Cancer, Cancer Treatment

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 7 — Digoxin, a drug used for many years to treat irregular heart rhythms and heart failure, may also be a cancer-fighting agent, researchers report.

Cancer cells need to create new blood vessels to survive. But many of these cells are oxygen-deprived and need to switch on genes that produce a protein called hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1), which help cells survive in low-oxygen conditions.

Digoxin reduces HIF-1, causing cancer cells to die, the scientists from Johns Hopkins University found.

Read the rest of this entry »

Prostate cancer is one of the leading killers of men. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 186,320 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and 28,660 will die from it.

Although it’s one of the most common cancers suffered by men, there are ways to minimize the risk of getting it, said Dr. Ihor Sawczuk, chairman of urology and chief of urologic oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.

Read the rest of this entry »

- Taking vitamin E and vitamin C supplements may not make cancer less likely, a new study shows.

That finding comes from the Physicians’ Health Study II, which recently showed that taking vitamin C and vitamin E supplements may not lower the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Researchers have now analyzed study data on cancer risk and found no sign of lower cancer risk in people taking vitamin E and vitamin C supplements daily during the study.

Read the rest of this entry »

FRIDAY, Nov. 14 — A majority of Americans, including many health-care workers, believe that people who have lung cancer are at least partly to blame for their disease, a new survey finds.

In the poll of nearly 1,500 American adults, researchers found 59 percent of respondents agreeing with the notion that lung cancer patients helped bring on their diagnosis.

It’s a bias that over time has led to fewer resources to investigate the number one cancer killer in the U.S, and added shame to the burden that lung cancer patients must carry, experts said.

Read the rest of this entry »

- More research is needed before garlic can be touted as a way to lower the risk of some types of cancer, according to a new review of studies on the issue.

The review shows that despite some health claims to the contrary, there is not enough credible evidence to link garlic to a lower risk of stomach (gastric), breast, lung, or endometrial cancers. But there is some evidence to suggest that the plant may reduce the risk of some other cancers, including cancer of the colon, prostate, ovary, esophagus, larynx, mouth, and kidney.

Read the rest of this entry »

FRIDAY, Oct. 17 — Many patients misunderstand the written questions American doctors have them answer before physical exams, a finding that calls into question the usefulness of these screening tools, new reports say.

Two studies, presented earlier this year at the 2008 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons, found that lower-than-expected literacy levels among patients and a failure to understand basic numerical measurements hurt the validity of the questionnaire results. A third study, though, found promise in using computer programs to “speak” the questions to patients.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — About 80 percent of cancer diagnoses occur in the elderly, but many of their risk factors for the disease are behavioral, a new study revealed.

The Duke University study was done to estimate the impact measurable risk factors have on cancer in the elderly. It revealed more than 80 percent of known risk factors in individuals 65 years of age or older are potentially preventable.

Some of the risk factor/cancer links were similar to those found in The National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS). Physical activity especially impacted colon and prostate cancers. Tobacco use was also significantly linked to lung cancer. Surprisingly, cancer risk was not related to alcohol consumption, which other studies have shown.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday October 30, 2008, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) — A study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute found that supplementation of vitamin E and selenium may do more harm than good in men with regard to the risk of prostate cancer.

The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) showed that taking vitamin E or selenium supplements or combination of the two did not seem to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer in men age 50.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the December issue of European Urology Dr. Curtis Nickel and associates report on the evidence of a relationship between prostate inflammation and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men enrolled in the REDUCE trial.

The REDUCE (Reduction by DUtasteride of prostate Cancer Events) trial is a 4-year, phase-III placebo-controlled study that evaluates whether the drug dutasteride decreases the risk of biopsy-detectable prostate cancer. Dutasteride is a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor, a drug that inhibits the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that may cause benign prostatic obstruction. The trial involves men with a negative prostate biopsy. The men were given either dutasteride or a placebo and followed for 4 years.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Noscapine, a natural substance found in cough medicine, may prove useful in treating advanced prostate cancer, according to studies in mice.

Researchers found that noscapine — a non-addictive derivative of opium — reduced tumor growth in mice by 60 percent and limited the spread of tumors by 65 percent without causing harmful side effects.

Dr. Israel Barken, of The Prostate Cancer Research and Education Foundation, La Mesa, California, and colleagues report their finding in the journal Anticancer Research.

Read the rest of this entry »