Cancer Research
28 Sep Tallness May Be Protective Against Esophageal Cancer
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with:
Dr. Aaron P. Thrift PhD
Public Health Sciences Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, WA.
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Thrift: We conclude that height is inversely associated with risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma, both in men and women. The association is not due to confounding from known risk factors or bias.
21 Sep Melanoma: PD-L1 As Negative Prognostic Marker
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Mario Mandalà, MD
Unit of Clinical Research
Department of Oncology and Haematology
Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital
Piazza OMS 1, 24100, Bergamo, Italy
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Mandalà: We evaluated PD-L1 expression by IHC in 81 consecutive metastatic melanoma patients, with well-defined demographic and clinical characteristics. Protein expression levels were correlated with clinical outcome. PD-L1+ and PD-L1- subsets of the A375 cell line were stabilized in vitro and compared using gene expression profiling and functional assays. Results were confirmed using xenograft models. In our study PD-L1 membrane positivity was an independent negative prognostic marker. Furthermore PD-L1 expression defined a subset of the BRAF-mutated A375 cell line characterized by a highly invasive phenotype and by enhanced ability to grow in xenograft models. If confirmed, our clinical and experimental data suggest that PD-L1+ melanomas should be considered a disease subset with distinct genetic and morpho-phenotypic features, leading to enhanced aggressiveness and invasiveness.
19 Sep Pancreatic Cancer: Chemotherapy Effect May Be Enhanced By Chokeberry Extract
MedicalResearch.com: Interview Bashir A. Lwaleed PhD, FRCPath, CBiol FSB, FIBMS Senior Lecturer Faculty of Health Sciences University of Southampton Southampton General Hospital Southampton United Kingdom Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lwaleed: That constituent(s) of Chokeberries has a supra-additive cytotoxic effect in combination with the drug gemcitabine, which is used clinically for this condition, when applied to a pancreatic carcinoma cell line in vitro.18 Sep 100 Genetic Risk Variants For Prostate Cancer Identified
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jyotsna Batra
QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation's
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland, Australia
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr Batra: Prostate cancer is a disease with upto 40% genetic component. Previous Genome-wide association studies have identified 77 risk loci associated with prostate cancer. This study is further extension of previous GWASs and also involved meta-analysis of multi-ethnic populations. Through this large study involving approximately 90,0000 individuals, 23 new susceptibility loci were identified to be associated with prostate cancer, 15 variants were identified among men of European ancestry, 7 were identified in multi-ancestry analyses and 1 was associated with early-onset prostate cancer.
17 Sep Follicular Lymphoma: PET-CT Surpasses CT For Response Assessment
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Judith Trotman MBChB, FRACP, FRCPA
Associate Professor Concord Hospital
University of Sydney, Australia
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Trotman: That PET-CT (applying the cut-off of ≥4 on the now internationally recommended 5 Point Scale) is a more powerful predictor of both Progression Free and Overall Survival than conventional CT in patients responding to first line immunochemotherapy for advanced follicular lymphoma. It is also a much stronger predictor than the pre-treatment prognostic indices FLIPI and FLIP2. Patients who achieve PET-negative status have a median PFS over 6 years compared to only 17 months in those who remain PET-positive.
17 Sep Study Finds Breast Cancer Screening Should Begin Around Age 40
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Blake Cady MD
Professor of Surgery (emeritus) at Harvard Medical School
Partners HealthCare, Harvard Medical
School institutions, Boston
Medical Research: What are the main findings of this study?
Dr. Cady: Our findings support mammography screening, and our data is consistent
with the randomized trials. Breast cancer screening with mammography is the most extensively researched screening method ever studied. Only one “randomized" trial failed to show reduced mortality, (Canadian NCSS studies), and there were major flaws in its design and execution that negate their results, as noted in multiple critical publications (volunteers, not geographic assignment, palpable masses detected at examination assigned to “screening” arm, large contamination bias (control group got screened anyway), and very poor quality of mammography). Yet it is this NCSS study that is cited by critics and the press. “Failure Analyses” look backward from death, rather than forward from assignment in randomized trials. The concept of failure studies is well established as noted in recent reports of air-bag failures in cars, and many industrial studies. Seat belt prevention of deaths was discovered by police recording injuries and deaths in crashes after the fact - a failure analysis - not by randomized clinical trials. In breast cancer, failure analyses have advantages of little cost, early results, simplicity, and convenience, compared to randomized trials. Since our results support findings from randomized clinical trials (RCT), they can be accepted as reliable and accurate.
Our findings show that about 71% of deaths from breast cancer occur in the approximately 20% of our patients not in regular screening programs, while only 29% of deaths occur in the 80% of women who were regularly screened by mammography. By extrapolation, women regularly screened have only about a 5% breast cancer mortality, but women not screened have close to a 50% mortality.
