Tag Archives: cancer

Red meat activates DNA mutation

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Cambridge: Eating red met does raise the risk of bowel cancer, scientists at the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge.

Earlier research, byt he UK’s Medical Research Council, has already shown that eating more than n 5 1/2oz a day – the equivalent of a burger and two sausages – increases chances of getting the disease by a third.

But the new research claims to show the cause: a substance produced in the gut by the meat damaged DNA, making the cells more likely to mutate and become cancerous.

Experts have previously said that diet, smoking, inactivity and obesity can all raise the risk.

The Cambridge team looked at the diets and cancer risk of nearly 500,000 men and women from across Europe. They discovered the cancer risk increased the more red meat consumed.

In the latest study published in the Journal of Cancer Research, the scientists examined the cells of the lining of the colon in healthy people on diffierent diets and looked at how their diet affected the cell DNA.

They found that when a red meat diet was compared with a vegetarian diet, levels of DNA damage increased. The culprit appeared to be substances called N-nitrosocompounds, which are formed in the large bowel after eating red meat.

Some of the compounds are thought to combine with DNA and destabilise it, making it more likely to undergo the harmful changes or mutations that can lead to cancer.

Beer may contain anti-cancer compound

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Oregon:Most beers contain a unique compound which inhibit cancer causing enzymes.

Scientists at Oregon State University say the substance found in hops called xanthohumol can help the body detoxify carcinogens and inhibit tumour growth. It also appears to be a powerful antioxidant with the ability to reduce bad cholesterol.

Most beers are low in hops, except for porters, ales and stouts. As a result a ‘health beer’ with enhanced levels of the compound is being developed. ‘

Fred Stevens, one of the Oregon researchers said that they could not definitively say that beer prevented cancer.

But he added: ‘Most beer has low levels of this compound, and its absorption in the body is limited. We need to discover how to increase the levels or use it as a nutritional supplement.’

Cancer figures grow as people live longer

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London: More people are suffering from cancer because of the increase in longevity, according to a leading cancer expert.

Professor Karol Sikora, of Imperial College London and Hammersmith Hospital also believes that cancer is likely to become a controllable disease, in the same way as diabetes within the next 20 years.

Speaking at a cancer prevention conference in London he said the treatment of the illness is progressing fast and that by 2015 there would be a blood test to detect those at risk. This would determine genetic makeup and the likelihood of having cancer within their lifetime.

He said: ‘The prediction is that by 2025 we will be talking about controlling cancer in the long term, not eradicating it but making cancer like diabetes. But the cost will be high.’

Globally, health services would struggle to pay for new treatments and prevention strategies, he said.

But the best solution was to prevent the disease, largely by encouraging healthier lifestyles by, for example, stopping smoking

Hormone drug increases prostate cancer survival

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Paris : A hormone drug, Casodex, increases the chances of men surviving prostate cancer by more than a third, according to a new study.

In the Early Prostate Cancer Study it was shown that Casodex made by the drug company AstraZeneca, delays progression of the cancer for up to three years and reduces the risk of it spreading to the bones by a third. If it combined with radiotherapy, patients have a 35 per cent better chance of survival.

Casodex works by starving the cancer of testosterone by stopping the hormone reaching it.

Until now some doctors have been reluctant to use such treatments, partly because surgery and radiotherapy were seen as more effective. Doctors said the drug is as effective as radical surgery or taking medicines that block the production of testosterone completely.

Eating grapes lowers risk of breast cancer

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Lausanne: Scientists have discovered that eating grapes, which contain an anti-oxidant called reservatrol, could half the risk of breast cancer.

A study of 369 women suffering from breast cancer were compared with another healthy group by experts at the University of Social and Preventative Medicine in Lausanne over a period of ten years. they confirmed that those who ate the highest quantity of grapes were half as likely to developed a tumour than those who rarely ate them.

Reservatrol contains polyphenol, a chemical that is thought to protect against heart disease and cancer and works by preventing inflammation.

Stress may help fight breast cancer: new research in Denmark

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Copenhagen: High levels of daily stress appear to result in a lower risk of developing breast cancer for the first time, says a study in this week’s British Medical Journal.

But high stress may put women at risk of other serious illnesses warn the researchers, a team from Denmark.

