_ 10 Common Cancer Treatment Myths By Jane Farrell article By Mayo Clinic Staff As advances in the treatment of cancer have increased, you may have discovered more opportunities to learn the facts about this disease. Yet some misleading ideas about cancer treatment still persist. Timothy J. Moynihan, M.D., a cancer specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., helps debunk some of the most common misconceptions about cancer treatment and explains the truth. Myth: A positive attitude is all you need to beat cancer.
Tools To Take Charge Of Your Cancer Survivorship By blog Most major cancer centers today offer a survivor care plan to organize your diagnosis, treatment and follow-up plan. It will soon be a standard of care to provide treatment summaries and survivorship care plans to all cancer patients. The primary components of a plan include: Diagnostic tests performed and results; including tumor site, stage, grade and other biomarker information.
_ Women's Health and Wellness Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines May Be Wrong By Jane Farrell article A study has found that cervical cancer rates are higher than previously believed, especially among women 65 and older as well as African-American women in all age groups. The finding brings into question current screening guidelines that don’t recommend Pap smear screenings for women 65 and older. The study, led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of medicine, was published in the journal Cancer.
_ A Molecule That Could Battle Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell article Researchers have developed a new technique that uses a so-called “energy molecule” to trigger the release of anti-cancer drugs directly into cancer cells. It may be especially effective in breast cancer treatment. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. Once inside the cancer cells, the molecule, adenosine-5’-triphosphate (ATP), releases its “payload”: a collection of molecules embed with an anti-cancer drug called doxorubicin, which targets the nucleus of the cancer cell.
_ Regular Doc Visits Help Prevent Skin Cancer Deaths By article The risk of dying from, melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer is significantly reduced with regular doctor visits, according to a study done in Detroit at Henry Ford Hospital. The researchers believe that this is the first study to link melanoma mortality with routine health care use.
_ New Cancer Tx Raises Blood Pressure By article The upside of new cancer therapies that block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling is that these agents have improved the outlook for patients with some cancers and are now used as a first line therapy for some tumors. However the downside is that almost 100% of patients who take VEGF inhibitors (VEGFIs) develop high blood pressure, and a subset develops severe hypertension. That is the finding of a study done at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow.
_ Watch: The Symptoms of Throat Cancer By Jane Farrell article Here's another addition to our Third Age video collection. Press play to start learning.
_ Vitamin D and Aggressive Prostate Cancer By Jane Farrell article Researchers say that Vitamin D deficiency is an indicator of aggressive prostate cancer risk in middle-aged men who underwent a biopsy. Adam B. Murphy, M.D., MBA, assistant professor in the Department of Urology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said that the finding affected European-American and African-American men, although the link between Vitamin D deficiency andaggressive prostate cancer was stronger in African-Americans.
_ Breast Cancer Study: Chemotherapy Not Always Best for Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell article Although many women with early-stage breast cancer are getting chemotherapy, the ones that decide against it appear to be more empowered about making a good decision, new research indicates. The current guidelines for treating cancer that hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body have led to thousands of women receiving chemotherapy without benefiting from it.
_ Targeting Blood Vessels That Keep Cancer Alive By article Researchers from at the University of Pennsylvania are using a DNA vaccine to kill cancer, not by attacking tumor cells but targeting the blood vessels that keep them alive. The vaccine also indirectly creates an immune response to the tumor itself, which amplifies the attack because of a phenomenon called epitope spreading. The results of the study were published in April 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
_ The Body's Anti-Cancer Weapon By Jane Farrell article Researchers have identified a pathway that works to prevent new cells from getting too many or too few chromosomes. That presence of abnormal numbers of chromosomes has been directly linked to cancer and other serious illnesses. Mark Hall, associate professor of biochemistry, Purdue University, discovered that when cells are nearly finished dividing, the enzyme Cdc14 activates Yen1, another enzyme. Yen1 helps repair the DNA breaks that lead to cancer in cells.
_ Inflammation Means Higher Risk for Prostate Cancer By Jane Farrell article Men who have chronic inflammation of prostate tissue appear to have nearly twice the risk of getting prostate cancer than do those with no inflammation, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins. The link between persistent inflammation and cancer was especially strong for men with aggressive cases of the disease.
_ The Role Of Enzymes In Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell article A major new discovery confirms the role of some virus-fighting enzymes in cancer development. The research furthers the understanding of the biological processes that cause cancer. One group of genes, the APOBEC family, controls enzymes that fight off viral infections. But scientists have speculated that these enzymes are also responsible for a distinct signature of mutations that is present in approximately half of all cancer types.
_ Does Memory Decline Lower Cancer Risk? By article Having some senior moments? The upside is that you may be at a lower risk for dying of cancer. A study done at the University Hospital in Madrid and in the April 9th 2014 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that older people who are starting to have memory and thinking problems but do not yet have dementia may have a lower risk of dying from cancer than people who have no memory and thinking problems.
_ Cancer Patients and Post-Surgery Problems By Jane Farrell article Editor’s Note: For patients, cancer is frightening in a lot of ways. Beyond the physical risk to a patient’s health, there are mental effects as well. After surgery, people often find they suffer from memory and nervous systems problems as well as chronic pain. The changes, which can be caused by side effects of treatment, can be overwhelming if a patient doesn’t understand why they’re happening. Here, from the experts at NIHSeniorHealth, is an explanation: Memory
_ A Better Test For Prostate Cancer By Jane Farrell article Researchers have developed a painless method to test for prostate cancer, and that could help millions of men avoid a grueling diagnostic exam. If a blood test turns up signs of prostate cancer, physicians usually remove samples of tissue through the anus, using 12 large biopsy needles. The procedure has been called “barbaric.” That technique could be replaced thanks to researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), together with AMC Amsterdam. Research team leader Massimo Mischi at TU/e said the new procedure uses existing ultrasound scanners.
_ Watch: New Technique Helps Find Hidden Cancers By Jane Farrell article Here's another addition to our Third Age video collection. Press play to start learning.