cancer •

Overweight Individuals Risk Getting Over 10 Types of Cancer

Studies show that being overweight increases the risk of stomach and liver cancer among many others.

The number of incentives to maintain a healthy lifestyle continues to grow every day as more and more studies focus on the drawbacks of being overweight. Obesity is already reputed to increase the risk of mortality, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and deal permanent damage to the muscular system and to the bones themselves.

New studies have brought conclusive evidence that being overweight can actually lead to more types of cancer than initially believed.

Previous research was linking excess body weight to an increased risk of developing colon, kidney, esophagus cancer overall, with postmenstrual overweight women also incurring a risk of developing breast and/or uterus cancer.

Following the new studies, obesity was conclusively linked to a higher risk of developing cancer which can affect the bloodstream, brain, gall bladder, liver, ovary, pancreas, stomach, and thyroid.

The international study included over 1,000 overweight subjects who met the weight and physical condition criteria which placed them at a high risk of developing one of the initial types of cancer.

Fatty foods can look, smell, and taste delicious. But is the risk really worth it?

The Link Between Being Overweight and Cancer

Apart from the direct physical downsides of being overweight, researchers have demonstrated that the excess pounds have a high chance of affecting the neurology of a person. Obesity causes several hormonal imbalances which, when coupled with low physical activity, also contribute to the faulty development of cells within the body.

The medical world has been pushing efforts to raise awareness against obesity for decades. However, the world generally paid no mind to the warnings.

Presently, obesity has been nominated as the topmost cause of death in the United States, with smoking being a far second. Even so, the overall recorded number of medical cases with overweight people continues to rise, albeit at a slower pace than a decade ago.

Public health officials and specialists have been struggling to develop new ways of presenting the issue to the world, as well as finding more appealing solutions for the overweight masses.

Doctors are encouraging the world to try and live a healthy lifestyle. Individuals with healthy BMIs should lead by example and when it comes to foods, people are advised to seek out healthier alternatives before resorting to fatty foods and sugary drinks.

With overweight individuals at risk of developing more than ten types of cancer, the medical world is distraught as it tries to find a better way to raise awareness.

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DNA Calculator Does Simple Math In A Test Tube

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The leap from an analog DNA calculator to cancer-curing DNA processor is achievable, albeit lengthy.

ACS Synthetic Biology published a new study which shows some of the potential processing power of DNA. As part of a Duke University research study, John Reif, along with his team, developed and constructed a DNA calculator in a test tube.

By design, in the proper conditions, the synthetic strands of DNA have the ability to form an analog circuit. As the strands form or break bonds while being mixed in the test tube, the calculator is able to perform mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, or multiplication.

In the past, researchers have designed several other DNA calculator circuits These prior circuits have math-solving properties as well and their processing power is considerably higher. However, these circuits are digital. All the information they work with is performed in binary, through a long array of ones and zeroes.

The DNA calculator designed by John Reif and his research team performs all its math operations via analog. The current DNA calculator performs its mathematical operations by actually measuring DNA molecule concentration. The calculator then manages the information through signals based on certain DNA strands.

The analog DNA calculator is smaller than its digital counterpart.

The Future Of An Analog DNA Calculator

The current model of the analog calculator is considerably slower than its digital counterparts. In turn, digital DNA calculator have no chance in keeping up with actual circuits currently being used in the world.

Nevertheless, Reif’s analog DNA calculator is by far the smallest to date. DNA calculators, in general, have the added benefit of not being affected in any way by wet environments. Both traits make DNA calculators potential life savers in future medicine.

Reif and his team hope that the technology they designed will allow humankind to develop microscopic smart devices which can read the information in our bodies, such as in our bloodstream. Apart from diagnosis via data gathering, such a device could be programed to even offer treatment by designing and releasing a certain type of DNA or RNA.

The main application of such a device would be to detect any manner of cancerous mutation, transmit the information to a monitor, and then attempt to generate a substance which gives the innate immune system greater odds in fighting the cancer.

Analog or digital, with further research, the DNA calculator could prove to be one of the most useful tools available to medicine.

