‘Supermouse’ helps in finding a holistic approach to fight cancer!

BBC News: Mice carrying a gene which appears to make them invulnerable to cancer may hold the key to safer and more effective treatments for humans.

The new breed, created with a more active "Par-4" gene, did not develop tumours, and even lived longer, said the journal Cancer Research.

University of Kentucky researchers said a human cancer treatment was possible. Cancer Research UK said that more research would be needed to prove it didn't just work in mice.

Par-4 was originally discovered in the early 1990s working inside human prostate cancers, and is believed to have a role in "programmed cell death", the body's own system for rooting out and destroying damaged or faulty cells.

The Kentucky team used an existing mouse breed known to be more vulnerable to cancers to test whether Par-4 could be used to fight them.

They introduced the gene to mouse eggs, and it was active in both the resulting pups - and their own offspring.

The mice with active Par-4 did not develop cancers, and lived slightly longer than those without the gene.

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Skin Cancer – Types & treatment options

Skin cancer, which is an increasingly common condition, is easily detectable in the early stages, as the tumor (the malignant growth on the skin), is usually clearly visible. Hence, it is essential for us to know about the types of skin cancer and how to detect it early, so that medical help can be sought at the earliest, before the cancer spreads to other parts of the body.

Being the fastest growing type of cancer in the developed world, it is more important for us to be aware of skin cancer, in order to reduce the risk of developing it.

This howstuffworks video talks about the common types of skin cancer and the different treatment options available to patients, to fight this disease.

‘Cone beam CT’ technology to revolutionize cancer treatment

A new tumor imaging technology – cone beam CT- could revolutionize cancer treatment in the years to come. This new technology creates three-dimensional axial CT slices of a patient’s tumor, enabling therapists and doctors to compare these images with initial treatment planning images to determine how precisely focused the radiation set-up is. They can then make position adjustments if necessary to deliver a more targeted therapy to the patient. The hope is that this technology will lead to more highly customized radiation treatments, where higher doses are directed at the tumor while sparing the patient’s normal body structures.

This video explains more about this new technology and how cancer patients could benefit from it.

New therapies are changing the outlook for blood cancer patients

Medical News Today: The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) - conducting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicians - noted that multiple studies presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) illustrate the breadth of the gains being made in the treatment of multiple myeloma and related blood cancers.

The findings show that new treatment regimens that began with THALOMID® and extend to both VELCADE® and the newest oral treatment REVLIMID® are helping a growing range of myeloma patients when used alone, sequentially and in various combinations. Collectively, these studies represent a significant increase in knowledge of how myeloma responds to treatment, which is already becoming applicable to other cancers.

The patient groups studied cover the full range, from relapsed patients to the newly diagnosed, young to old, and include patients with an otherwise poor prognosis due to chromosomal abnormalities. In some cases the data being presented at the conference significantly advances previous studies to show long-term response in newly diagnosed patients. In one of the most significant studies, researchers from the Mayo Clinic report 67% of patients using REVLIMID (plus the steroid dexamethasone) as primary therapy, achieved a response categorized as complete or very good, with a low rate of disease progression continuing even after two years.

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Top five cancer-fighting foods

Today's TMJ4 – Every day there's a new warning about which foods could cause cancer. But some foods could actually prevent it.

TODAY'S TMJ4 went to an expert, registered dietician Kelly Welsh, for the top five foods.

Tofu
"Soy contains two compounds that are beneficial in the fight against cancer," Welsh said. Those compounds prevent breast and prostate cancers. And if you don't like tofu there are other ways outside of traditional tofu to get soy nourishment: Soy nuts, soy-based veggie-shredded cheese, soy crumbles and soy burgers such as Boca Burgers.

Tomatoes
"Tomatoes are rich in a substance called lycopene," Welsh said. "Lycopene acts as a very powerful anti-oxidant, and it protects us from many different types of cancers." The body absorbs lycopene best when it's mixed with fat - olive oil in spagetti sauce, cheese on pizza. Men who eat 10 or more servings of tomato products a day cut their prostate cancer risk nearly in half.

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‘Breakthrough’ in lung cancer diagnosis!

A new method, which could be considered as a breakthrough in lung cancer diagnosis, is developed by a team of French researchers. Scientists have developed a blood test that could detect lung cancer at an early stage and this test could prove to be a valuable tool in saving thousands of lung cancer patients. Cancer cells produce a few proteins in larger quantities than the normal cells. Scientists believe that by identifying the presence of these proteins produced by cancer cells in blood, it is possible to detect cancer even before visible symptoms arise. This test will enable health professionals to easily differentiate lung cancer from other lung diseases and help them to start treating the disease at its early stage, ultimately increasing the patient’s chances of survival.

Proper diagnosis is very important in the fight against cancer and early detection of cancer could help doctors in effectively treating the disease. Cancers detected at its early stages are easily curable. The maximum survival period of patients who are suffering from lung cancer, the most lethal form of all cancers, is only 5 years. Only 16% of patients live more than five years and this low survival rate of lung cancer is attributed to the inability to diagnose the disease at its early stage. Active and passive smoking is considered to be the main cause of this disease. People who are over 50 are considered to be more prone to this disease.

Scientists believe if this new development in cancer diagnosis is successfully tested then it could make a big difference in lung cancer detection and its treatment.


Source - The Herald - Web issue

Vaccines under development could be a solution to breast cancer

Breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in women, can now be fought with new vaccines that are under development. Listeria monocytogenes, a microorganism found in diary products will be used in a new vaccine development program. Dr. Yvonne Paterson, the scientific founder of Advaxis Incorporation and a person who suffered from breast cancer herself, is heading a team of researchers, who are working to develop a new vaccine to fight cancer, using Listeria monocytogenes, which has a direct stimulatory effect on activities of immune killer T cells.

A new vaccine called Lovaxin B has been developed by this team and it is in pre-clinical study and Advaxis Incorporation has sought the approval of FDA for clinical trial of this vaccine. If the vaccine passes the clinical trials, the company plans to manufacture this vaccine in large quantities in future.

Only 20% of people, who are suffering from breast cancer, survive and breast cancer is considered to be a ‘killer disease’ in developing nations. If new initiatives like this one come out well, it would be a great achievement in the field of medicine.

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