According to Mick Bhatia, a researcher at McMaster University in Canada and co-author of the study, there is a huge demand to find a process for generating red blood cells.
He took an initiative to start testing methods that might produce red blood cells and began harvesting skin cells from human volunteers and exposing the cells to a virus. The virus injected gene OCT4 into the cells, which encodes a protein to activate other genes into making other kids of cells. When placed in a cytokine solution, with molecules that stimulate the immune system, the skin cells turned in blood cells.
The new blood cells contained all three classes: white, red and platelets. They all seemed to function like normal adult blood cells.
These results will be very helpful in cancer research, especially for blood-related cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. The technique used by the scientists can also be beneficial for chemotherapy patients. The chemotherapy process is very hard on the patient’s blood, and presents a time during which the cancer can fight back even stronger.
This technique gives hope to blood cell replenishment. If the technique keeps proving to be successful, doctors will be able to help revive blood cells at a rate faster than ever before.
The scientists hope to begin clinical trials within the next three or four years.
According to scientists from Denmark, certain tips on physical activity, waist circumference, alcohol consumption, smoking and diet could considerably reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer.
The scientists studied connections between following a healthy lifestyle and the risk of bowel cancer. They studied 55,287 men and women age 50-64, for over ten years. Participants filled out a questionnaire about social and reproductive factors, health status, lifestyle habits and food intake.
During follow-up, there were 678 people diagnosed with bowel cancer. 13 percent of the cases may have been prevented. If the participants followed all recommendations, 23 percent of the cancer cases could have been avoided.
The scientists created a healthy lifestyle index based on the study. Their recommendations include being physically active for at least thirty minutes a day. They also suggested consuming less than seven alcoholic drinks a week for women, and fourteen for men. It is important to refrain from smoking and keeping your waist circumference below 88 cm. (35 in.) for women and below 102 cm. (40 in.) for men.
The scientists concluded that even little differences in lifestyle may have a considerable impact on cancer risk.
According to a study for the University of Illinois, a powerful cancer-fighting agent found in broccoli, called sulforaphane, can be released by bacteria in the lower intestine and absorbed into the body.
The finding presents the possibility that scientists may be able to increase broccoli’s cancer-fighting power, and enhance the activity of the bacteria in the colon.
What is even more powerful, is that even though many people overcook the broccoli and destroy the enzyme responsible for emitting sulforaphane, the bacteria in our intestine can still recover some of this cancer-preventive agent.
The scientists involved in the study injected glucoraphanin, sulforaphane’s parent compound, into the lower gut of rats. They found that sulforaphane is present in the mesenteric vein, which runs from the gut to the river, and then is converted, in the lower intestine for the body to absorb.
Eating three to five servings of broccoli a week is enough to have an anti-cancer effect. Sulforaphane also has anti-inflammatory effects, which counter many diseases associated with obesity and aging.
This week, Stanford Cancer Center of Stanford, California, will become the fifth treatment center in the world to offer patients the TrueBeam. TrueBeam is a machine that delivers radiation at an incredibly fast dose rate, much faster than conventional machines. A faster dose rates means shorter treatment times for patients.
The TrueBeam can provide treatment for any type of cancer. However, there are certain types of cancers to which the machine holds an advantage with, such as pancreatic cancer. Its technology also provides for improved treatment of tumors that are otherwise difficult to treat because of sensitive surrounding tissue.
The TrueBeam exerts radiation with advanced accuracy, which it checks every 10 milliseconds. Its system captures images 60 percent faster and reduces X-ray exposure by 25 percent. According to Stanford’s Chair of Radion Oncology, Richard T. Hoppe, MD, TrueBeam is the most advanced technology available for radiosurgery.
According to a study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), increased vitamin D levels in the body have no benefit in eliminating or reducing the risk for cancer. Scientists did not see a lower cancer risk in people with a higher vitamin D concentration, nor in people with low vitamin D levels.
The study consisted of analyzing vitamin D levels in blood samples from over 12,000 men and women. Participants followed up for cancer development trials for up to 33 years after the study.
Vitamin D is made by the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight. It is necessary for healthy bone development, immunity and calcium absorption. Many people throughout the world have naturally low levels of vitamin D. According to the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine – National Academy of Sciences, the recommended intake is 200-600 IU (internal units) a day. This recommendation is dependent on age, as higher levels are recommended for the elderly. Foods that contain vitamin D include fish, eggs, milk, juice, yogurt, bread and breakfast cereals.
