Cancer News

Testicular cancer, cancer in one or both of the testicles, usually occurs in young men and will strike about 8,250 of these men this year. About 370 men will die.

A man's lifetime risk of developing this cancer -- that typically shows up in only one testicle -- is 1 in 300, securing it as one of the less common cancers in the United States. The chances of dying from testicular cancer are 1 in 5,000, making it one of the most curable forms of cancer. Yet it is still the most common form of cancer in men ages 15-34. It is also a cancer commonly characterized by denial and embarrassment. As a result, it is one of the least mentioned cancers.

Why is alcohol consumption a risk factor for cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus? Scientists long have suspected that the culprit is acetaldehyde, a compound produced as the body breaks down the alcohol in beer, wine and hard liquor.

Now researchers in Japan have discovered direct molecular evidence supporting that link between acetaldehyde and alcohol-related cancers. In a report published in the current (October) issue of the monthly ACS journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, Tomonari Matsuda and colleagues studied DNA from the blood of 44 patients being treated for alcoholism.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new clinical study using a vaccine strain of the measles virus to attack recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, a largely untreatable brain tumor. This is the second of several pending molecular medicine studies in patients using measles to kill cancer. 

"We are looking at better ways to treat some of the most lethal cancers," says Eva Galanis, M.D., oncologist and lead researcher on the glioblastoma multiforme project in the measles virus investigation. "We have shown in the laboratory and in several animal models that measles virus strains can significantly shrink glioma tumors and prolong animal survival. It is very rewarding to see this work maturing to the point of now being able to offer this novel and promising treatment approach to patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme." She also reports that toxicology studies, conducted in conjunction with Federal Drug Administration, showed an excellent safety profile.

Men who receive hormone therapy for prostate cancer with drugs called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists may find themselves at higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. Doctors and patients should take this into account when deciding whether GnRH agonist treatment is appropriate, according to a study by Harvard Medical School researchers published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

GnRH agonists are also called LHRH agonists. Common drugs in this class include leuprolide (Lupron, Viadur, Eligard), goserelin (Zoladex), and triptorelin (Trelstar).

The goal of hormone therapy for prostate cancer is to reduce levels of testosterone, the male hormone that is known to fuel the growth of the cancer. Hormone therapy is typically given for prostate cancer when it has spread to other parts of the body or has come back after treatment with surgery or radiation. It is also given before radiation in early stages of the cancer to make the tumor easier to treat. The authors say the use of hormone therapy in men with earlier stage prostate cancer has been increasing in recent years.

GREENWOOD, Miss. -- Abraham Cherrix never set out to be an advocate for alternative medicine. He is just a 16-year-old with cancer who refused to undergo a second round of chemotherapy and went to court to fight for his right not to have it.

In a court-ordered compromise, the Virginia teenager landed at the North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center, one of a new breed of cancer facilities in the United States that integrate conventional medicine and alternative therapies.

Cherrix's struggle to use herbs and diet supplements to fight Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system--rather than have a series of debilitating rounds of chemotherapy--has brought attention to a growing movement in the U.S. to bring alternative medicine into the mainstream.

A Korean research team, led by Yonsei University professor Yook Jong-in, made a breakthrough in discovering the mechanism by which cancer cells metastasize.

This breakthrough is expected to help scientists better understand the changing nature of cancerous cells, taking a step closer to the discovery of cures.

So far, the pathways by which cancerous cells spread have not been exactly known, posing great difficulties for scientists to come up with medicines that effectively fight their spread.

Pretty unusual article in the ocean of news related to the Breast Cancer awareness. I cannot say agree with it, but I let you to decide for yourself.

"In a national media campaign that includes newspaper and TV ads, the upstart organization is advising women to "think before you pink" because - get this - they consider corporate donations to fight cancer research tainted by the profit motive."

"Perversely, this organization blames corporations for doing too much - and, at the very same time, not enough."

Read more below.

SYDNEY (AFX) - Mayne Pharma Ltd said it has received approval to market its version of the anti-cancer drug oxaliplatin in Germany.

The pharmaceutical company said Germany's oxaliplatin market is one of the largest, with a local market value (LMV) of 88 mln usd.

Mayne now has marketing approval for its oxaliplatin in 13 European Union countries as well as Australia.

