Drug experiment: Stopping breast cancers

Finding drugs that can beat cancer is a massive, ongoing research. It takes a lot of reseach and medical studies to find suitable molecules that can affect a particular cancer; as a result, when a particular molecule seems to have some promise, it raises a lot of hope and optimism, as in this case for this molecule that seems to have a positive affect on breast cancer (link to article):

A new drug called olaparib may help thousands of women suffering from genetic breast cancer, if results of the first tests on patients are to be believed. The researchers behind the study tested the drug on 54 women with advanced genetic breast cancer, and found that the drug olaparib could stop the growth of tumours and shrink them in more than 40 per cent of cases.
A large number of cases of breast cancer are caused by defects on the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes, which put women at much higher risk of developing aggressive cancers of the breast or ovaries. And, usually, women who test positive for the mutations have their breasts removed as a precaution, because they have an 80 per cent risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

Not every molecule makes it to after trials and studies, but all of them promise hope. The drug could remove the tumor from some of those afflicted; the drug works by acting on a protein that promotes cancer; another positive side effect is by acting only on the cancer cells as opposed to other cancer treatments that have side effects.

Research: New surgery seen to have potential in cervical cancer

Studies have postulated that a new form of surgery called mesometrial resection (TMMR) (a more targeted surgical operation) could lead to a significant improvement in the survival rate of patients afflicted with cervical cancer. At the same time, the surgery also promised other improvements such as reduced complications, reducing damages to nerves in the pelvis (thus reducing post-surgery problems with bladder and bowel functionality), and also sparing patients of radiotherapy (link to article):

Survival rates among cervical cancer patients may be improved by as much as 20 per cent by making subtle changes to major surgery, researchers in Germany suggest. The new technique removes a specific, more defined, section which includes the fallopian tubes, uterus, and certain parts of the vagina, which the researchers said are the main areas of local tumour spread.
"Based on historical controls, TMMR without adjuvant radiation has the potential to improve survival by 15-20 per cent," the BBC quoted Hockel as saying. He conceded that it was next needed to conduct larger trials in different hospitals. "This new surgical technique seems to have the potential to help women with early-stage cervical cancer avoid some of the unpleasant long-term effects of a hysterectomy and radiotherapy," Liz Woolf, head of Cancer Research UK's patient information website CancerHelp UK, said.

The improved surgery sounds promising, since it not only improves the survival rate of this cancer, but also seems to reduce the post-surgery complications suffered by patients.

Research: Low oxygen level indicates recurrence of prostate cancer

For some time now, researches have been studying the link between low oxygen zones in prostate tumors, and the probability of recurrence of the cancer. Studies have made the connection that low oxygen zones are linked to the increased resistance to radiation among solid tumors. The study, if taken forward, can help in determing the amount of radiation levels (including increasing the dose) for treating patients whose tumors show such signs of oxygen resistance (and help in ensuring that the cancer is eliminated and does not come back) (link to article):

She says that the current study reinforces the preliminary findings of the six research papers published between 2000 and 2002, which detailed the link between low oxygen in tumours and the risk of increased prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.
The study showed that eight of the 57 patients experienced an increase in PSA levels following prostate cancer treatment, defined as an increase of 2 Ng /ml above the lowest PSA reading following Brach therapy. Overall, average muscle oxygenation was 12.5 times higher than that of the tumour. The researchers used a statistical model that accounted for such risk factors as tumour grade, PSA level and tumour size and determined that low oxygen was a significant independent predictor of an increase in PSA levels.

Research: Extract from red sea coral can treat skin cancer

Research for combating cancer goes off into many different paths - one area is to determine the genes that kick off the cancer cells, or provide an indication of whether there is a higher risk of cancer; another area is to find naturally occurring ingredients that can either decrease the chance of getting cancer, or reduce / stop the incidence of cance once a person has been afflicted with the cancer. As a part of this, researchers have found an extract from coral found in the red sea that acts against skin cancer (link to article):

The team led by SDSU distinguished professor Chandradhar Dwivedi looked at the chemo
preventive effects of sarcophine-diol, made from a substance called sarcophine that can be isolated from soft coral found in the Red Sea. They found that sarcophine-diol has the potential to inhibit cell growth of cancers, and induce orderly, programmed cell death of skin cancer cells.
The study showed that treating human skin cancer cells with different concentrations of sarcophine-diol for different lengths of time reduced the viability of cancer cells in each case. Sarcophine-diol also inhibited the proliferation or uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. It also induced apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in cancer cells.

Further research is required in this area, but this a postive trend in the cure against skin cancer.

Cancer research: Time when menarche and menopause happens linked to cancer

Doing statistical analysis of patients to determine trends does not seem very exciting; however, large scale analysis is extremely useful to determine trends - these trends can in turn be used to determine when testing should happen, or to determine whether it can be determined that someone is at a higher risk of getting cancer. In the below article, scientists did analysis on tens of thousands of women to determine genetic variations that can determine the age of onset of menarche and menopause, which in turn are used to determine enhanced risk level of cancer (link to article):

Scientists have found new gene variants linked with the age at which females experience their first menstrual period and the onset of menopause, which can even help in preventing breast and endometrial cancer and osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. the researchers have identified 10 genetic variants in two chromosomal regions associated with age at menarche (the first menstrual period), and 13 genetic variants in four chromosomal regions associated with age at natural menopause.
The researchers explained that an early onset of menarche and later menopause are well-established risk factors for the development of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. On the other hand, early menopause increases risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have suggested both menarche and menopause may be partially under genetic control.

Research: Drug based on herbs lower risk of getting prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a diseases that affects a significant portion of men, with the chance of getting prostate cancer getting higher as men getting older. It has been recommended that older men go in for regular medical tests to make sure that they are not at early stages of prostate cancer. In a recent drug trial, men who had an increased risk of developing prostate cancer were administered the drug, and it was found to be effective in some cases (link to article):

A novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend has been found to be linked with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer in its phase I clinical trial.
"Since we know that men with HGPIN have an increased risk for developing prostate cancer, new strategies formulated to decrease cancer risk, prevent or delay surgery, and improve quality of life, will be greatly beneficial for these men," said senior author of the study Dr. Aaron E. Katz, an associate professor of Urology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The researchers say that basic science studies have suggested that Zyflamend may have an anti-inflammatory mechanism of action, and the agent has been found to be effective in decreasing the proliferation of prostate cancer
in cell culture.

Cancer research: Cancer patients prone to depression

Cancer patients have been known to have higher chances of having depression, to the extent that many medical facilities provide counselling along with cancer treatment. It has always been accepted that cancer treatment and the pain resulting from the disease leads to the patient feeling depresses; of course, treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy with stiff side-effects can also cause more depression. However, a study has determined that the cancer actually produces chemicals that lead to depression (link to article):

"Our research shows that two types of tumour-induced molecules, one secreted by the immune system and another by the stress axis, may be responsible," said Leah Pyter, a postdoctoral fellow and lead author of a paper. "Both of these substances have been implicated in depression, but neither has been examined over time frames and magnitudes that are characteristic of chronic diseases such as cancer," she added.
The results also showed that the rats with tumours had increased levels of cytokines in their blood and in the hippocampus (the portion of the brain that regulates emotion) when compared with healthy rats. Cytokines are produced by the immune system, and an increase in cytokines has been linked to depression. The team also found that stress hormone production also was altered in rats with tumours. The rats with tumours also had dampened production of the stress hormone corticosterone.

The study has been conducted in rats so far, but the fact is, if a study can conclusively determine that cancer does indeed medically lead to depression, there will be a greater focus on emotional counselling during treatment, something that should help the patient.