(This is my extrapolation from our data, not direct data from our “Failure Analysis”)
16 Sep Pediatric Cancer More Common In White, Male Adolescents from Northeast
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jun Li, MD, PhD, MPH
Epidemiology and Applied Research Branch
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Li: Using the 2001 to 2009 National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data, which represent 94.2% of the US population, we identified 120,137 pediatric cancer cases with an incidence rate of 171 cases per million children and adolescents.
Overall cancer incidence rates were stable from 2001-2009. However, we found rates were increasing significantly at 1.3% per year in African American children and adolescents. This increase might be partially attributed to the rise among renal tumors and thyroid cancer. We also found rising incidence in thyroid cancer and renal carcinoma among children and adolescents.
As has been previously established, pediatric cancer is more common in males, in white, in adolescents, and in the Northeast. Leukemia is the most common pediatric cancer, followed by central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms, and then lymphomas.
15 Sep Should Routine Breast Cancer Screening Stop At Age 70?
Posted at 21:59h
in Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Nienke de Glas, MD PhD-student
Leiden University Medical Center
Department of Surgery
Leiden The Netherlands
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. de Glas: It remains unclear whether mass breast cancer screening has a beneficial effect in older women. In the Netherlands, the upper age limit of the breast cancer screening program was extended from 69 to 75 years in 1998. If a screening program is effective, it can be expected that the incidence of early stage tumours increases, while the incidence of advanced stage tumours decreases. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of early stage and advanced stage breast cancer before and after the implementation of mass screening in women aged 70-75 years in the Netherlands. We showed that the extension of the upper age limit to 75 years has only led to a small decrease of advanced stage breast cancer, while the incidence of early stage tumours has strongly increased. For every advanced stage tumour that was prevented, 20 “extra” and early stage tumours were diagnosed.
15 Sep Lung Cancer Survival Improved By Thoracic Radiotherapy
MedicalResearch.com Interview wth:
Prof. dr. B.J. Slotman
VU University Medical Center Cancer Center
Amsterdam Netherlands
Medical Research: What are the main findings of this study?
Prof. Slotman: This randomized trial showed that the use of thoracic radiotherapy in patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer reduces the risk of intrathoracic progression by about 50% and improves 2 years survival from 3 to 13%.
12 Sep Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Target Resistant Variant
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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Charles Mullighan, M.D., MBBS(Hons), MSc
Department of Pathology
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, TN 38105
MedicalResearch: What are the most important take home points from this study for practicing clinicians and their patients?
Dr. Mullighan: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remains a leading cause of cancer death in children, and the prognosis worsens with increasing age. Current therapies are inadequate for many patients. This study has defined the genetic basis of a recently described subtype of Acute lymphoblastic leukemia called Ph-like ALL. We show that the prevalence increases with rising age, and that in both children and young adults the disease is driven by a diverse range of genetic changes that activate kinase signaling, which fuels the growth of leukemia cells. Ph-like Acute lymphoblastic leukemia currently has a poor outcome. The activated kinases may be inhibited by currently approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). We have shown efficacy of these inhibitors in cell lines and experimental models, and in a series of patients with Ph-like Acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with TKIs.
12 Sep Melanoma Cells Alter Their Environment To Promote Progession
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Constance Brinckerhoff
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Biochemistry
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Brinckerhoff: The genetic mutation BRAFV600E , frequently found in metastatic melanoma, not only secretes a protein that promotes the growth of melanoma tumor cells, but can also modify the network of normal cells around the tumor to support the disease’s progression. Targeting this mutation with Vemurafenib reduces this interaction, and suggests possible new treatment options for melanoma therapy.
12 Sep Global Variations in microRNAs Linked To Cancer Disparities
Posted at 14:58h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Genetic Research, University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Renata Afi Rawlings-Goss, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Tishkoff Lab, University of Pennsylvania
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Rawlings-Goss: We found genetic mutations in key gene regulators that have been linked to ethnic disparities in cancer. Our investigation identified more than 30 previously undescribed mutations in important regulatory molecules called microRNAs. Individual microRNA molecules can regulate large numbers of genes in some cases over 6000 genes at once. Therefore, mutations in these genes have been linked to numerous diseases. By and large, however, microRNA mutations have not been studied in people of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
10 Sep Breath Temperature Test May Help Diagnose Lung Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Giulia Scioscia Coauthor of this study with the Prof. Carpagnano University of Foggia. Medical Research: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Scioscia: The principal and newest findings of our study are:- Airways inflammation and neoangionesis are critical component of the lung cancer pathogenesis and they contribute to the regulation of airways temperature. They cause a regional hyperthermia in the lung lesion.
- The exhaled Breath temperature has been proven to be the expression of the airways temperature and for this reason of their inflammation and neoangionesis.