SCOTTISH scientists have invented a light-emitting "sticking plaster" for treating skin cancer which could revolutionise the way the disease is treated.

The high-tech patch is operated by a pocket-sized battery and could allow patients to receive treatment at home or at a GP surgery instead of undergoing lengthy hospital visits.

Current skin cancer treatment can involve surgical removal of lesions, with associated scarring and risk of infection.

There's news for your health about a high-tech skin treatment that targets two very different conditions. It's called photodynamic therapy.

Not only does it clear up severe acne, it can also stop certain types of skin cancer in the earliest stages.

"About 10-years ago I started to develop skin cancers on my body and I've had about four or five removed." It's the price Debby Robinson pays for having spent so much time in the sun over the years.

And this could be just the beginning.

The genetic map shows that nearly 200 mutated genes, most previously unknown, help tumours emerge, grow and spread.

The discovery could also lead to better ways to diagnose cancer in its early, most treatable stages, and personalised treatments, Science reports.

The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say the findings suggest cancer is more complex than experts had believed.

More than two decades later, Queensland Cancer Fund researchers are about to launch a study into whether the same bacteria interacts with a person's genes and the environment to increase their risk of pancreatic cancer.

Epidemiologist Rachel Neale, lead researcher on the project, said the study hinged on Queenslanders' willingness to take part in the study, which will select its 1000 participants randomly from the electoral roll.

by Jacki Donaldson, The Cancer Blog, 27 Oct 2006

Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) -- a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering all women affected by breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life -- recently began offering a new resource for breast cancer survivors, for both the newly diagnosed and those with metastatic disease.

"The first few weeks after diagnosis can be extremely difficult emotionally, and women with advanced disease often do not get the support and resources they need," said Jean Sachs, LBBC executive director. "We want to give them an understanding of their choices to help them make informed decisions regarding their physical and emotional health."

by Kristina Collins, The Cancer Blog, 27 Oct 2006

Celebrex (celecoxib) does not seem to show any benefit in patients receiving second line chemotherapy for lung cancer. Second line chemotherapy refers to treatment given when the initial treatment does not work or stops working.

According to the results of a phase II clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the effectiveness of Celebrex is not seen when added to chemotherapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Researches conducted the trial among 133 patients with stage IIIB or Stage IV NSCLC. Aside from pain, the addition of Celebrex did not improve patient symptoms or outcomes. One year survival was 24 percent among patients treated with Celebrex and chemotherapy and 36 percent among patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

EntreMed has launched a first round of human trials on lung cancer patients for a drug already in clinical tests to battle other forms of cancer.

The Rockville company is starting Phase I trials of MKC-1, its small-molecule drug to treat lung cancer -- the same drug it began testing in Phase I for leukemia one month ago and in Phase II trials for advanced breast cancer 10 months ago.

The lung-cancer trial is taking place at various medical centers, but the lead institution is Indiana University Cancer Center, which is also a site for EntreMed's trials of another drug candidate, Panzem, which treats advanced breast and prostate cancer.

HONG KONG, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Scientists in Hong Kong have identified a protein that can help suppress the growth of prostate cancer cells, the third most common cancer in men worldwide.

With half a million new cases a year, prostate cancer afflicts one in every six men in the United States and one in 50 males in Hong Kong.

But current therapies for advanced prostate cancer, such as chemotherapy, are far from satisfactory and carry side effects.

The Danish biotech company Topotarget has very good results with the first tests of a treatment of advanced cancer, the company informed today.

The management of Topotarget is very pleased with the results of the Phase II studies of the PXD101. Topotarget cooperates with the American CuraGen on the development of the cancer drug.

"The results which we can present with the PXD101 strengthen our expectations for this new type of drug against cancer. PXD101 is well tolerated and seems to be well suited in combination with other cancer drugs used today. This admits a broad use of the drug," - CEO Peter Buhl Jensen, TopoTarget said.

I Can Cope, offered by the American Cancer Society and the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center at Parkridge Medical Center, is a series of classes that provide patients and their loved ones with practical help in coping with some of the emotional and physical challenges of cancer.

The American Cancer Society’s I Can Cope program gives participants an opportunity to share their concerns with others facing similar experiences and to design ways to cope with the challenges that arise from a cancer diagnosis. This program provides relevant knowledge and enhanced skills on various aspects of a cancer diagnosis.

