Category Archives: Cancer Knowledge

Clear new evidence for mind-body connection demonstrated in study

A group working out of Alberta Health Services’ Tom Baker Cancer Centre and the University of Calgary Department of Oncology has demonstrated that telomeres — protein complexes at the end of chromosomes — maintain their length in breast cancer survivors who practise meditation or are involved in support groups, while they shorten in a comparison group without any intervention. Although the disease-regulating properties of telomeres aren’t fully understood, shortened telomeres are associated with several disease states, as well as cell aging, while longer telomeres are thought to be protective against disease…

From HIV to cancer, IL-37 regulates immune system

“Knowing this mechanism that underlies IL-37’s effect on the immune system now allows us to study IL-37 function and perhaps dysfunction in a wide range of diseases,” says Mayumi Fujita, MD, PhD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, associate professor in the CU School of Medicine Department of Dermatology, and the paper’s senior author. For example, knowing that IL-37 helps to create overall immune system sensitivity could allow researchers to manipulate IL-37 levels to sensitize the immune system to recognize and target tumor tissue, or desensitize the immune system in auto-immune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis in which the immune system acts over-aggressively toward healthy tissue. …

Half of smokers using Liverpool Stop Smoking Services used e-cigs

The data — presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool — also highlights that smokers are more likely to try e-cigarettes if they feel more confident that the products are safer than tobacco smoking. Researchers from the University of Liverpool quizzed more than 320 smokers from the Roy Castle FagEnds study to understand the number of people who used e-cigarettes and what smokers thought about the products. Smokers appear undecided towards e-cigarettes, possibly due to the widely documented uncertainties about safety and effectiveness in helping smokers to successfully break their addiction. Some also viewed using e-cigarettes as an extension of smoking and perceived them as an inferior tool for helping to quit smoking…

Patients with emergency-diagnosed lung cancer report barriers to seeing their GP

The study, carried out by researchers from the London Cancer Alliance (LCA) and King’s College London investigated around 130 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer after attending as an emergency at one of seven hospitals in south and west London. Overall, nearly half of the patients reported that something had put them off going to the doctor, including difficulty making an appointment, not being able to see their usual doctor, not having confidence in the GP, and fear of what the doctor might find. About a fifth of all patients (18 per cent) said they had not realised that their symptoms were serious.A fifth of all patients — who tended to be older, poorer and more fearful of what the doctor might find — delayed going to their doctor with their symptoms for more than 12 weeks. Three-quarters of the patients had consulted their GP about their symptoms, and one fifth had seen a GP at least three times. …

‘Invisible tattoos’ could improve body confidence after breast cancer radiotherapy — ScienceDaily

Research suggests that the permanent pin prick marks made on the skin of women having radiotherapy reminds them of their diagnosis for years to come, reducing body confidence and self-esteem. It’s also more difficult to spot these tattoos in dark-skinned women, potentially leading to inconsistencies in the area being treated. The NIHR-funded researchers, based at The Royal Marsden hospital in London, asked 42 breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy to rate how they felt about their body, before the treatment and one month later. Half the women were offered fluorescent tattoos, only visible under UV light, while the other half had conventional dark ink tattoos. …

Cancer cell fingerprints in blood may speed up childhood cancer diagnosis

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, found unique molecular fingerprints for 11 types of children’s tumours, which could be used to develop blood tests to diagnose these cancers. This may eventually lead to a quicker, more accurate way to diagnose tumours, and could also reduce the need for children to undergo surgery to get a diagnosis one day. The research was funded by Sparks, the children’s medical research charity, and Cancer Research UK. Each year almost 1,600 children are diagnosed with cancer in the UK…

Ethnic minorities less aware of cancer symptoms, more likely to identify barriers to seeking medical help

Researchers looked at nearly 50,000 responses to the Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measure from people across England. They found that ethnic minority groups were consistently less aware of cancer symptoms. People with a black ethnic background were half as likely as white people to recognise that unexplained bleeding could be a symptom of cancer; while South Asians were a quarter as likely as white people to recognise that an unexplained lump or swelling could be a cancer symptom…

‘Invisible tattoos’ could improve body confidence after breast cancer radiotherapy

Research suggests that the permanent pin prick marks made on the skin of women having radiotherapy reminds them of their diagnosis for years to come, reducing body confidence and self-esteem. It’s also more difficult to spot these tattoos in dark-skinned women, potentially leading to inconsistencies in the area being treated…

Step towards blood test for many cancer types

This is the first time that cancer-specific blood markers have been comprehensively reviewed and identified for further clinical development. This study, by the UK Early Cancer Detection Consortium, funded by Cancer Research UK, has analysed 19,000 scientific papers and found more than 800 biomarkers. The aim of this research is to develop a screening test from a single blood sample for multiple cancer types. All cancers produce markers in the blood, so it could be feasible to develop a general screening test for many different forms of the disease. …