The findings follow an eighteen year study of over 6,500 women in Copenhagen. At the start of the study researchers asked the women what levels of stress they experienced routinely in their lives, and classified the results into low, medium and high levels. Stress was defined as tension, nervousness, impatience, anxiety, or sleeplessness. (Stress levels were not measured throughout the study.)

In calculating the effects of stress, researchers also adjusted the results for other factors, such as whether they had children or whether they were menopausal, which would have an influence on developing breast cancer. They did not account for risk factors such as family history of the disease however.

Of the 251 women diagnosed with first-time breast cancer over the study period, researchers found that women reporting high levels of stress were 40% less likely to develop breast cancer than women reporting low levels of stress.

The study further found that, for every increased level of stress on a six-level scale, women were 8% less likely to develop breast cancer.

One explanation for the findings may be that sustained levels of high stress may affect oestrogen levels – which, over time, may have an influence on developing breast cancer. But this theory has not been tested, and research in this area so far has mainly been restricted to animals, caution the authors.

Despite the findings, the authors warn that stress-induced changes in hormonal balances are not a healthy response, and continued stress may play a damaging part in other illnesses – particularly heart disease.

Prostate Cancer

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This is the second most common male cancer and has a survival rate of 50%. It mostly affects men aged over 60 – half the sufferers are over 75. Risk factors include family history and a diet low in vegetables and high in animal fats. Treatment includes surgery or radiation. Hormone therapy may be used but side-effects include risk of impotence.

Symptoms include frequent trips to the toilet (especially at night), difficulty in urinating and blood in the urine. However, some men may not show any symptoms of prostate cancer and so the cancer can be found only through routine tests. A test which shows whether there is an elevated level of the protein PSA (prostate specific antigen) in the blood is recommended. Normal PSA concentration in blood is between 0.1-2.6ng/ml. PSA levels of 4 ng/ml or greater should prompt a further consultation with a urologist as they may be a indication of prostate cancer. This test can be carried out by a GP. Although there are home proper diagnosis can only be made through biopsy, which would be carried out by a urologist and usually involve a TRUS (transrectal ultra sound) biopsy and/or a CT scan, MRI scan or a bone scan.

Other Prostate problems

There are a number of other prostate disorders that could account for the symptoms. BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) is an abnormal enlargement of the prostate.

As the prostate enlarges, it can squeeze the urethra making it difficult to urinate and can also stop the bladder from emptying fully. It is difficult to tell the difference between BPH and prostate cancer, so a PSA test should be done.

Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate caused by infection with bacteria and can also produce similar symptoms to cancer, so a PSA test should be carried out.

Treatments for prostate cancer include – external beam radiotherapy 40 uses
high-energy X-ray beams directed at the prostate. These beams prevent cancer cells from dividing and the tumour growing. This avoids the need for surgery but it may cause damage to the bladder and rectum. Diarrhoea, cystitis and nausea are common short-term side effects, there is a risk of impotence and incontinence and it requires daily hospital visits for six weeks.

Surgery in which the entire gland is removed eradicates the disease in 70% of men. But there is a high risk of impotence and a small risk of incontinence. Patients will also need to stay in hospital for at least one week, and then take six weeks off work to recover.

Brachytherapy is a new form of radiation treatment for localised prostate cancer. Radioactive seeds are implanted directly into the prostate gland, meaning a higher dose of radiation can be given than is possible with external beam radiotherapy. The advantages are similar to radiotherapy, with the added plus that damage to surrounding tissues, such as the bladder, is limited. The downside is that it can cause a burning sensation while urinating which may last for some time, one or two anaesthetics are required and its long-term effectiveness has still to be evaluated.

Diet may help prevent prostate cancer. Again antioxidents (vitamins and amino-acids) that occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables. Vitamins C and E and selenium are all antioxidants. There has been evidence showing a reduction in the number of prostate cancer deaths when vitamin E (50mg) was supplemented in smokers. Selenium supplementation (200mg) was also found to reduce prostate cancer in a small group of men, but more research is needed before routine supplementation can be recommended. Keeping weight down, avoiding fatty foods and eating red and processed meat in moderation. Eat five fruit and vegetable portions per day, including a regular intake of tomatoes, and perhaps include some soya products in your diet. Drink alcohol in moderation (a maximum of 3 units per day) and don’t smoke.

