Tag Archives: study

Genetic testing could improve breast cancer prevention — ScienceDaily

Their study showed that prevention strategies could be improved by testing not only as currently for major cancer predisposition genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 — which identify a small percentage of women at very high risk — but also by factoring in data on multiple gene variants that individually have only a small effect on risk, but are more common in the population. The research was carried out by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, US — and is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study received funding from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the National Cancer Institute. Researchers stressed that their study was a computer modelling analysis and would need to be confirmed by further research aimed at validating the models they used and assessing real-life prevention approaches…

Cheap malaria drug could treat colorectal cancer effectively too, say experts

A pilot study by researchers at St George’s, University of London, has found the drug artesunate, which is a widely used anti-malaria medicine, had a promising effect on reducing the multiplication of tumour cells in colorectal cancer patients who were already going to have their cancer surgically removed. Colorectal cancer (CRC) makes up about 10 percent of the annual 746,000 global cancer cases in men and 614,000 cases in women. …

Investigational oral drug combo shows promise for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

“Ixazomib is an investigational, oral proteasome inhibitor with promising anti-myeloma effects and low rates of peripheral neuropathy,” says Shaji Kumar, M.D., a hematologist at Mayo Clinic and lead author of the study. “While it is well known that a combination of bortezomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone is highly effective in treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, we wanted to study the safety, tolerability and activity of ixazomib in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.” Dr. Kumar and colleagues enrolled 65 patients (15 to phase 1 and 50 to phase 2) between November 2010 and February 2012. …

Need to encourage patients to screen for colon cancer? Try a lottery

Patients who were told they had a 1-in-10 chance of winning $50 were more likely to complete home stool blood tests that help screen for colon cancer, according to a new study led by a researcher at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan. The findings appear in a special issue of Annals of Internal Medicine…

Metabolic ‘reprogramming’ by p53 gene family leads to tumor regression

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center investigation showed that, in vivo, the genes p63 and p73 can be manipulated to upregulate or increase levels of IAPP, a protein important for the body’s ability to metabolize glucose. IAPP is found in some diabetes drugs already on the market. The research findings were published in today’s issue of Nature. …

The ‘dirty’ side of soap: Triclosan, a common antimicrobial in personal hygiene products, causes liver fibrosis and cancer in mice

“Triclosan’s increasing detection in environmental samples and its increasingly broad use in consumer products may overcome its moderate benefit and present a very real risk of liver toxicity for people, as it does in mice, particularly when combined with other compounds with similar action,” said Robert H. Tukey, PhD, professor in the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Tukey led the study, together with Bruce D…

Scientists find way to reduce ovarian cancer tumors, chemo doses

Their research appears in The FASEB Journal. “We hope that this study will lead to novel treatment approaches for women diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer,” said Jim Petrik, a Guelph biomedical sciences professor. He worked on the study with Guelph graduate student Samantha Russell and cancer researchers from Harvard Medical School…

Britain’s obese in denial about their weight

In one of the first studies of its kind to examine British perceptions of obesity, fewer than 10 per cent of those who are clinically obese accept they have a serious weight problem. In a 2012 survey of around 2000 adults, only 11 per cent of obese women accurately acknowledged they were “obese,” with most describing themselves as “very overweight” or “just right.” And among men, only seven per cent correctly described themselves as being “obese” and another 16 per cent as “very overweight.” Approximately 10 per cent of people in the survey knew the BMI threshold for obesity and those who did were more likely to define themselves as “obese.” Researchers suggest that as bigger sizes become the new “normal,” people are less likely to recognise the health problems associated with their weight. Professor Jane Wardle, co-author and director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Centre at UCL, said: “It’s a real worry that people don’t recognise that their weight places them in the obese category, because it means they aren’t aware they are at increased risk of a number of health problems including cancer. …