TWINSBURG, Ohio - A cancer patient who was trying to raise awareness of the disease during a quest to visit every Major League Baseball park this season has died at his home near Cleveland.

Jeffrey Newbauer Jr., 22, died Wednesday night, according to the Web site that chronicled his journey: http://www.jeffsballparktour.com.

Donations helped Newbauer visit 26 of 30 ballparks over the last four months in what was called the "Cancer Sucks Ballpark Tour."

- study shows.

 Oral contraceptives increase the risk of breast cancer by an average of 44 percent, a comprehensive analysis of world studies on the link between breast cancer and contraceptives has found.

Published in the journal of the Mayo Clinic this month, the key article examines findings from a careful analysis of international studies conducted between 1980-2002. Entitled “Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis, the article finds an increased risk for breast cancer of 44 percent, in pre-menopausal women who took or were taking oral contraceptives prior to their first pregnancy, compared to women who had not used oral contraceptives. 

The Irish Cancer Society is calling on the Government to increase the price of 20 cigarettes by at least €2 in this December's budget.

The society, which makes a similar call every year, says increasing the price is the most effective way of encouraging people to quit the habit and discouraging them from starting in the first place.

However, the Government is usually reluctant to introduce massive price increases due to the effect it would have on inflation

The Cancer Society claims the number of young smokers, particularly girls, is currently increasing because the price of cigarettes has not been increased in the last two budgets.

source 

A project to allow breast cancer experts to discuss patient treatment via video has won an excellence award.

Telemam was set up in 2005 to allow consultants from Dumfries and Galloway, Lothian, Fife and the Scottish Borders to hold "virtual meetings".

It is hoped the scheme could eventually be extended to allow patients to have direct consultations by video link.

by Dalene Entenmann, The Cancer Blog, 24 Oct 2006

Approximately 3 percent of all new cancers in the United States are linked to obesity, according to the US National Cancer Institute. Stay trim to cut cancer risk, that is what the headline reads. Researchers hypothesis that fat might be preventing apoptosis -- the process in which cancer cells perform a sort of suicide. But it's all untested speculation at this point as to how fat might affect cancer development and growth.

Recently, Rutgers University researchers conducted tests on mice and found leaner mice were less susceptible to developing cancer. Cancer cells in fatter mice died much more slowly, twice as slow as their skinny counterparts. The study is published in the National Academy of Sciences.

A type of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) called mantle cell lymphoma accounts for about five to ten percent of all lymphomas. According to an article recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Velcade (bortezobib) is an effective treatment option for patients with mantle cell lymphoma that has stopped responding to prior treatments.

by Dalene Entenmann, The Cancer Blog, 24 Oct 2006

My father taught me that when you have a problem, find someone else who has the same problem and talk to them about it. Real life experiences trump almost every other kind of information. Although women are 100 times more likely than men to be diagnosed with breast cancer, and less than one percent of breast cancer patients are men, men do get breast cancer.

Some of the signs of breast cancer include:

* Lump or thickening in the breast.
* Skin dimpling or puckering.
* Development of a new retraction or indentation of the nipple.
* Redness of scaling of the nipple or breast skin.
* A spontaneous clear or bloody discharge from the nipple.

by Dalene Entenmann, The Cancer Blog, 23 Oct 2006

It is no secret that our culture has a fascination with celebrities. In attempting to figure out exactly why, I have come to the conclusion it might be no more of a mystery other than they are people we all know in common. As human beings, we are naturally intrigued by other human beings.

But if I try to talk to you about my neighbor, and you do not live in my neighborhood, you will have no idea who I am talking about or how to relate information I am sharing about that person because you have no point of reference. However, celebrities are people we all know of -- they become familiar in that we hear about them every day -- we see images of them every day in the news.

by Kristina Collins, The Cancer Blog, 23 Oct 2006

Red wine consumption is associated with a reduced risk of various forms of cancer--leukemia, breast and prostate, in animal studies and in real life. A new study found that drinking more than three glasses of red wine a week reduced the incidence of abnormal growths and cancers of the intestinal tract by two-thirds.

Red wine has something that white wine does not have. A compound found under the skin of the grape called resveratrol. Resveratrol content is higher in red wine than white wine because the grape skins are removed early in the fermentation process for white wines. Resveratrol interferes with all three stages of cancer formation--initiation, promotion and progression.