According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics, children conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) have an increased risk of cancer.
The study, conducted by Dr. Bengt Kallen of the University of Lund in Sweden, examined children born via IVF from 1982 to 2005. Overall 53 cases of cancer were found, while only 38 cases were found in the children of the general population. Contributing factors included high-birth weight, premature delivery, respiratory diagnoses and low Apgar scores (a scoring system assessing a newborn’s health within the first 1-5 minutes after birth). Also, the infants showed a slightly higher rate of birth defects such as heart problems and cleft palates.
The researchers concluded that the risk for cancer was moderately increased in children conceived by IVF. The risk is more likely connected to the characteristics of the mother going through IVF rather than the procedure itself. The researchers stressed that the individual cancer risk for a child born via IVF is low.
Telomeres, structures that protect the tips of chromosomes, have been a popular topic in science. In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Associated, Austrian researchers concluded that people with shorter telomeres have a higher chance of developing cancers.
In the study, scientists measured the telomere length of 787 people in 1995. They categorized the patients based on their telomere length: longest, middle and shortest. Within the next ten years, 92 patients developed cancer. The study concluded that the risk of cancer was twice as high in the middle group compared with the longest group. It was three times higher in the shortest group.
This finding is supported by research which shows that telomeres keep chromosomes stable. When the telomeres are shorter, they may not stabilize chromosomes as well, causing genes to abnormally multiply and cancer to develop.
According to a recent report in the American Cancer Society journal, Cancer, millions of Americans with a history of cancer are delaying or skipping medical care because of its high cost. This finding raises questions about the impact on the long-term survival and quality of life of 12 million adults in the United States who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Cancer survivors require many medical needs even after complete recovery. Direct costs of cancer increased from $27 billion in 1990 to more than $90 billion in 2008. Because treatment is becoming more and more expensive, as costs of drugs are rising. This requires patients to pay more out of pocket to insurance companies, a difficulty as many patients do not have any insurance at all.
In another study from the United States National Health Interview Survey, cancer survivors revealed that the frequency of forgoing care due to costs was 7.8% for medical care, 9.9% for prescription medications, 11.3% for dental care and 2.7% for mental care. 18% of cancer survivors, an estimated of 2 million Americans, went without one or more medical services because of cost concerns.
The study raises concerns about the health of cancer survivors. Some experts believe that better guidance on follow-up care will help cancer survivors receive essential services rather than unnecessary procedures. Others say that the medical system could also improve the counseling of patients about financing medical services. The new federal health reform legislation may also help address follow-up health care by making insurance coverage more affordable.
Immunologist Dr. Vincent Tuohy believes that he has discovered a vaccine that will prevent breast cancer.
The vaccine was tested on genetically engineered mice for 10 months. The mice were predisposed to breast cancer. 100% of mice who did not receive the vaccine developed breast tumors. None of the ones vaccinated developed the cancer.
Dr. Tuohy believes that breast cancer is completely preventable. If human testing of the vaccine goes well, he hopes that it will be available for women over 40 in 10 years. Touhy and his researchers believe this vaccination will provide effective and safe protection against breast cancer development in their post-child-bearing, premenopausal years, a time when the risk for breast cancer is especially high.
Breast cancer continues to have a bright outlook. Yearly mammograms are important for women, as they are the best indicator of the cancer. The main symptom is a lump in the breast. Others include thickening, swelling, distortion or tenderness, skin irritation or dimpling, and nipple pain, scaliness, ulceration, retraction, or spontaneous discharge.
According to studies at Texas Tech University, Cornell University, Minnesota University and the Weill Cornell Medical centers, there are good news for people who suffer from constant sneezing, itchy eyes and runny noses just as the flowers begin to bloom.
Children with allergies are less likely to develop certain cancers. In fact, children allergic to airborne substances were 40% less likely to develop leukemia and children with asthma were 30% less likely to develop ovarian cancer.
Evidence continues to grow that suffering from allergies provides a medical advantage. Doctors at Cornell University in New York State discovered that children with airborne allergies have reduced rates of throat, lunch, intestinal and skin cancer. Doctors at Weill Cornell Medical Centre found that allergies have a general activation of the immune system. Other studies show that having an allergy of hay fever lowered the chances of getting pancreatic cancer by up to 58%.
