Cancer
news and resources
Mesothelioma
A rare cancer of the lining of the lung, is
caused by exposure to asbestos. At some point in our lives, nearly all of us have been
exposed to asbestos in the air we breathe and the water we drink; from natural deposits in
the earth, and from the deterioration of asbestos products around us. While most of us do
not become ill as a result of our exposure, because of long dormancy periods, mesothelioma
and other asbestos-related diseases can remain undetected for over a decade before the
patient shows any signs of illness. An exposure of as little as one or two months can
result in mesothelioma 30 or 40 years later.
Would you consider adding some information
on mesothelioma to your website? Perhaps it would be helpful for me to create something
built specifically for your website. I can
provide you with some content to place on your site regarding mesothelioma and its
implications, so that your website visitors could learn more about symptoms, diagnosis,
and treatments. It is important to get this information out to the public; will you help
with these efforts?
If you would rather not include information
about mesothelioma on your site, perhaps you would prefer making this information
available to the public by providing a link. This link will
take visitors to a site called Mesothelioma Web. For nearly a decade, Mesothelioma Web has
been one of the most comprehensive sites on mesothelioma, providing facts about
palliative care, nutrition, and chemotherapy, as well as information on clinical trials.
http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma.htm
Phytochemicals
Many studies have revealed that a regular
consumption of fruits and vegetables provides a significant protection against breast,
colon and other types of cancer. The risk of cancer is typically reduced by about 50
percent or more in those regularly eating many servings of fruit and vegetables every day
compared with those eating few servings.
Different fruits and vegetables may
provide protection against cancer at certain locations. For example, the use of carrots
and green, leafy vegetables provide substantial protection against lung cancer, while
broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower provide useful protection against colon cancer. The
regular consumption of cabbage has been shown to decrease the risk of colon cancer by 60
to 70 percent, while the regular use of onions or garlic can decrease the risk of stomach
and colon cancer by 50 to 60 percent. Recently, regular consumption of tomatoes and
strawberries was found to substantially protect against prostate cancer.
More info here
Carrotjuice and cancer
The best cancer fighting juice is carrot juice. It
is high in beta-carotene and high in alpha-carotene, an often ignored nutrient, though
thought by many experts to be ten times more powerful than beta-carotene.
More info here
Cancer diet
Raw vegetables and vegetable juices,
fruit (fresh and dried but rehydrated — avoid sulphurated), whole grains, lightly
cooked vegetables, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, beans, yogurt and kefir, small amounts
of organically raised meat, small amounts of poached fish, nuts and/or nut milks, herb
teas, vegetable soup, and cruciferous vegetables.
More info here
Fruit extracts may slow skin
cancer
Grapes, pomegrantes could protect against
melanoma
Compounds found in fruits such as
pomegranates and grapes may help protect against the changes that can lead to skin cancer.
TESTS ON mice show that extracts from the fruit can slow down or prevent the damage done
to skin by chemicals or sunlight. Staying out of the sun is by far the best way to prevent
skin cancer, the most common form of cancer. The American Cancer Society says more than a
million cases of basal and squamous cell cancer are diagnosed every year in the United
States. These cancers progress very slowly and are rarely fatal unless untreated for
years.
More info here
Protein that binds skin cells
found to play vital role
in spread of skin cancer
A protein that normally helps hold the
skin intact is also needed by skin cancer cells as they spread to other regions of the
body, researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered. Identifying this protein's
role opens the door for stopping the spread of this deadly cancer—the second most
common cancer type in the United States. The work is the first study implicating the
protein, collagen VII, in cancer. The finding came about because roughly two-thirds of
children with a blistering skin disorder called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis
bullosa, or RDEB—caused by a mutation that leads to an altered or missing collagen
VII protein—develop a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. This led
Paul Khavari, MD, PhD, the Carl J. Herzog Professor in Dermatology, to suspect that the
protein had something to do with cancer formation.
More
info here
Nanotech-laser kills cancer,
preserves healthy cells
Scientists at Stanford University have
developed a new laser therapy that destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones unharmed.
