Tag Archives: access

Improved treatment for cancer patients: Topical steroid cream

Radiotherapy uses X-rays to destroy cancer cells but this can often lead to a severe skin reaction involving redness, pain and blistering similar to sunburn. The trial of this cream — mometasone furoate–was so successful that the patients in the research will now be offered this instead of the existing treatment. Breast cancer patients were recruited from hospitals all over the North West for the trial, based at the Rosemere Cancer Centre at the Royal Preston Hospital. Dr Andrew Hindley of Rosemere Cancer Centre: “We believe that this treatment should be considered the standard of care when a radiation therapy schedule is administered to an anatomical site where severe dermatitis would be predicted.” The patients were offered either diprobase cream or mometasone furoate to be administered daily from the start of radiation therapy for 5 weeks and for at least a fortnight afterwards. …

Toughest breast cancer may have met its match: Protein inhibitor makes cell susceptible to chemotherapy — ScienceDaily

A report of their findings was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Dec. 1. Triple-negative breast cancers account for about 20 percent of all breast cancers in the United States, and 30 percent of all breast cancers in African-American women. …

Narrow subset of cells is responsible for metastasis in multiple myeloma, study finds

The study suggests that attacking those subsets with targeted drugs may degrade the disease’s ability to spread throughout the bone marrow of affected patients, the authors say. The discovery was made by developing a mouse model of the disease that enabled researchers to track which of 15 genetic groups — or subclones — of myeloma cells spread beyond their initial site in the animals’ hind legs. By labeling the different subgroups with fluorescent dyes, researchers determined that just one of the subclones was responsible for the disease metastasis. They then compared the pattern of gene abnormalities in the initial myeloma tissue and the metastatic tumors. …

HPV vaccine, riskier sexual activity not linked, Canadian researchers say

There are concerns the vaccine, which guards against four types of the HPV shown to cause cervical cancer and anogenital warts, may give girls a false sense of security about contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and lead them to engage in riskier sexual activity. “These findings suggest fears of increased risky sexual behaviour following HPV vaccination are unwarranted and should not be a barrier to vaccinating at a young age,” says Dr. Smith, the lead author on the study that was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. This study looked at a cohort of 260,493 girls, of whom about half (128,712) were eligible for Ontario’s publicly funded, school-based HPV vaccination program during the first two school years it was offered (2007-08 and 2008-09). …

Natural selection is furthering mutations that are making skin paler

The first hominids that appeared in Africa probably had pale skin covered with hair, like other primates. They are thought to have lost their hair when they became bipedal, and that natural selection subsequently furthered darker skins in Africa as they protect against ultraviolet (UV)light. However, when humans left Africa (about 100,000 years ago) and headed for Asia or Europe, where UV intensity was lower, they once again acquired a less pigmented skin colour. What caused the depigmentation of these populations is not clear, and two hypotheses have in fact been put forward: firstly, it could be due to a relaxing in natural selection that keeps the skin dark in Africa, since when leaving Africa, UV levels are lower; secondly, it could be due to the fact that natural selection furthers certain mutations so that individuals can have paler skin, since at these latitudes having a skin with a dark pigmentation prevents the synthesis of adequate levels of vitamin D, essential for our survival. …

Targeting microRNA may benefit some ovarian and breast cancer patients

Researchers behind a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center believe they may have found a molecule-based approach to halting 3q26.2’s destructive nature. By manipulating a non-coding microRNA (miRNA) known as miR569 that is part of the amplicon, scientists were able to increase cell death in vitro and in vivo…

Young Puerto Rican women and their mothers know little about HPV, cervical cancer

According to the study published in Preventing Chronic Disease, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV vaccination rates are low among Puerto Rican women. Fifty one percent of Puerto Rican girls aged 11 to 18 have started the 3-step vaccination process and only 21 percent have completed the series. “Our study is the first to provide insight into common psychosocial barriers affecting HPV vaccination in Puerto Rico,” said Mar�a E…

Older breast cancer patients still get radiation despite limited benefit

The study suggests that doctors and patients may find it difficult to withhold treatment previously considered standard of care, even in the setting of high quality data demonstrating that the advantages are small. “The onus is on physicians to critically analyze data to shape our treatment recommendations for patients, weighing the potential toxicities of treatment against clinical benefit,” said Rachel Blitzblau, M.D., Ph.D., the Butler Harris Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Duke University Medical Center. Blitzblau was the senior author of a study published online Dec. 8, 2014, in the journal Cancer. …

Immunotherapy achieves breakthrough result in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma

The results provide some of the most dramatic evidence to date of the potential of therapies that increase the ability of the immune system to kill cancer cells. While clinical trials of such immunotherapies in other cancers have shown them to be highly effective in a subgroup of patients, the new study stands out because nearly all patients benefited from the treatment…

Scientists pinpoint a new line of defense used by cancer cells

The team identified a critical pathway of molecular signals which throw a lifeline to cancer cells, enabling them to survive even though they contain vast DNA errors which would usually trigger cell death. The PKCƐ signal pathway, which is used by cancer cells but rarely by normal cells, could be important in targeting some cancer cells as they rely on this pathway to survive…