A useful web site is Prostate Cancer Now – www.prostatecancernow.org

Fish diet helps fight skin cancer

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Manchester: A diet high in oily fish helps protect the skin from the sun, researchers at Manchester University have discovered.

In a test 42 people were given supplements equivalent to eating fish three times a week, and after just one month their skin was less likely to burn. Another group who suffered from allergies doubled their skin protection after six months.

Lead researcher, Dr Lesley Rhodes said eating oily fish which contains omega 3 fatty acids helped protect skin DNA from damage and the discovery would have a significant effect on preventing skin cancer.

American Heart Association launched first diet guide

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New York: The American Heart Association has launched its first diet book with a three-pronged approach to weight-loss.

Entitled “No-Fad Diet: A Personal Plan for Healthy Weight Loss” it recommends eating more fruits, vegetbles, whole grains and lean proteins and becoming more physically active.

Nearly two thirds of adults are overweight in many developed countries, putting them at risk from a number of life-threatening illnesses and diseases inlcuding diabetes, cancers and heart disease.

Dr Robert Eckel, president-elect of the American Heart Association and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine says: “This book is a commonsense approach that can be applied to everyday life. “

The book is the result of an analysis of research into diet, exercise and behaviour and bears in mind that no single diet works for everyone.

For more information visit the American Heart Association

Exercise helps cancer survival

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Boston: Women with breast cancer who walk at least an hour a week have a better chance of beating the disease than those who don’t exercise at all, researchers said this week.

But the study said many women hurt their chances of survival by cutting back on exercise after they were diagnosed.

“We found that women who are physically active after breast cancer diagnosis may lower their risk of death from breast cancer and cancer recurrence,” said lead researcher Michelle Holmes of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Regular exercise is believed to lift survival rates by diminishing production of the hormone estrogen, which promotes tumour growth in the most common type of breast cancer, the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association said.

Based on up to 18 years’ worth of data from 3000 breast cancer participants in the hospital’s study of female nurses, walking three to five hours a week cut in half the risk of dying from the disease compared to women who exercised less than an hour a week or not at all.

Even walking an hour a week lifted survival rates but exercising more than five hours a week did not confer any added survival benefit.

The study noted discouraging estimates that women with breast cancer tend to decrease their levels of physical activity by two hours a week and those who are obese reduce activity even more.

Processed meats linked to colon cancer

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Honolulu: Heavy consumption of hot dogs, sausages and luncheon meats, along with other forms of processed meat, was associated with the greatest risk of pancreatic cancer in a large multiethnic study reported today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“The results suggest that carcinogenic substances related to meat preparation, rather than their inherent fat or cholesterol content, might be responsible for the association,” said Ute Nöthlings, DrPH, MSE, the study’s lead investigator from the Cancer Research Center at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

Meat consumption has been linked to pancreatic cancer in several case-control studies in the past, but the results have been inconsistent and data from prospective studies has been lacking.

For this study, researchers from the Cancer Research Center and USC examined the relationship of diet to pancreatic cancer among 190,545 men and women of African-American, Japanese-American, Caucasian, Latino and Native Hawaiian origin who were part of the Multiethnic Cohort Study in Hawaii and Los Angeles. An average follow-up of seven years yielded 482 incident cases of pancreatic cancer.

The researchers found that the heavy consumption of processed meats resulted in the highest risk for pancreatic cancer, after adjusting for age, smoking status, history of diabetes, familial history of pancreatic cancer and ethnicity. Those who consumed the greatest amount of processed meats had a 67 percent increase in risk over those participants with the lowest intake of this food category. A diet rich in pork and red meat also increased pancreatic cancer risk by about 50 percent, compared to their counterparts who ate less meat.

Consumption of poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs showed no link to pancreatic cancer risk, nor did overall intake of total fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol.

“An analysis of fat and saturated fat intakes showed a significant increase in risk for fats from meat, but not from dairy products, indicating that fat and saturated fat are not likely to contribute to the underlying carcinogenic mechanism,” said Nöthlings.

In particular, the scientists suggest that chemical reactions that occur during the preparation of processed meats might be responsible for the association. Such reactions can yield carcinogens including heterocyclic amines or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

“Our study is the largest of its kind to demonstrate a link between high consumption of processed meats over long periods of time and pancreatic cancer,” said Nöthlings. “The sample size allowed us to obtain statistically significant risk-estimates that support this hypothesis.”

