Tag Archives: north

Mammography benefits women over 75, new study finds

The value of mammography screening in older women has been subject to much debate in recent years. The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms for women age 75 and older as long as they are in good health, while the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) does not recommend mammography screening in this age group, citing insufficient evidence to evaluate benefits and harms. A lack of research is chiefly responsible for the divergent recommendations, according to Judith A…

Lung cancer diagnosis tool shown to be safe and effective for older patients

Half of all lung cancer patients are over 70 years old when first diagnosed, but studies have shown that these older patients are less likely to receive an accurate diagnosis. A correct assessment of the stage of a patient’s disease — how much their tumor has grown and spread — is key to ensuring they receive the right treatment. Non-invasive methods of checking whether a patient’s cancer has spread to their lymph nodes have limited sensitivity and until recently the only way to obtain a tissue sample was under general anaesthetic — limiting its use in elderly patients who often present with other conditions that may restrict the use of general anaesthesia. …

Mechanism promoting multiple DNA mutations described by scientists

However, recent studies have shown that cancer development frequently involves the formation of multiple mutations that arise simultaneously and in close proximity to each other. These groups of clustered mutations are frequently found in regions where chromosomal rearrangements take place. The discovery, published in the journal Cell Reports, may one day lead to new cancer therapies, according to a University of Iowa biologist and her colleagues, and a group of researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences led by Senior Associate Scientist Dmitry Gordenin. The formation of clustered mutations may result from the process of DNA repair. …

Four in 10 pancreatic cancers could be prevented by lifestyle changes

Every year 8,800 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK but survival rates remain very low, with only three per cent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer surviving their disease for five years or more after their diagnosis. Cancer Research UK has made pancreatic cancer research a priority, and has the bold ambition to more than double its annual spend of £6million on research into the disease over the next five years. The charity is investing in fundamental biology investigating how the cancer spreads as well as trials looking at boosting the effectiveness of the standard chemotherapy treatments in pancreatic cancer patients. While more research is needed to find better ways of diagnosing and treating the disease, there is evidence to suggest that some pancreatic cancers are linked to being overweight and to smoking — and almost four in 10 could be prevented by lifestyle changes to address this…

Racial disparity in colon cancer: New study sheds light

The population-based study of 503 people with colon cancer found that 14 percent of Caucasians and 7 percent of African-Americans had a genetic marker called microsatellite instability, or MSI. These types of tumors are known to be resistant to the chemotherapy drug 5FU. Yet, even without chemotherapy, these patients tend to have better outcomes. …