Cancer
Colon cancer screening of little value for some
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The risks of colorectal cancer screening may outweigh the benefits for some patients aged 70 years and older, a group of doctors warn in the journal Gastroenterology.
“Colorectal cancer screening has risks as well as benefits,” Dr. Cynthia W. Ko from the University of Washington, Seattle, told Reuters Health.
Lighter Patients with Liver Cancer Fare Better
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Jot down liver cancer on the list of conditions exacerbated by excess poundage.
That’s the conclusion of Japanese researchers, who found that people who are obese and have hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma have significantly shorter survival than lean patients with liver cancer.
Test predicts effective brain cancer treatment
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California researchers say they can now identify the 800 to 2,000 people in the United States who will respond to treatment against an aggressive form of brain cancer, a study released on Wednesday showed.
The tumor, glioblastoma, typically kills its victims in less than a year and only 10 percent to 20 percent of sufferers respond to drugs that block a key protein called EGFR in the cancer cells.
Colon cancer screening unlikely to save money
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While preventing thousands of deaths annually, recommended colorectal cancer screening could increase health expenditures in the US by nearly $3 billion annually, according to a new report.
“Screening can decrease colorectal cancer mortality,” Dr. Uri Ladabaum from University of California, San Francisco, California told Reuters Health. “Physicians should encourage patients to consider being screened.”
Genetic profile of ovarian cancer
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A newly identified gene expression profile could help predict how patients with advanced ovarian cancer will respond to chemotherapy treatment.
Described in a study in the November 1, 2005 issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the new findings further establish an important role for microarray gene profiling as a predictor of clinical outcome in ovarian cancer, and could eventually provide clinicians with insights into the mechanisms of drug resistance.
Surgery less likely in older bladder cancer patients
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A new population-based study has found that patients 75 years of age or older with invasive bladder cancer are less likely to receive the recommended surgical treatment for the disease.
The findings “suggest in a sense some undertreatment of our older patients,” Dr. Brenda K. Edwards of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, told Reuters Health. However, she noted, the study was unable to gauge the influence of factors such as patient choice, which also could have made surgery less common among older patients.
New treatments improve lymphoma survival
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New treatments incorporating immunotherapy - strategies that boost the immune system—have significantly improved overall survival of patients with a blood cancer called follicular lymphoma, according to a new report.
Emerging data suggest that for patients with follicular lymphoma “initial treatment choices may matter,” Dr. Richard I. Fisher from University of Rochester in New York told Reuters Health.
Radiation for cervical cancer impacts sex life
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Women with cervical cancer that’s treated with radiation have worse sexual functioning years after treatment than women who undergo surgery for the disease, a new study shows.
In fact, women whose cervical cancer was treated surgically—by removal of the uterus and any surrounding cancerous lymph nodes—had sexual functioning identical to that of healthy women, Dr. Michael Frumovitz of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and colleagues found.
Colorectal Risk Cut in Half Among Patients Taking Thyroid Drug
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Taking Levothyroxine (L-thyroxine) for at least five years appears to cut the risk for colorectal cancer in half, researchers reported here today.
In a case-control study of 2,102 matched pairs, Israeli investigators reported a significant reduction in colorectal cancer risk among L-thyroxine users (odds ratio, 0.49, 95% confidence interval 0.35-0.68). L-thyroxine is sold under several brand names including Synthroid and Levothroid.
Earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer possible
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Symptoms associated with ovarian cancer, especially abdominal bloating and pain, often start several months prior to diagnosis, a study shows, suggesting that with appropriate testing the diagnosis can be made earlier than it is currently. Ovarian cancer is much more curable when detected early.
In the October 1st issue of Cancer, the study team says their observations “provide objective evidence that patients with ovarian cancer, as a group, are distinguishable symptomatically from controls at least 6 months prior to diagnosis.”
Enzyme Test for Bladder Cancer May Promote Early Diagnosis
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Measuring levels of the enzyme telomerase in urine may be a simple, inexpensive, and accurate way to detect bladder cancer early, according to investigators here.
About 20% of bladder cancer patients die each year, but chances of survival are good when the disease is diagnosed and treated in the early stage, the investigators said.
Urine test accurately detects bladder cancer
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A simple and accurate urine test can detect bladder cancer early and may be especially useful for smokers and others prone to the disease, Italian researchers reported on Tuesday.
The test for the enzyme telomerase in urine was found to be accurate 90 percent of the time in men, after the cancer diagnoses were confirmed with standard invasive examinations of the bladder and urinary tract. The test also detected the disease in early stages.
Turned-off genes linked to ovarian cancer
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Two genes that are turned off in ovarian cancer cells could provide an early test for the illness known as the silent killer, Austrian scientists said on Tuesday.
Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna have identified five genes that have very low activity in ovarian cancer. Two, called N33 and NFA6R, do not work in most cases.
Bowel cancer screening cuts cases 80 percent
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Screening for bowel cancer with colonoscopy could reduce cases of the disease by 80 percent in people with a high risk of the illness, researchers said in a study on Tuesday.
It would allow doctors to detect pre-cancerous growths, which could be removed before they developed into cancer.
New treatments suggest that cancer is on the run!
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People suffering from cancer will be encouraged by a cluster of recent reports on successful new treatments for several different forms of cancer.
In fact the arrival of so much positive information and progress has raised cautious optimism in some experts that the Big C may be on the run.