Delay in cancer drug treatment for UK women

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London: Victims of breast cancer face an agonising three-year wait on the UK’s National Health Srvice for a drug hailed as the biggest breakthrough in 30 years. Doctors say Arimidex could save or prolong the lives of thousands of women.

It dramatically reduces the chances of the cancer spreading and cuts the risk of severe side- effects. But a decision on approving the drug is not due until March 2007.

Between now and then, the disease will claim the lives of nearly 30,000 women. At least 10,000 new patients a year would be suitable for Arimidex while thousands of others could switch treatments.

The annual bill for each woman’s treatment would be £800, compared to about £70 for tamoxifen, the current standard treatment.

After stunning trial results were unveiled yesterday, doctors want Arimidex to become the first-line therapy for early breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

But NHS patients will have to wait – unless they go private and can find a specialist prepared to prescribe the drug.

At the moment, it is only allowed for women who cannot tolerate tamoxifen and for advanced cancer cases.

Drug regulatory officials are considering whether to license Arimidex for initial therapy.

But even then, it still has to be approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence before being prescribed widely.

Its decision is not due before March 2007, leaving thousands of women uncertain if they are getting the best treatment.

Professor Jeffrey Tobias, one of the trial investigators, said: ‘It is clear that if Arimidex prevents the disease recurring at distant sites in the body, there is a good chance the cancer won’t come back at all.

‘More women would be surviving for longer periods, free of disease and possibly cured.’

Dr Tobias, Professor of Cancer Medicine at University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, said breast cancer therapy was at a turning point.

‘For the first time, we have a more effective and safer treatment than tamoxifen,’ he said.

‘It’s very unusual for something to emerge that is much more effective than the standard therapy.’

Although tamoxifen was cheaper, Arimidex was ‘good value for money’, he added.

Data from the biggest study of its kind showed that women on the new drug have a 10 per cent higher survival rate after five years of treatment.

It cuts the chances of breast cancer recurring by 26 per cent – over and above the 50 per cent reduction provided by tamoxifen.

Women also run less risk of the cancer spreading to distant parts of the body.

Serious side-effects, such as endometrial cancer and bloodclotting disorders, are also significantly lower. Doctors predict Arimidex will become a bigger life-saver than tamoxifen, which is credited with helping more than 20,000 British women survive since its launch in the 1980s.

Early indications suggest the death rate might be cut by a further 13 per cent compared with tamoxifen.

Study leader Anthony Howell, of the Christie Hospital, Manchester, said patients on tamoxifen should be switched to Arimidex at the ‘earliest opportunity’.

Each year, 41,000 women in the UK develop breast cancer – 30,000 of them after the menopause.

A total of 100,000 would be eligible for the new drug.

Arimidex only helps patients after the menopause as it works by shutting down the body’s supply of the female hormone oestrogen.

Professor Jack Cuzick, of Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the study, said: ‘We are very excited by these results.’

Dr Sarah Rawlings, of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: ‘Tamoxifen has made a big impact but other treatment like Arimidex could also make a big difference.’

Sue Green, of CancerBACUP, said: ‘Women taking tamoxifen should be assured that the treatment is very effective. Anyone concerned should discuss it with their doctor.

‘We would also urge NICE to assess the data urgently so health professionals are given clear guidance.’

Tamoxifen is cheaper as it has been available in generic form for years.

Arimidex has cost millions to develop and is protected by a patent.

The study results were announced at a conference in the U.S. and on the website of medical journal The Lancet.

20 foods can help save you from cancer, says world leading cancer charity.

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A list of the top 20 cancer beating foods – fruits and vegetables – has been compiled by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

The WCRF, a charity committed to cancer prevention, is publishing its findings in a report, Food Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer, based on thousands of studies, being published in 2006. Eating more vegetables and fruit is the second most effective way to reduce the risk of cancer and the most effective way is not to smoke.

More than half the people questioned in a survey said they were unaware that diet could influence their risk of cancer

The 20 superfoods the WCRF identifies are vegetables, fruits, nuts, oily fish and whole grains – the familiar foods that it says “stand out in the nutritional crowd” because of their health-giving properties. They contain the highest levels of antioxidants, the vitamins and minerals that help protect the body from the damaging effects of oxygen-free radicals, the unstable molecules created by the body and produced by toxins that can be carcinogenic, such as tobacco.

