THE BIG C

Bangulzai SG

the big C

Cancer is the No. 1 killer in Singapore. Here, oncologists take a look at five common cancers – their symptoms, treatments and prevention.

lung cancer
Symptoms: Shortness of breath, coughing up blood, chronic coughing, chest and abdominal pains. Smokers have the highest risk of developing lung cancer.
Treatment methods: Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Varying combinations of these methods are commonly used depending on the cell type, stage of disease and the aim of treatment. Oncologists (doctors specialising in cancer) will be able to advise on the best combinations for treatment.
Help prevent it: Active and secondary tobacco smoke exposure should be avoided at all costs. Screening can help to detect lung cancer.

To avoid lung cancer, active and secondary tobacco smoke exposure should be avoided at all costs.

liver cancer
Symptoms: There are few, if any, in the early stages. In the later stages, jaundice (yellowing skin and eyes) commonly occurs due to liver tissue damage. Bloating of the abdomen may also occur. Sudden abdominal pains may occur if the tumour ruptures.
Treatment methods: Surgery and liver transplantation is the only cure for liver cancer. However, surgery is possible for only 20-25 per cent of patients and not possible if the liver has been damaged by cirrhosis (hardening of the liver) or hepatitis. Other methods, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy are largely palliative, which is concerned with improving the quality of life, but is not a cure.
Help prevent it: Alcohol abuse can lead to liver cirrhosis and this dramatically increases cancer risk. Also, the risk of an individual with hepatitis B or C getting liver cancer is 100 times more than that of a normal person.
Hepatitis B and C are sexually transmissible, hence safe and responsible habits are, as always, highly advisable.

stomach cancer
Symptoms: Does not show symptoms, or only non-specific symptoms, in its early stages. In its later stages, patients often suffer from abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation, and dramatic weight loss.
Treatment methods: Typically, removal of the tumour through surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Help prevent it: Have a diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and low salt intake. Avoid smoking and second-hand smoke.

prostate cancer
Symptoms: Most early stage prostate cancers do not produce symptoms. They are picked up incidentally during general health screening or during treatment of an associated benign condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Symptoms of BPH are frequent urination, increased urination at night, blood in the urine, difficulty starting and maintaining a steady flow of urine, and painful urination. Painful ejaculation and impotence are not common symptoms of prostate cancer.
Treatment methods: If the cancer has not metastasised (spread to other parts of the body), radiotherapy or surgery is preferred. If it has spread, then hormonal therapy or chemotherapy will be done.
Help prevent it: In general, early detection is the best preventive measure. Consult a doctor if you have the symptoms cited above. Increasing your intake of lycopene (found in tomatoes), soya proteins and Omega-3 fatty acids (from oily fish) and stopping smoking may also decrease the risk of prostate cancer.

nasopharyngeal cancer
Symptoms: A painless lump in the neck, excessive nose discharge or blockage, or bleeding, decreased hearing or ringing in the ears, or unusual pain or numbness over the face, double vision or headache.
Treatment methods: In its early stages, radiotherapy is used; in advanced cancer, chemotherapy is added to improve the efficiency of radiotherapy. Surgery is reserved as an option if the cancer recurs in spite of radiotherapy.
Help prevent it: Eating plenty of fresh fruit, green vegetables and other sources of vitamin C will lower your cancer risk. Avoid taking excessive amounts of salted fish and other preserved foodstuff.

skin cancer
Symptoms: Discolouring in parts of the skin, sores or changes in the skin that do not heal, skin ulcers, and changes in existing moles.
Treatment methods: Minor skin cancers are very treatable by surgery or radiotherapy. However, if the cancer has metastasised, then other techniques such as chemotherapy may be used as well.
Help prevent it: Avoid sunburn, especially in the childhood and teenage years. It is also important to minimise exposure to UV radiation. Steer clear of outdoor activities from 10am to 4pm, and use sunblock lotion and protective clothing when you’re outdoors.