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Most Americans Unlikely to Participate in Clinical Trials

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Patient attending a cancer screening

Despite a pressing need for participants, most Americans say they would not enroll in clinical trials. According to a new survey carried out on more than 1,500 consumers and nearly 600 physicians, less than half of participants, namely 35 percent, said they would participate in trials. The survey was commissioned by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

Moreover, the paper showed that only 40 percent of those questioned had a positive view of clinical trials. However, one factor that made a significant and immediate difference was information. Upon reading a brief description of clinical trials, participants in the survey improved their perception of trials. Specifically, the number of people who had a positive view of clinical trials increased from 40 to 60 percent.

Clinical trials are of huge importance to the healthcare system. Specialists say that all major advance in cancer treatment was first evaluated in cancer trials before becoming available to patients. According to Jose Baselga, Chief Medical Officer and at Physician-in-Chief with MSK, clinical trials are key to finding better cancer treatments. Currently, the MSK is conducting over 900 cancer trials.

Among the concerns voiced by consumers who participated to the survey, over half (55 percent) said they were worried about side effects. Half of respondents were uncertain about insurance and the costs covered, while nearly half (48 percent) were worried about the inconvenient trial locations. The consumers were also concerned about the possibility of receiving a placebo (46 percent) while 35 percent said they were skeptical of being given a treatment that was not yet proven to work. A total of 34 percent said hey were worried about feeling like “guinea pigs” during trials.

Answers provided by physicians participating in the survey mirrored those given by consumers. Patients’ concerns over side effects and safety and about receiving a placebo were quoted by physicians as the top deterrents (63 percent). More than half of doctors, even more than consumers, said they were worried about the latter feeling like “guinea pigs”.

While misunderstandings are common and understandable, MSK’s Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Clinical Research Paul Sabbatini said, it is important that the scientific community involved in treating cancer address them. Refusing to consider clinical trials throughout the stages of cancer diagnosis and treatment could represent a “missed opportunity” for patients, Sabbatini stressed.

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Half of cancer deaths could be prevented by healthy living

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A healthy lifestyle makes one less prone to developing and dying from cancer

Healthy living could prevent half of all deaths caused by cancer, a new major study reveals. The study comes to counteract the idea that cancer is unpredictable and unpreventable and could encourage more to follow a healthy diet.

The study was conducted by scientists at Harvard Medical School on a sample of 136,000 white men and women who were following the courses of Nurses’ Health Study or those of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. The researchers reviewed the information provided by the participants, who had provided detailed information about their lifestyle throughout the years. They were divided into two groups, the first including people who had followed a healthy lifestyle, the so-called low-risk group. The rest, who had not lived according to the principles of healthy living, were considered the high-risk group.

A healthy lifestyle was defined by the study authors as one that followed four major guidelines. Firstly, everyone who wants to lower their risk of developing cancer should not smoke/quit smoking. Secondly, the recommended amount of physical exercise should be a minimum of two and a half hours of moderate exercise or 75 minutes or more vigorous workout. Thirdly, people should maintain their body mass between 18.5 and 27.5. Lastly, the daily intake of alcohol should not exceed one drink for women and two in the case of men. Failing to follow either one of these guidelines could increase the risk of developing cancer, the study showed.

When comparing the two groups, researchers found that both men and women in the high-risk group were more likely to get cancer as well as to die from the disease. Accordingly, 25 percent of women and 33 percent of men in the group were likelier to to develop cancer. Moreover, 48 percent and 44 percent of men were more likely to die from the disease. By contrast, the study showed that following a healthy diet could reduce cancer cases by 20 to 40 percent and cut the number of deaths by half.

The study highlights the idea that prevention is the best way to counter the threat of developing cancer and works better than any medication. That is why, prevention should remain a “priority”, the researchers argued.

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Camera’s Flash Revealed Cancer in a Young Child

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Ryder Temerantz was diagnosed with retinoblastoma on the 5th of January.