Separately, the Royal Marsden Hospital in London is entering the fray with a book to be published next year called Cancer: The Power of Food.

This is the first time that the premier cancer-healing institution in Britain has offered advice to the public on cancer prevention, and the first time it has tried to cash in on the cookery book market.

Written by the hospital’s chief dietitian, Clare Shaw, the book contains recipes for dishes such as One-Pot Beef, with tips on the need to cook the beef slowly to “avoid the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines”.

Cheesy Lentil and Vegetable Pie is a “high-fibre supper dish that is a good source of caretonids, folate and calcium”.

There’s useful advice on weight-loss regimes. Coyly avoiding any mention of the Atkins diet, the book asks whether a “high-protein, low-carbohydrate weight-reducing diet” will affect cancer risk.

“Yes, it might,” it says. “All the evidence for diet being protective indicates that it should contain plenty of starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, with small portions of animal protein.”

There are other valuable nuggets. Although it is assumed that raw fruit and veg are better than cooked, as some vitamins are destroyed in cooking, this isn’t necessarily true. The body absorbs beta carotene (which is converted in the body into Vitamin A) better from cooked carrots than raw.

Both the WCRF and the Royal Marsden try, in different ways, to refine the research evidence into advice that people can act on. Certain facts are established – such as the dramatic decline in stomach cancer in the west in the past century, thought to be linked with the advent of the fridge.

Refrigeration meant a switch in the diet to consumption of more fresh food and less preserved – salted or smoked – meat, which is known to increase the risk.

Stomach cancer remains high in countries where salty foods occupy a prominent place in the diet, such as Japan.

Bowel cancer is commoner in countries of the west, where more refined, processed food is eaten, and rare in the developing world, where the diet is high in whole-grain cereals, pulses and root vegetables. A high-fat diet also appears to increase cancers of the bowel, breast, prostate and lung.

But there is one problem with their thesis that has arisen too late for either organisation to address. The single most consistent piece of advice from the cancer epidemiologists in the past decade has been to eat more fruit and vegetables.

Southern Europe, where more fruit and vegetables are consumed, has lower rates of cancer of the mouth, throat, lung and stomach than northern Europe.

But what should we eat today? Those who have to cook tonight cannot wait for tomorrow’s research.

The only sensible answer is that a diet based on the WCRF’s 20 superfoods and the Royal Marsden’s recipes is unlikely to do harm, and probably offers the current generation the best chance of outliving their parents.

Too much red meat may cause rheumatoid arthritis, say researchers

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London: Eating lots of red meat increases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, say researchers at Manchester University. And smoking increases the risk of chronic ageing diseases.

Epidermiologists from the university researched 25,000 people aged between 45 and 75. They compared the diets of the 88 diagnosed with rhumatoid arthritis, the condition causes membranes lining the joints to become inflamed, leading to pain and swelling, with those in a control group of 175 others. The findings are published in the Arthritis and Rheumatism journal.

They discoverd that those who ate large mounts of red meat and who smoked were more likely to have inflammatory arthritis.

Only 35 per cent of those who suffered from arthritis had never smoked, compared with 85 per cent of the control group.

The researchers concluded that the eating of red meat would likely only affect those predisposed to the condition.

‘It may be that the high collagen content of meat leads to collagen sensitisation and consequent production of anticollagen antibodies, most likely in a subgroup of susceptible individuals,’ the team said.

‘Meat consumption may be linked to either additives or even infectious agents, but again there is no evidence as to what might be important in relation to rheumatoid arthritis.’

Experts said last night that while people who eat large quantities of red meat should consider cutting down, they should not panic.

A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign, which funded the study, said: ‘This provides further evidence that environmental factors can help to trigger rheumatoid arthritis.

‘In the light of this new evidence, we would suggest that, as part of a healthy lifestyle, people should cut down the amount of red meat they eat.’

But he added: ‘We wouldn’t want people to think that if they eat four burgers a week they are going to develop rheumatoid arthritis the following week, because there are other risk factors that come into play – genetic susceptibility, smoking and low intake of Vitamin C.

‘Red meat in itself is not dangerous to health, but should be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced, healthy diet.’