New Boon for Pancreatic Cancer Patients
A new drug therapy that annihilates the blood vessels that grow to feed malignant tumors is showing considerable promise in increasing the longevity of patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Recent research, led by Matthias Löhr of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, shows that a drug called EndoTAG-1 (chemical name: cationic lipid complexed paclitaxel), when infused with gemcitabine, can substantially extend life. In his study involving 200 subjects with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, Löhr treated half of them, the control group, with gemcitabine alone.
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Blocking a Protein Halts Tumor Growth
Ovarian tumors seem to thrive in the presence of high levels of a protein known as TG2, short for tissue type transglutaminase. And the more advanced they are, the more TG2 there is. But blocking production of the protein in mice reverses the tumors' growth. In fact, researchers at the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center found that ovarian tumors, even in their advanced stages, could be shrunk by an average of 86 percent if a biochemical known as siRNA (a tiny strand of ribonucleic acid incorporated in small fat particles injected intravenously) was used together with the chemotherapy drug docetaxel.
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Vitamin C Has Potential to Slow Cancer
An injection of a high dose of vitamin C may be able to impede the growth of cancer, according to US scientists. The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found vitamin C to halve the size of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic tumors in mice. However, Cancer Research UK says that large vitamin C doses may interfere with other cancer treatment.
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Two Markers Found for Prostate-Cancer Deadliness
Investigators have found that men who are or have been overweight or who have high insulin levels are more likely to die from prostate cancer. The discovery of these two predictors is important, because doctors now have two crucial clues as to which patients will develop the most life-threatening tumors and therefore which to treat most aggressively.
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Coffee Consumption and Reduced Risk of Prostate Cancer
More research is emerging that points to coffee consumption as a potential preventive agent against various diseases. A new report suggests that coffee consumption may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference revealed a strong inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers.
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Curcumin Can Kill Tumor Cells
Curcumin, a compound found in the Indian spice tumeric that gives curry powder its yellow color, killed esophageal cancer cells in a lab via an unexpected cell-death mechanism that did not include aptosis or cell suicide. Researchers found that the compound started killing cancer cells within 24 hours and the cells began to digest themselves. The study was conducted at University College Cork in Ireland and appears in the British Journal of Cancer.
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Expert Commentary: Dr. Tauseef Ahmed, M.D., April 30, 2009
I think a better term for the therapies recently reported in Cancer Research would be targeted small molecules. Nanoparticles are formulations of various chemotherapeutic drugs that improve the delivery of chemotherapy. The most commonly used nanoparticle medication is nanoparticle bound paclitaxel, sold as Abraxane. This allows this particular chemotherapy to be dissolved in water. This could not be achieved without having tiny particles attached to the molecule.
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Donna Karan to Fund Alternative Cancer Research
The foundation run by fashion designer Donna Karan, founder of the DKNY clothing line, is partnering with Beth Israel Medical Center, in New York City, to test yoga, meditation and aromatherapy treatments against cancer over the course of a year. The alternative approaches will be used to supplement conventional chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Medical staff at Beth Israel will keep close tabs on the results of the Eastern-oriented treatments in order to provide the world with some much-needed empirical evidence of their efficacy or lack thereof.
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Radiation Increases Breast Cancer Risk in Some
A study on breast cancer patients has found that those below age 45 who get radiation treatments are far more likely to contract cancer in the other, or contralateral, breast. The risk was discovered to be especially higher in women with breast cancer in their family history. The researchers studied some 7,000 women who had been less than 71 years of age when they were diagnosed. All were one-year survivors of breast cancer, and were treated from 1970-86 in the Netherlands.
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10 Ways to Lower Your Risk of Breast Cancer
Most of the news we hear about breast cancer deals with addressing the disease after it's already been diagnosed. The best treatment for any disease, is through prevention. Here are 10 ways to lower your breast cancer risk. 1. Exercise and be consistant about it. Moderate physical activity, like brisk walking, 3 times a week can reduce a young woman's risk of developing breast cancer by 33%, and the risk of breast cancer after menopause by 26%. 2. If you smoke, quit now. The sooner, the better.
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