Here’s an interesting medical case where the flash of the camera saved the life of a young infant. A team of ophthalmic oncologists from the Memorial Sloan Kettering declared that a camera’s flash revealed cancer in a young child.

The story of the young child with eye cancer, by the name of Ryder Tamarantz, began in December. The 4-month old tyke was in good health according to Andrea Tamarantz, his mother. The woman was in the habit of taking lots of pictures of her child like all mothers do.

However, during the first set of photos, the child’s mother saw something resembling a white glow in Ryder’s left eye. Andrea dismissed the picture, saying that it could have been a camera glitch. However, several weeks later, Andrea shot another picture of Ryder, this time using a brand new Nikon camera. The white glow resurfaced again.

Being alarm by this new development, Andrea Tamarantz rushed young Ryder to the local hospital for a consultation. According to Ryder’s mother, the young infant was diagnosed with retinoblastoma on the 5^th of January.

A retinoblastoma is a rare form of eye cancer that usually affects the light-detecting tissue found in the eye. This form of cancer usually occurs in the immature cells found in the eye, and it mainly affects young children.

The rate of survival after being diagnosed with this form of cancer is very high. Unfortunately, after being subjected to ophthalmic surgery for tumor removal, most children lose their eyes. According to recent research, retinoblastoma in young children can occur due to a genetic defect or to a congenital mutation.

A mother from Scottsdale declared that camera’s flash revealed cancer in a young child. After hearing about Ryder’s condition, Andrea did a little bit a research on the disease and found out that Ryder’s best change is the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital.

It would seem that the hospital has the largest staff in the world specialized in retinoblastoma. After consulting the young tyke, the doctors decided to subject young Ryder to a procedure called ophthalmic artery chemosurgery. Given Ryder’s age, the doctor said that the effects of chemo delivered this way will be minimal.

The doctors will introduce a small, thin tube in Ryder’s groin arteries. This tube will be carried by the bloodstream all the way up to the eye. The doctors will use this tube in order to deliver a precise quantity of chemo directly to the tumor.

Doctor David Abramson, who is the chief of the ophthalmic oncology wing, declared that the patient is responding well to the treatment and that he has a 99 percent chance of survival. Moreover, it would seem that if all goes well, Ryder will not lose vision in his left eye.

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Melanoma is Deadlier in Pregnant Women

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Pregnant women or women who have given birth within one year are 5 times more likely to die from melanoma.

Although new treatments for cancer have been released, some patients are more likely to die from this disease than others. A recent study has stressed out that melanoma is deadlier in pregnant women or women who have given birth than in other women.

Dubbed the deadliest form of cancer, melanoma belongs to the skin cancers category. Melanoma usually develops from the skin cells containing pigments called melanocytes. According to a recent statistic, most patients diagnosed with melanoma develop this disease due to prolonged exposure to ultra-violet radiation. And approximately 25 percent of melanoma cases can be attributed to abnormal moles.

But, recently, several facts have resurfaced concerning this deadly disease. According to a study performed by several medical specialists from the Cleveland Clinic, melanoma is deadlier in pregnant women and women who have given birth than in other women.

Doctor Brian Gastman, a plastic surgeon and also the lead investigator of the study, declared that the rates of metastasis, recurrence and even death are higher in women who have developed this disease during pregnancy or within a year after giving birth.

Moreover, according to the latest research, it would seem that the so-called pregnancy hormones are a spawning pool for the disease, meaning that cancer can spread quite fast during pregnancy, endangering the patient’s life and reducing their chances of surviving the 5-year period.

In order to see how the disease affects pregnant women, Gastman along with his team of medical investigators analyzed the health records of over 500 pregnant women. During 1988 and 2012, 500 women have been diagnosed with melanoma mid-pregnancy. The average age was 49 years old and the study followed their health evolution for a period of 2 years after being diagnosed with the disease.

A team of scientists from the Cleveland Clinic has uncovered that melanoma is deadlier in pregnant women or women who have given birth. According to their study, women carrying children are five times more likely to die of melanoma. The same number applies for women who have given birth, within an interval of one year. Moreover, it would seem that the rate of metastasis is seven times higher when it comes to pregnant women. In terms of recurrence, pregnant women and women who have given birth are nine times more likely to suffer from a recurrence of the disease.

