. However, it is important to weigh the risks and benefits of genetic testing. Consultations should be done with a genetic counsellor or a qualified doctor before genetic testing is done.

Late pregnancy

Women who have no children or had their first child after age 30 may have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. Early pregnancy and having multiple children reduces the risk of breast cancer in women.

The debate is on as to whether birth control pills increase the risk of breast cancer. Some studies have shown that the use or oral contraceptives may slightly increase breast cancer risk in women but the risk declines once the use of contraceptives is stopped. You should discuss the use of oral contraceptives and their risk factors for breast cancers with your doctor before you start to use them.

Menopause

Menopause brings changes in hormones and it may be necessary to resort to hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) to help relieve the symptoms associated with menopause and to prevent thinning of the bones (osteoporosis). For women who still have their uterus (womb), a combination of the hormones progesterone and estrogen is usually prescribed. Estrogen alone can increase the risk of uterine cancer so progesterone is combined to reduce this risk. For women who have had a hysterectomy and no longer have a uterus, estrogen alone may be prescribed in what is known as estrogen replacement therapy (ERT).

However, the American Cancer Society reports that large studies have found an increased risk of breast cancer in women on combined postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT). Combined PHT also increases the likelihood of finding the cancer in a more advanced stage, possible because it reduces the effectiveness of mammograms.

Alcohol

Alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer and the risk increases with amount of alcohol consumed. Women who drink two to five alcoholic drinks daily have about one and a half times the breast cancer risk compared with women who drink no alcohol. In addition to cancer of the breast, alcohol consumption is known to increase the risk of cancers in the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver.

An overweight or obese woman increases her risk of breast cancer, especially after menopause when the ovaries stop making estrogen, leaving fat tissues to produce most of the estrogen. With more fat tissue from being overweight, estrogen levels increase as well as the likelihood of breast cancer. It is advisable to maintain a healthy weight throughout the life cycle balancing food intake with physical exercise.

Exercise

It is well established that exercise reduces the breast cancer risk. Studies have shown that as little at 1.25 to 2.5 hours per week of brisk walking will reduce a woman's risk of breast cancer by 18 per cent. It is recommended that to reduce your risk of breast cancer you engage in 45 to 60 minutes of intentional physical activity at least five days a week.

Though not conclusive among researchers, it is strongly believed that fat in the diet increases the risk of breast cancer. It has been found that the incidence of breast cancer is less in countries with a diet low in total fat and saturated fat. Further research is taking place to better understand the effect of the types of fat in the diet and the breast cancer risk. It is recommended that fats from plant sources be consumed and that the diet should include five or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day. Whole grains should be eaten over processed grains and the consumption of processed and red meats should be limited.

Unfounded theories

There are email rumours that underarm antiperspirants may cause breast cancer due to chemicals absorbed through the skin which interfere with lymph circulation causing toxins to build up in the breast and eventually results in breast cancer. Also unfounded, is another email rumour that under wire bras may cause breast cancer by obstructing lymph flow. Silicone breast implants do not pose a cancer risk, but scar tissue may develop in the breasts. Implants make it harder to see breast tissue in mammograms.

A fairly recent finding indicates that women, who work at nights, for example nurses on a night shift, are at greater risk for breast cancer. It is believed that this may be due to a disruption in melatonin, a hormone affected by light.

There is enough conclusive evidence of the risk factors that cause breast cancer. Your responsibility is to check your breasts each month. At the first sign of any abnormality, check with your doctor. A mammogram should be part of your annual medical examination.

Obesity linked to colon cancer in women

abclocal.go.com

Obesity causes a number of health problems. But now, researchers say, it's the biggest risk for a certain kind of cancer in women.

Researchers led by doctors at Stony Brook University in New York say obesity is the single biggest risk factor for colon cancer in women. They found that women with precancerous polyps in the colon were more likely to be obese than women without polyps. And obesity was better at predicting who would have these growths than smoking or having a family history of colon cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It will affect 153,000 Americans this year.

This study was presented to a meeting in Philadelphia of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Obesity linked to elevated risk of esophageal cancer

FoodConsumer.org

By David Liu

Obese people are more likely to develop cancer of the gullet than those with a normal body weight, a new study finds. But the finding does not mean that obesity is the cause of the disease.

The study published in the British journal Gut looked at 793 people with esophageal cancer and 1,580 controls matched for age and residence location.

The study found people with a body mass index of 40 or higher were six times more at risk than those with a BMI between 18.5 and 25, which is normal by definition.

Those with obesity and acid reflux were 16 times more likely to have the disease.

The association was still significant even after other factor such as smoking and alcohol consumption were taken into account.

In obese people, high levels of insulin boost production of insulin-like growth factor which is known to stimulate cell growth and inhibits apoptosis, programmed deaths of cells. Both may increase the cancer risk.