The new, non-invasive treatment is described in a study published in the Aug. 1 online
edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"One of the longstanding problems in
medicine is how to cure cancer without harming normal body tissue," says Hongjie Dai,
an associate professor of chemistry at Stanford and co-author of the study. "Standard
chemotherapy destroys cancer cells and normal cells alike. That's why patients often lose
their hair and suffer numerous other side effects. For us, the Holy Grail would be finding
a way to selectively kill cancer cells and not damage healthy ones."
More info here
Fluorescent probe may aid early
cancer detection
Specially designed molecule lights up
when it detects cellular activity that precedes tumors' spread. Medical school researchers
have developed a new way to spot subtle yet important chemical changes that take place
early in the growth of tumors. The method could eventually help in the early detection of
cancer and other diseases.
Matthew Bogyo, PhD, assistant professor
of pathology, and his colleagues have created a molecule that can label
proteases—protein-chewing enzymes that blast into overdrive in cancerous cells.
Bogyo's new molecule contains a fluorescent tag that flashes brightly enough to be seen
with conventional imaging equipment.
While there are other enzyme tags, Bogyo's "activity-based probe" is unusual in
that it only lights up when the proteases are active. Moreover, it works in living cells,
so the probe could potentially be used for whole-body imaging in the not-too-distant
future. Such techniques might be able to detect the warning signs of cancer long before
tumors have a chance to spread.
More
info here
Cancer-Enabling Enzyme Can Be
Blocked Naturally
Danish Research Confirms Cancer Breakthrough Approach by Dr. Rath. A discovery made by Dr.
Mathias Rath on how nutrient synergy can halt the cascading series of events that lead to
the metastasis of cancer has been recently confirmed by Research done at Copenhagen
University and published in the International Journal of Cancer.
The Danish study found that the lack of
the enzyme urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) can stop the spread of cancer, as shown
in mice genetically modified to not have the enzyme. The absence of uPA prevents the
ability of cancer cells to dissolve collagen and metastasize to other parts of the body,
but today there are no pharmaceutical solutions to block uPA.
Dr. Matthias Rath’s research shows
that blocking this enzyme can be achieved naturally. In 1992, Dr. Rath published research
suggesting the use of amino acid lysine as a natural inhibitor of plasmin and other
enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases) involved in collagen digestion.
Recently, Dr. Rath and his team of
researchers at the Matthias Rath Research Institute in Cellular Medicine, Santa Clara, CA
have identified a specific combination of nutrients that can inhibit the activity of
collagen dissolving enzymes and stop the spread of cancer cells. Dr. Rath’s research
shows that Vitamin C, the amino acids L-lysine and L-proline, and a green tea extract
known as Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) work together to synergistically block the spread
of cancer cells through connective tissue.
In addition, this specific nutrient
synergy can reduce new blood vessel formation, which supplies blood to tumors
(angiogenesis), inhibit cancer cell replication, and induce a natural “suicide”
cycle in cancer cells (apoptosis).
More info here
Vitamine E and
cancer
The Women’s Health
Study (WHS) – the largest randomized clinical trial to investigate the impact of
aspirin and vitamin E on the primary prevention of cardiovascular and cancer risk –
has helped shape some of clinical medicine’s basic understanding of disease
prevention and women’s health. Now, researchers from Brigham and Women’s
Hospital (BWH), where the WHS is based, are detailing new, long-awaited results that
examine if low-dose aspirin (100 mg every other day) protects healthy women against
cancer, and if vitamin E (600 IU every other day) protects healthy women against
cardiovascular disease and cancer.
BWH WHS researchers found in this healthy population that regular, low-dose aspirin had no
overall effect in preventing cancer, including breast, colorectal and other site-specific
cancers. However, researchers did find that regular low-dose aspirin therapy could confer
some protection against lung cancer but recommend further study to clarify these findings.
They also could not rule out benefits of higher doses of aspirin. In addition, researchers
identified that regular intake of vitamin E supplements did not help prevent overall
cardiovascular disease or cancer and did not affect total mortality. However, vitamin E
did reduce cardiovascular mortality and, again, researchers recommend that this finding be
explored her.
More
info here
Coffee Does Not Affect Risk of Colorectal Cancer Among Women and Men
However, largest studies to date find
reduction in risk among those who regularly drank decaffeinated coffee
Frequent consumption of coffee and other
caffeinated beverages has been thought to decrease the risk of colon and rectal cancers.
However, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), in two of the largest
studies to date, found that coffee or caffeine did not change the risk for colorectal
cancer in women and men.
Instead, researchers found that regular
consumption of decaffeinated coffee was associated with a reduced incidence of these
cancers.
According to lead author Karin B.
Michels, ScD, a clinical epidemiologist at BWH and associate professor at Harvard Medical
School, “Given how prevalent coffee consumption is around the globe, any effects of
caffeine on health could have enormous public health implications. In these two large
studies, we find evidence that coffee’s benefits for reducing colorectal cancer seems
to be minimal, but instead, decaffeinated coffee consumption might reduce risk of
colorectal cancer.”
More
info here
Glycemic Load May Be Associated With Colorectal Cancer
A diet with a high dietary glycemic load may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in
women, according to a new study. Glycemic load is a measure of how quickly a food's
carbohydrates are turned into sugars by the body (glycemic index) in relation to the
amount of carbohydrates per serving of that food. Some examples of foods with a high
glycemic load are white breads, white rice, and some pastas.
The growing recognition that colorectal
cancer may be promoted by hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance suggests that a diet
inducing high blood glucose levels and an elevated insulin response may contribute to a
metabolic environment conducive to tumor growth. Simin Liu, M.D., Sc.D., of Harvard
Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and colleagues looked at information
gathered from the Women's Health Study.
They looked at the association between
dietary glycemic load, overall dietary glycemic index, carbohydrate, fiber, nonfiber
carbohydrate, sucrose, and fructose with the subsequent development of colorectal cancer.
More
info here
EM-X and cancer
Clinical and experimental
findings have proved that EM-X controls cancers by
enhancing the antioxidant and immunological functions of humans and
experimental animals, suppressing cancer cells proliferation, inhibiting cancer
metastasis and DNA damage, and preventing adverse reactions of anti-cancer
agents.
More info here
In November 2003, a group of
doctors, therapists and researchers gathered in Okinawa, Japan, for a conference on EM-X.
The Chinese doctor Huirong Tao, who is associated with the Toushi Clinic in Hokkaido
Japan, narrated the success stories of four cancer patients treated with EM-X and a
special diet. Their tumours, whether situated in the chest, the prostate or the liver,
diminished significantly and in some cases disappeared.
Cancer is not the only
disease that EM-X can combat, however. Yevgeni Konoplya, chairman of the institute for
radiobiology at the National Science Academy in Byelorussia, presented his work with EM-X
in the areas where the accident at the nuclear power station in Chernobyl had resulted in
serious health problems. People who were afflicted with chronic fatigue, high body
temperatures and serious defects in their DNA benefited greatly from EM-X and showed a
remarkable improvement in their physical condition.
It was evident from the
presentations that the doctors and therapists could only resort to anecdotes and their own
experience rather than proper, but prohibitively expensive, clinical research. The
conclusion of Shigeru Tanaka, head of the Asaka Kousei Hospital Wako City in Japan was
unintentionally illustrative: ‘I have no data with which to convince specialists. But
how important is this when, in my many years of experience as a doctor, I have seen how,
when treated with EM-X, patients in my clinic recover from cancer, diabetes, heart
disease, asthma, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and chronic rheumatism – and
much more besides.’
More info here
Growth inhibitory potential of effective microorganism fermentation extract (EM-X) on
cancer cells
Taken together, our data suggested that
EM-X could inhibit growth and reduce the regeneration potential of cancer cells, possibly
through its antioxidation activity. Central Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Technology
for Drug Discovery and Synthesis, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hong Kong, P.R. China.
More
info here
Low Caloric Intake Associated
with Reduced Breast Cancer Incidence
Study suggests that diet during early
life may play a role in breast cancer development. Researchers from Brigham and Women's
Hospital (BWH) have successfully tested in humans a long-standing observation made in the
animal model: that restricting caloric intake could help reduce the risk of breast cancer.
The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers from Stockholm, Sweden, also found
that low caloric intake among women who go on to have children appears to be associated
with an even more pronounced reduction in risk. The study will appear in the March 10,
2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Breast cancer is the most common form of
cancer in women and second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States,
with one in eight women faced with the risk of developing breast cancer in her lifetime.
The number of new cases of breast cancer has increased by one percent per year in the
United States since the 1940s.