Although the study did not establish the exact reason why this happens, it still if capable of supplying the attending physicians with a couple of guidelines when treating pregnant patients suffering from this disease.

A team of scientists found out that melanoma is deadlier in pregnant women or women who have given birth. Their findings were published on the 20^th of January, in the journal of Dermatology.

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Cancer Drug Spending Reaches $100B Mark

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As medicine prices continue to drop, spending on cancer drugs has reached a new milestone: $100 billion in 2014.

That’s more than 10 percent up from 2013, and a significant increase from $75 billion five years ago, announced a report published Tuesday by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Targeted treatments, which target specific drivers of cancer, now claim almost half of total spending, IMS announced.

As more new cancer medicine gets approved, spending is likely to raise its pace. In the last five years, the average global growth rate on cancer medicines has been 6.5 percent, according to IMS. The research company predicts that rate to increase to 8 percent through 2018.

“Earlier diagnosis, longer treatment duration and increased effectiveness of drug therapies are contributing to rising levels of spending on medicines for cancer care. Measures of value continue to be tested by payers and providers who, in some health systems, most notably the U.S., have growing concerns about the financial burden faced by cancer patients,” IMS scientists, led by executive director Murray Aitken, wrote in the report’s summary.

Forty-five new drugs for cancer entered the market between the years 2010 and 2014, while 10 last hit the scene year alone. Two of those drugs are immunotherapies, a new class that stimulates the immune system to fight cancer. They are called Keytruda, from Merck, and Opdivo, from Bristol-Myers Squibb, and are very expensive: $12,500 a month.

Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts, which opposed new medicines for hepatitis C to obtain discounts last year, has mentioned that one of its next aims will be cancer medicines.

But with those high prices come important improvements in results. IMS says two thirds of Americans diagnosed with cancer ae now living at least five years, compared to just more than half a year in 1990.

“Although the changes are incremental year to year, cumulatively, more patients are gaining years of life,” IMS explained. It mentioned an 18 percent improvement was recorded in the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer patients from 1990 to 2010, while a 8 percent improvement was found in breast cancer and 12 percent in liver cancer.

Drug prices, especially in cancer, have been an increasing concern for years. The topic will be discussed at the largest annual cancer research conference, the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, a couple of weeks from now, in Chicago.

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Bad luck to be blamed for two-thirds of cancers in adults: Study

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A new study has found that two-thirds of cancers in adults are just due to the bad luck, while the remaining is the result of inherited genes and environmental factors.

The study was conducted by the researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

For the study, the researchers created a statistical model measuring the proportion of cancer incidence, found in many tissue types, which are caused especially by random mutations occurring when stem cells divide.

“The findings suggested that all cancers are caused by a combination of bad luck, the heredity and environment, and we have developed a model that may help quantify how much of these three factors contribute to cancer development,” said study researcher Bert Vogelstein, M.D., a Clayton Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins.

According to Vogelstein, a poor lifestyle can add more bad luck factor in the cancer development and to avoid this we should always follow a healthy lifestyle.

“Cancer-free longevity in people who are largely exposed to cancer-causing agents, like tobacco and cigarettes, is often attributed to their good genes, but the actual truth is that most of them simply had good luck,” he said.

The study group said that the cells often commit minor errors while copying themselves.

These errors are harmless and have the ability to cause cancerous cells. It was also found that the stem cells that take on these mistakes can further develop into many types of cells that up the chances of growth of cancer cells. More mistakes raise the risk of cancer, they concluded.

The researchers found that two-thirds of “adult cancer incidence across tissues” can be comprehended by such types of cell division errors.

The study suggested that as both habits and genes can predict the possibility of cancer, the only way to remain in safe and healthy conditions is early detection.

The study was jointly funded by the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Virginia and DK Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute and the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center.

The findings of the study were reported in the journal Science.

The Link Between Being Overweight and Cancer

The Future Of An Analog DNA Calculator

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