But further research is needed to confirm the mechanism. The study per se could not reveal any causal relationship between obesity and esophageal cancer.

A scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org, who was not part of the study team, said that obesity may be a marker. If the association turns out to be causal, then the risk factors for obesity may also be risk factors for the cancer also obesity in itself may also be a risk factor.

Esophageal cancer is expected to be diagnosed in 15,560 men and women and kills 13,940 in the United States this year.

Dietrine Carb Blocker to Lose Weight

Funny Diet and Weight Loss Stories

Surgery Best For Prostate Cancer Patients

www.dogflu.ca

A new study finds that prostate cancer surgery to remove the entire gland offers the best chance of male patients surviving the disease

A new study confirms that surgery is a really good choice for many men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The study finds that men have the best chance for long term survival if their prostate gland is removed after they are diagnosed with the disease.

For the study Dr. Arnaud Merglen and colleagues at Geneva University in Switzerland studied data from a registry containing 844 men diagnosed with the disease.

They found that within the initial 5 years of treatment the length of survival did not vary that much depending on what form of treatment men received.

But after 10 years, "patients treated with radiotherapy or watchful waiting had a significantly increased risk of death from prostate cancer compared with patients who underwent prostatectomy (removal of the gland)," the study said.

After 10 years, the survival rates were: 83% for prostate gland removal,75% for radiation, 72% for waiting, 41% for hormone therapy and 71% for other forms of treatment.

"There is growing evidence from observational studies that prostatectomy offers the best chance of long-term specific survival in men with localized prostate cancer, in particular younger patients and those with poorly differentiated tumors," the study concluded.

Low-fat Dietary Pattern May Lower Risk Of Ovarian Cancer

www.sciencedaily.com

A diet low in fat could reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in healthy postmenopausal women, according to new results from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Dietary Modification Trial. Researchers found that after four years, women who decreased the amount of dietary fat they consumed were 40 percent less likely to develop ovarian cancer than women who followed normal dietary patterns. As expected, no effect was found during the first four years because preventive benefits on cancer often take many years to develop.

Ovarian cancer affects about 1 in 60 U.S. women in their lifetimes and has the highest mortality of all cancers of the female reproductive system.

“Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Invasive Cancer Incidence: Further Results from the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial,” is published online October 9 by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The WHI Dietary Modification Trial was conducted in 40 clinical centers throughout the United States and is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

The WHI Dietary Modification clinical trial followed 48,835 healthy, postmenopausal women for an average of 8.1 years to test whether a low-fat diet would reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Nearly 20,000 women in the intervention group were counseled to decrease fat intake to 20 percent of calories and to replace calories from fat with calories from vegetables, fruits, and grains. The control group (nearly 30,000 women) received diet-related education materials only.

Women in both groups started with average consumption of more than 35 percent of calories from fat when they joined the study. By the end of the first year, the low-fat diet group reduced average total fat intakes to 24 percent of calories from fat, about 11 percent less than the women in the usual diet group. By the end of the study, women in the low-fat diet group averaged 29 percent calories from fat, compared to 37 percent calories from fat in the usual diet group. The low-fat diet group also increased their consumption of vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Researchers found that women who started with the highest fat intake and who reduced their fat intake the most during the study lowered their risk of ovarian cancer the most. In addition, although no effect on rates of endometrial cancer were found, the new results suggest a small reduction in overall risk of cancer among the women who ate less fat, but this finding was not statistically significant.

In the study's primary findings published in the February 8, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, women in the low-fat diet group had a tendency toward reduced risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke, and no reduction in risk of colorectal cancer. The overall 9 percent reduction in breast cancer was not statistically significant; however, like the results for ovarian cancer, the study found that women who started with the highest fat intake lowered their risk of breast cancer more markedly.

The WHI is the most comprehensive study to date of the causes and prevention of the major diseases affecting the health of older women. Over 15 years, the study’s findings on heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and osteoporosis have stimulated many changes in clinical practice. The WHI is also one of the largest studies of its kind ever undertaken in the United States and is considered a model for future studies of women’s health.

This study of low-fat dietary pattern is one of the three randomized clinical trials that make up the WHI. The others included trials of hormone therapy (estrogen plus progestin and estrogen alone). Both trials were stopped early because of increased risk of diseases like stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer, and because the hormones failed to reduce risk of heart disease. The third clinical trial studied the effects of calcium and Vitamin D supplementation on osteoporosis-related bone fractures and on colorectal cancer. As reported in February 2006, the study found that calcium and vitamin D supplements provide a modest benefit in preserving bone mass and prevent hip fractures in certain groups of healthy postmenopausal women, especially those over age 60, but do not prevent other types of fractures or colorectal cancer.