- For the first time we have measured this hyperthermia in lung cancer patients with the xhalo. The patient with diagnosis of tumor shows an higher temperature than in healthy ones and this values correlate with cigarette smoking and tumor progression.
09 Sep Prediabetes Associated With Increased Cancer Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Professor Yuli Huang
The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Daliang Town, China, and colleagues
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Professor Huang: In this meta-analysis of 16 prospective cohort studies comprising more than 890,000 individuals, we found that the presence of prediabetes at baseline associated with a 15% increased risk of cancer overall. The results were consistent across cancer endpoint, age, duration of follow-up and ethnicity. There was no significant difference for the risk of cancer with different definitions of prediabetes (impaired fasting glucose [IFG] and/or impaired glucose tolerance [IGT]).
09 Sep Dignified Death Still Elusive On Many Cancer Wards
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karin Jors MA Department of Palliative Care, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The findings of our study shed light on the current circumstances for dying in cancer centers. Physicians and nurses in our study reported that they rarely have enough time to care for dying patients. In addition, only a minority of staff members felt that they had been well-prepared during their training to care for dying patients and their families. Overall, only 56% of participants indicated that it is usually possible for patients to die in dignity on their ward. This is likely the result of various factors such as: inadequate rooms for dying patients and their families (i.e. shared rooms), poor communication with patients regarding burdensome treatments, an overuse of life-prolonging measures, etc. Striking differences were found between the responses of palliative care staff and staff from other wards (e.g. general care, oncology, intensive care). For example, palliative care staff reported that they usually have enough time to care for dying patients. In addition, 95% of palliative care staff indicated that it is usually possible for patients to die in dignity on their ward. Overall, nurses perceived the situation for dying patients more negatively than physicians. Whereas 72% of physicians reported that patients can usually die a dignified death on their ward, only 52% of nurses shared this opinion. Although only slightly more than half of participants believed that patients can usually die in dignity on their ward, this is a considerable improvement to the situation 25 years ago. In a similar study published in 1989, researchers found that 72% of physicians and nurses experienced the situation for patients dying on their hospital ward as undignified.06 Sep Going Braless Doesn’t Increase Risk of Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lu Chen, MPH Researcher in the Public Health Sciences Division Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology University of Washington School of Public Health Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Chen: We found no evidence that wearing a bra is associated with breast cancer risk. Further, breast cancer risk was not impacted by bra wearing frequency, wearing a bra with an underwire, or starting to wear a bra at a young age.05 Sep Socioeconomic Factors Contribute to Disparities in Breast Cancer Surgery
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with:
Isabelle Bedrosian, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Associate Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
Medical Director, Nellie B. Connelly Breast Center
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Bedrosian:
• National BCT (breast conserving therapy) rates have increased during the last two decades.
• Disparities based on age, geographic facility location and type of cancer treatment facility have lessened over time.
• Insurance type and travel distance remain persistently associated with underutilization of breast conserving therapy.
• Annual income of less than $35K may be emerging as a new association with underutilization of breast conserving therapy.
05 Sep Bowel Cancer Screening May Have Small Unwanted Lifestyle Effect
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation
Paula Berstad, PhD, postdoc
Telemark Hospital
c/o Cancer Registry of Norway
Oslo, Norway
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Berstad: In general population of age 50-55 years, both those invited to bowel cancer screening in year 2001 by flexible sigmoidoscopy and those not invited improved their lifestyle from year 2001 to 2012. Lifestyle was measured as adherence to public health guidelines; non-smoking, daily physical exercise, healthy diet and normal body weight. However, the 11-year improvement was smaller in those who were screened for bowel cancer compared to those not screened. Further, among those who attended the screening, the improvement was smaller in those with findings at screening (positive screening result) compared to those without findings (negative screening result). Our interpretation of the findings is that bowel cancer screening may have a small unwanted effect on lifestyle. Particularly, attention should be given to lifestyle among those testing positive at screening.
03 Sep Study Finds No Link Between Calcium Channel Blockers and Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Gudrun Jonasdottir Bergman PhD National Board of Health and Welfare Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden Medical Research: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Gudrun Jonasdottir Bergman: A recent study by Li et al [1] showed that long term use of Calcium Channel Blockers (CCB) increases the risk of developing breast cancer....
30 Aug Dietary Flavonoids May Reduce Risk Of Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ying Wang PhD
Epidemiology Post-Doc Fellow
American Cancer Society Inc
Atlanta, GA 30303
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Wang: Previous studies suggest that higher intake of fruits and vegetables are associated with lower risk of breast cancer risk, especially estrogen receptor (ER) negative (ER-) tumors that are more aggressive and difficult to treat. We found that postmenopausal women who had higher intake of flavones, a subgroup of flavonoids that are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, had lower risk of breast cancer. Furthermore, higher intake of flavan-3-ols which is high in non-herbal tea was associated with lower risk of ER- but not ER positive breast cancer.