Avoid sunburn, especially in the childhood and teenage years. Steer clear of outdoor activities from 10am to 4pm, and use sunblock lotion.

lymphoma
(cancer involving lymphocytes, a particular type of white blood cell)
Symptoms: Painless swellings in the neck, armpits and/or groin. In about a third of the patients, there is unexplained fever, weight loss or night sweats.
Treatment methods: There are many different subtypes of lymphoma and treatment differs depending on the subtype. Treatments range from radiotherapy (early stages) to chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant.
Help prevent it: There are no specific prevention measures for lymphoma. It has, however, been closely associated with abnormally decreased immune systems, which may be present from birth or caused by viruses such as the HIV virus.

Hepatitis B and C are sexually transmissible, hence safe and responsible habits are, as always, highly advisable.

8 warning signs
These signs do not always mean cancer but if they persist, see your doctor at once.
• A sore which refuses to heal
• Any unusual bleeding or discharge
• Any change in normal bowel habits
• Any change in a mole or wart
• Persistent indigestion or difficulty in swallowing
• Persistent hoarseness or cough
• Impairment of hearing with noise in the same ear

what’s new
The newest therapies target the cancer cells with greater accuracy and precision than ever before. Two such examples:
• Advanced Radiotherapy Techniques, which allow doctors to target tumours more precisely, thereby dealing less collateral damage to neighbouring cells and in turn reducing side effects
• Targeted Therapy, with new treatments like "designer" drugs which maximise the therapeutic effect on the cancer cells and limit the toxic effects on the normal cells.

Fantagf SG

Thanks for posting.

All the more we should be cautious in the stuff we eat. Take care of one's well being - emotion and on the way we handle stress.

Bangulzai SG

Study finds photographs of UV exposure can impact sunburns in preteens

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that among preteens, the use of photographs to measure ultraviolet (UV) exposure, could motivate them to improve sun protection practices and limit number of sunburns. These findings appear in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of the Dermatology Nurses' Association.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in our society, and overexposure to UV light in childhood is a major risk factor. Individuals with light eyes, pale skin, history of sunburns, freckling tendency, multiple nevi, or family histories of skin cancer are at greatest risk.

The BUSM researchers collaborated with the Children's Melanoma Prevention Foundation (http://www.melanomaprevention.org/) to design an intervention program in the Northeast. They recruited middle-school students (aged 11-13 years) from Quincy, Massachusetts, a community with a melanoma rate higher than expected from 1999-2003. Of the 111 students who completed the study, 83 received the intervention and 28 were in the control group. All students received a sun protection lecture. Those in the intervention group also received a UV photograph of their face, (that shows pigment changes from chronic sun exposure), along with detailed explanations of their findings on the UV photographs at baseline. Follow-up surveys at two and six months were also obtained. Responses from both groups were analyzed with regard to attitudes and behaviors relating to sun protection practices.

According to the researchers there were fewer (36 percent) reported sunburns in the intervention group at two months follow-up, as compared with the control group (57 percent). This difference was smaller at six months follow-up with 51 percent of intervention group reporting a sunburn compared to 64 percent of the control group. The researchers then examined the relationship between preteens who were "planning to tan" at baseline and reports of sunburn at two and six months follow-up and found sunburn rates were again lower among the students in the intervention group compared to the control group.

Students generally reported that the UV photograph was a helpful tool in teaching risk factors for skin cancer and the majority had kept them, Those preteens with the highest risk factors for melanoma, such as numerous facial freckles, were greater impacted and were significantly less likely to report sunburn at two months and again in six months.

"Despite public health recommendations to protect children and preteens from sun damage, studies indicate that we can be quite ineffective in this regard," said lead author Marie-France Demierre, a professor of dermatology and medicine at BUSM. "Studies have reported that children experience at least one annual sunburn, and more than a third have three or more per year. This greatly increases their chances of melanoma. The UV photographs appear to be a helpful tool to allow a child to recognize the risk for skin cancer and potentially reduce their chance of sunburn," added Demierre.

Demierre added, "The UV photograph represents an immediate ''picture'' of sun damage that can impact impressionable teens. By providing coping information, for example, information on how to protect oneself, sun protection information, one can facilitate positive health behaviors potentially preventing sunburn."

Demierre also commented on the feasibility of such a study within a public school system. The researchers had a close collaboration with the Quincy school superintendent, teachers and nurses who allowed this important research to take place. "The potential of UV photographs in improving sun protection behavior among children and preteens, especially those most at risk for melanoma, is enormous. Every teen should get an ultraviolet photograph of his/her face in school along with routine vaccinations," she added.