Body's Own Stem Cells Could Trigger Cancer Spread

www.medicalnewstoday.com

Written by: Christian Nordqvist

Your body's own stem cells could trigger alterations in cancer cells which facilitate their spreading around the body, say scientist from the Whitehead Institute, USA. They found that human breast cancer in mice have a higher chance of spreading if they are blended with bone marrow stem cells. Fortunately, say the scientists, it is perhaps feasible to reverse the process, undermining the deadliness of the cancer.

You can read about this study in the journal Nature.

When metastasis occurs it is much harder to treat the cancer. Metastasis is when the cancer invades other parts of the body and forms new tumors. In this study, the scientists intended to find out whether it was possible to stop this from happening - they wanted to find a means of isolating the cancer to one part of the body; stopping it from metastasizing (spreading, invading other parts).

The researchers have found an association with a specific type of stem cell, which encourages the breast cancer cells to spread to other parts of the body. They are found in the bone marrow, and are called Mesenchymal stem cells. These stem cells generally turn into cartilage, bone fat and muscle.

Previous studies had indicated that these stem cells generally migrated in huge numbers to where tumors were situated, meaning they were probably involved in the spread of the cancer. The researchers mixed these stem cells with human breast cancer cells in mice and found they spread to the lungs at seven times their normal rate.

The scientists believe the stem cells alter the cancer cells so that they metastasize. However, they add that as soon as they had spread, those cancer cells returned to their original genetic make-up. The bad news here is that as they revert back to their original genetic make up they are hard to identify, the good news, say the researchers, is that it is most likely they can find a way of blocking the whole process.

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7 ways to fight breast cancer

detnews.com

Carolyn Clifford

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is likely that we all will be hearing tips on preventing and treating breast cancer. Since some of the diet data is contradictory, you may not want to change your eating habits based on one study. But here are seven pieces of advice from the American Cancer Society you may want to consider.

1. Limit alcohol consumption. The research shows alcohol increases the risk of several kinds of cancer, including breast cancer. People who drink alcohol should limit consumption to no more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. Women at high risk of breast cancer may want to cut out alcohol altogether.
2. Eat more antioxidants. Antioxidant nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids and many other chemicals from plants. Studies show that people who eat more veggies and fruits may have a lower risk for some types of cancer.
3. Don't worry about coffee. While caffeine may heighten symptoms of fibrocystic breast lumps, a type of benign breast disease, there is no evidence it increases the risk of breast cancer.
4. Get your folate. Folate is a B vitamin found in many vegetables, beans, fruits, whole grains and fortified cereals. Since 1998, all grain products in the United States have been fortified with folate. Women who don't get enough folate may have an increased risk for breast cancer, especially if they drink alcohol.
5. Eat to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese is linked with an increased risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women. So avoiding excessive weight gain also to reduces the risk of other chronic diseases.
6. Use soy in moderation. Soy has been shown to protect against hormone-dependent cancers in animal studies. But high doses of soy could possibly increase the risk of estrogen-responsive cancers, such as breast cancer.
7. Don't smoke. Yes, I know, tobacco isn't food. But avoiding it is so important I just had to add it to the list.

Five Myths About Breast Cancer and Why You Shouldn't Believe Them

Five Myths About Breast Cancer and Why You Shouldn't Believe Them

www.foxnews.com

We’ve all heard the wives’ tales. Deodorant will give you breast cancer and so do microwaves and tight-fitting bras.

Alas, all of these tales are fictitious. And, unfortunately, there are a lot of other seemingly believable myths on breast cancer floating around, say doctors.

Many women, for example, have been told that women under the age of 40 should be getting mammograms and it’s the greedy insurance industry that is preventing them from doing so.

Mammograms, however, are ineffective for most young women, which is the real reason why they are discouraged from getting them, said Dr. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.

“Young women’s breasts are dense and if they get mammograms, their breasts show up very white on mammograms and cancer shows up as white,” she said. “But, as women get older, their breasts are less dense and show up gray on a mammogram, which makes it easy to identify the white cancer. If there is a family history, and women are worried, they can start earlier and in this case a digital mammography may work better than a traditional mammography.”

Here are five other myths about breast cancer:

— There’s no history of breast cancer in my family so I won’t get it.

“That’s not true,” said Dr. Marisa Weiss, an oncologist and the president of breastcancer.org. Although women with a family history are at a higher risk for the disease, environmental factors, drinking, smoking, medication and diet can all influence a woman’s chances of getting breast cancer.

Knowing the history of breast cancer on both sides of your family is also important. Just because a woman doesn’t have a history of breast cancer on her mother’s side, doesn’t mean she’s at a decreased risk. A paternal family history of breast cancer also increases a woman’s chances of getting it.

— I have breast cancer, so I have to get a mastectomy if I want to stop the spread and prevent the cancer from coming back.

Very few women diagnosed with breast cancer actually need a mastectomy, said Zuckerman. “In fact, most of the women who get mastectomies don’t need them,” she said. “And for women to lose their breasts, in addition to the normal emotional turmoil that they go through having breast cancer, is harmful emotionally and physically.”