More
info here
Eating tomatoes and tomato sauce may reduce risk of prostate cancer
Researchers at Brigham and Women's
Hospital (BWH) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that eating tomatoes
and tomato products may help men reduce the risk of prostate cancer. "Previous
studies have shown a relationship between tomato consumption and risk of cancer,"
according to study lead author Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD of BWH and HSPH. "This
study, in which we carefully examined the full diet of study participants, provides us
further evidence that increased consumption of tomatoes is associated with a lower risk
prostate cancer."
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a natural
pigment that gives them their red color. Lycopene has potent antioxidant properties, and
is believed to be the key to the tomato's cancer-fighting powers.
Analyzing data and dietary questionnaires
from the HSPH-based Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), researchers found that
men who consumed two-plus servings of tomato sauce per week had a 23% lower risk of total
prostate cancer, and a 36% lower risk of metastatic prostate than participants who
consumed less than one serving of tomato sauce per month.
More
info
Aspirin and pancreatic cancer
Consistent, daily use may increase
risk by as much as 86 percent
In a large-scale study of more than
88,000 thousand nurses, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have shown that
regular aspirin use may significantly elevate a woman’s risk of developing cancer of
the pancreas, the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths. With an estimated 26 million
Americans subscribing to aspirin therapy, this finding adds a new layer of complexity to
the benefit-risk profile, one that still heavily favors the therapeutic benefits of
aspirin. Despite the potential risk of internal bleeding and some kinds of stroke
associated with aspirin use, physicians now routinely prescribe aspirin, most often as a
means of reducing their patient’s risk of heart disease.
The findings showed that women who were
regular aspirin users over a long duration had a 58 percent increased risk of pancreatic
cancer.
"Compared to other cancers, there
has been relatively little research published on pancreatic cancer, partly because it is a
rare and very fatal type of cancer, so our understanding of the biology behind this
disease is inconclusive," said Eva Schernhammer, MD, DrPH of BWH. "Initially we
expected that aspirin would protect against pancreatic cancer, especially since its
preventive role in colorectal cancer has been well documented. However, now it appears
that we need to examine the relationship more thoroughly."
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info
Self-destructing
Cancer
Researchers at the medical center have
tricked cancer cells into self-destructing by briefly disabling a cancer-causing gene.
Although the gene revs back up after deactivation, the brief hiatus gives the affected
cells a chance to alter their cancerous destiny. This work in mice could open new avenues
for treating some human cancers, researchers believe.
Cancer usually results after a cell
accumulates a handful of mutations in cancer-related genes called oncogenes or
tumor-suppressor genes. Researchers had thought that cancer cells would side-step attempts
to fix any single genetic change, especially after treatment ends. But in a study
published in the July 5 issue of Science, researchers found that by briefly
tinkering with only one mutant gene they could forever alter the course of the cancer.
More info
Herb extract appears to trigger
'suicide' in cancer cells
People with cancer may find new hope in
the form of an old Chinese herb. An extract of the herb, called triptolide, magnifies the
effects of traditional chemotherapy — a discovery that earned a patent for Stanford
researcher Glenn Rosen, MD. The drug is now in trials to test its safety in cancer
patients. "We are excited about the potential for [the extract] to help patients with
solid tumors such as ovarian, breast, lung and colon cancer," said Rosen, who is an
associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine. Rosen said that the vine
Tripterygium wilfordii has a long history in Chinese medicine. "In china they've been
getting an extract of this herb for thousands of years to treat rheumatoid arthritis and
other inflammatory diseases," Rosen said. In 1997, Rosen uncovered anti-cancer
effects in addition to the herb's traditional use.
More info
Designer
vaccines, thalidomide provide hope for battling ovarian cancer
With the goal of transforming ovarian
cancer from a deadly malignancy to a chronic but treatable disease, Stanford researchers
are exploring a variety of new treatments, such as cutting off a cancer's blood supply or
"programming" into the cancer its cellular death. Ovarian cancer often remains
undetected until an advanced stage, when it has spread beyond the ovaries. Its mild
symptoms include pressure or fullness in the pelvis, abdominal bloating, or changes in
bowel patterns that are constant and progressive. This year 14,000 women in the United
States are expected to die from the disease.
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