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Boston University

Thanks to Boston University for this article.

lianamaster SG

Useful stuff...

Bangulzai SG

Friday, June 12, 2009

University of Florida researchers have come up with a new gene therapy method to disrupt cancer growth by using a synthetic protein to induce blood clotting that cuts off a tumor's blood and nutrient supply.

In mice implanted with human colorectal cancer cells, tumor volume decreased 53 percent and cancer cell growth slowed by 49 percent in those treated with a gene that encodes for the artificial protein, compared with those that were untreated.

The research team, led by Dr. Bradley S. Fletcher, an assistant professor of pharmacology and therapeutics in the College of Medicine, created the so-called fusion protein to target another protein called tumor endothelial marker 8, or TEM8, which was recently found to be preferentially expressed in the inner lining of tumor vessels. Such differences in protein expression enable delivery of drug molecules to the cells that harbor these proteins.

"The protein we created did a very good job of homing to the tumor and binding," said Stephen Fernando, who recently completed his doctoral studies. "By targeting TEM8, we can potentially create a therapy against cancer."

The Fletcher group is the first to target cancer cells through protein binding to TEM8. The findings, now available online, are featured on the cover of the June 15 edition of Cancer Research.

"If you can cut off the blood supply, then you can inhibit the tumor from growing -- there have been many attempts," said Brad St. Croix, director of the National Cancer Institute's Tumor Angiogenesis Section, whose group first identified the TEM genes that over-express in tumor endothelial cells. "The concept of targeting tumor blood vessels has been around for many years, but it's good that we're finally getting around to the stage where we can see the vessels being targeted therapeutically -- it's pretty exciting, I think."

St. Croix was not part of the current research team, but donated some experimental materials.

The UF group created a "fusion protein" -- part of which binds to TEM8, and the other which promotes thrombosis, or blood clotting -- and delivered genes that encode for it to the lungs of mice. The delivery vehicle was a transposon called Sleeping Beauty, a piece of DNA that can insert new genes stably and efficiently into a cell's genome.

The lungs then functioned as a factory to produce the protein that later found its way to the target cells in the tumor vessels.

"We felt that TEM8 was an ideal target because it was inside the vessel, preferentially expressed there and unique," Fletcher said.

In addition to promoting blood clots, the strategy also resulted in reduced tumor vessel density, possibly by interfering with TEM8 function.

Fletcher's group previously applied the Sleeping Beauty transposon gene delivery method to the treatment of hemophilia and pulmonary hypertension and the prevention of lung transplant rejection in animal studies. After developing those three successful models, they looked for disease applications in which poor outcomes would be worth the risk associated with gene therapy.

"We felt that cancer was potentially a target," Fletcher said. "Gene therapy has a lot of risk associated with it, so you don't want to do it for diseases that are not life-threatening."

The group plans to come up with a method to increase the amounts of the thrombosis-inducing protein produced in the body, and test whether higher dosing leads to unintended blood clots.

They are also looking into ways to deliver the protein directly to the sites of interest, rather than through genes that later produce the protein, and apply the method in other areas such as prostate cancer. Other work will include the use of coated nanoparticles to detect tumors and deliver drugs or radiate heat to destroy cancer cells when bombarded by radio waves.

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University of Florida

Thanks to University of Florida for this article.

lianamaster SG

Thanks for posting.

All the more we should be cautious in the stuff we eat. Take care of one's well being - emotion and on the way we handle stress.

True... it all matters in what enters our body...

MeOwSuSan SG

All cancer start in the intestinal .....

Increase Bifidobacteria help to reduce the tonic accumention....

you can't prevent on what we eat but we can in increase our Bifidobacteria in your intestinal.

base on the report from the Japan Dr Tomotari Mitsuoka

(1) Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (2) Present address: Nippon Veterinary and Zootechnical College, 1-7-1 Kyonan-cho, 180 Musashino-Shi, Tokyo, Japan

Book link : http://www.springerlink.com/content/wh2t827k0x201448/fulltext.pdf

Bangulzai SG

i haf read the report by Tomotari Mitsuoka

thank you MeOwSuSan