Specifically, Zuckerman said that about 75 percent of the women who get breast cancer each year will not need mastectomies. Many women with stages 0, 1, or 2 breast cancer respond well to treatment that includes a lumpectomy, chemotherapy or a combination of both, she added.

— Young women are just as likely to get breast cancer as older women.

Both Weiss and Zuckerman agree that this also is not true. Women older than 50 are most at risk for this disease, explained Zuckerman. “Breast cancer in women younger than 30 is so rare, and this is one of the things that concerns me,” she said. “I think the media focuses on young women, because it’s so shocking when someone in their 20’s gets cancer. But what you end up with, are women in their 20’s and 30’s who are terrified that they're going to get cancer and women in their 50’s who think they don’t need to worry about it, when the opposite is true."

Of the nearly 200,000 women who will get breast cancer next year, half will be over the age of 61, said Weiss. About 25,000 women will be under the age of 40. “It’s still a significant number, but when you compare it to the overall number of women who get breast cancer, it’s a small percentage,” she said.

— Breast cancer is fatal.

“Breast cancer is not fatal in and of itself,” said Zuckerman. “What makes it fatal is if it goes into other parts of the body and gets into the lymph nodes, lungs and other organs,” she said. “Also if it gets into the blood or the bones, it can kill a person. That’s the risk of metastasized cancer. That means it has spread and once it hits the lymph nodes, it can become out of control.” Zuckerman said early detection is the best way to prevent cancer from spreading.

— Men don’t get breast cancer.

“This is certainly not true,” said Weiss. “Men do get it.” The American Cancer Society estimates that about 2,030 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in men this year and about 450 men will die after getting the disease. Still, breast cancer is about 100 times more common in women and women whose fathers are diagnosed with breast cancer are at an increased risk for the disease just as they would be if their mothers are diagnosed with it, added Weiss.

7 ways to fight breast cancer

Surviving Colorectal Cancer

www.ivanhoe.com

A new study uncovers the best treatments to prolong survival for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, but researchers have a warning about their toxic effects.

Researchers from the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece conducted a meta-analysis of 242 randomized trials to compare treatment regimens for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The studies were pulled from the last 40 years to determine whether certain treatments were better at stabilizing the disease and prolonging survival than others.

Researchers report, for patients expected to live one year on a treatment of fluorouracil (Adrucil) and leucovorin, there was an absolute survival benefit of eight months when an additional treatment of irinotecan (Camptosar) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) was added. There was also a survival benefit noted after adding oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) plus bevacizumab or irinotecan plus oxaliplatin, though the success was less with a 4.7-month additional survival benefit.

The analysis is important, report researchers, because newer and more intense treatments have more toxicity. There is a need to determine just how beneficial particular treatments are so both doctors and patients can weigh the pros and cons.

Researchers acknowledge there has been success in prolonging the survival of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, but warn multi-drug treatment regimens can lead to serious toxic effects. They write, "The fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, plus bevacizumab regimen especially, which has the highest probability to be the best in improving survival ... might be complicated by up to 84.9 percent of grade 3 or 4 adverse events."

Researchers report further study is warranted to determine just how beneficial the newer treatment regimens are when weighed against their toxic effects.

Experts Compare Colon Cancer Treatment Outcomes

Open Meeting on Prostate Cancer at URMC

Prostate cancer is by far the most common cancer for men. One out of every six men will be diagnosed with it.

Rochester resident Sam Thompson was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. By the time he saw his doctor, he had already developed symptoms. That meant his disease was advanced.

So Mr. Thompson elected to have robotic laparoscopic surgery to remove the prostate.

Dr. Jean Joseph said, "We introduced it to the upstate New York area in 2000 and we've been performing it on a regular basis. We perform ten to fourteen surgeries a week."

Though surgeons have made advances in prostate removal, the key to a successful surgery is still early detection. When found early, men with prostate cancer have a 100 percent survival rate.

When it's detected late, treatment must be radical. If the cancer has grown beyond the prostate, surgery and radiation cannot help it. The treatment is then chemotherapy.

African American men are six times more likely to develop prostate cancer than other racial groups. Even though it’s recommended that men over fifty get annual prostate exams, black men are encouraged to get screened earlier.

Though Mr. Thompson's surgery was successful and he's been cancer-free for two years, he regrets he didn't see his doctor sooner.

"For me, I wish I had started at 48, 49,” Thompson said.” Different people react differently. Different nationalities react differently. So if you do it at an early age, 47, 48, you can't go wrong."

The University of Rochester Medical Center is having a day-long men's health seminar Friday, September 21. Local patients will share their experiences with prostate cancer care and doctors will discuss various treatments.

To register for the free event, call 585-275-2838

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