28 Aug Prostate Cancer Risk May Be Lower With Lycopene, Tomato Intake
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Vanessa Er PhD
School of Social and Community Medicine
University of Bristol and Bristol Nutrition BRU
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Er: We found that men who had optimal intake of three nutrients- calcium, selenium and foods rich in lycopene- had a lower risk of prostate cancer. Mainly, men who ate over 10 servings/week of tomatoes and tomato-based products had 18% reduction in risk of developing prostate cancer. We also found that the risk of prostate cancer was lower in men who had high intake of fruits and vegetables.
28 Aug Pediatric Leukemia Patients Admitted On Weekends At Greater Risk Of Adverse Outcomes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elizabeth Goodman BA Division of Oncology The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Weekend hospital admission for pediatric patients newly diagnosed with leukemia was associated with a longer length of stay, slightly longer wait to start chemotherapy and higher risk for respiratory failure; however, weekend admissions were not linked to an increased risk for death.19 Aug Does Aspirin Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality ?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Mangesh Thorat
MBBS, MS(Surgery), DNB(Surgery), MNAMS
Centre for Cancer Prevention
Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine
Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London
Queen Mary University of Londonm Honorary Clinical Lecturer
Division of Surgery and Interventional Science Whittington Hospital, London
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Thorat : Accumulating evidence supports an effect of aspirin in reducing cancer incidence and mortality. Our analyses show that for average-risk individuals aged 50-65y taking aspirin for 10 years, there would be a relative reduction of between 7% (women) and 9% (men) in the number of cancer, myocardial infarction or stroke events over a 15 year period and an overall 4% relative reduction in all deaths over a 20 year period. The benefits of aspirin use would be most visible in the reduction in deaths due to cancer. If the findings of our study are applied to the UK general population aged 50-64 taking aspirin for next 10 years, on an average more than 6000 lives will be saved every year.
19 Aug More Intensive Colorectal Cancer Screening than Recommended Often Harmful for Medicare Beneficiaries
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Frank van Hees MSc
Erasmus University Medical Center
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Many U.S. elderly are screened for colorectal cancer more frequently than recommended: One in every five elderly with a negative screening colonoscopy result undergoes another screening colonoscopy within 5 years’ time instead of after the recommended 10 years. Moreover, one in every four elderly with a negative screening colonoscopy result at age 75 or older receives yet another screening colonoscopy at an even more advanced age. Our study shows that, in average risk individuals, these practices are not only a waste of scarce health care resources: often they are also associated with a balance among benefits, burden, and harms that is unfavorable for those being screened.
18 Aug Many U.S. Elderly Screened for Colon Cancer More Frequently Than Recommended
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Frank van Hees, MSc
Researcher, Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Many U.S. elderly are screened for colorectal cancer more frequently than recommended: One in every five elderly with a negative screening colonoscopy result undergoes another screening colonoscopy within 5 years’ time instead of after the recommended 10 years. Moreover, one in every four elderly with a negative screening colonoscopy result at age 75 or older receives yet another screening colonoscopy at an even more advanced age. Our study shows that, in average risk individuals, these practices are not only a waste of scarce health care resources: often they are also associated with a balance among benefits, burden, and harms that is unfavorable for those being screened.
16 Aug Protein Blocks Effects of Cancer Fighting Vitamin A Drug
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Devanand Sarkar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D
Harrison Scholar at VCU Massey Cancer Center,
Blick Scholar and Associate Professor
Department of Human and Molecular Genetics
Member of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine
Virginia Commonweath School of Medicine
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Sarkar: Retinoic acid (Vitamin A) is an anti-cancer drug for a number of cancers including liver cancer. However, all patients do not respond to retinoic acid. Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is overexpressed in a large percentage of cancer patients and promotes development and progression of cancer. In this study we document that AEG-1 inhibits retinoic acid function. Combinatorial strategy involving AEG-1 inhibition and retinoic acid synergistically blocks growth of human liver cancer cells in animal models.
16 Aug Obesity May Raise Risk of Ten Common Cancers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr Krishnan Bhaskaran MSc PhD.
Senior Lecturer in Statistical Epidemiology &
National Institute for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellow
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
London WC1E 7HT
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Bhaskaran: Body mass index was associated with the majority of cancer types studied, and for 10 cancers, including some of the most common like colon cancer and postmenopausal breast cancer, higher body mass index was clearly associated with higher risk.
The cancer type that was most strongly related to BMI was uterine cancer, the 4th most common cancer in women. For a woman of average height, each 2 stone (13kg) increase in weight increased risk by over 60%. Body mass index also had particularly large effects on risk of kidney and gallbladder cancers.
In total, we estimated that over 12,000 cases of the 10 affected cancers may be caused each year by excess weight, and that if average body mass index in the population continues to increase, there may be several thousand more cases of these cancers each year as a result.