Pitt Colon Cancer Vaccine: Prevention Over Cure March 22 Read more: "Pitt Colon Cancer Vaccine: Prevention Over Cure

Colon cancer is perhaps one of the trickier cancers to spot and treat. For one, its development may take years, which means that its presence may go undetected until everything is too late. Second, testing for its presence involves a highly inconvenient and uncomfortable procedure – colonoscopy – which patients dread undergoing.

These and other factors combined have lead to colon cancer’s being ranked as the third leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States. In 2008, around 50,000 patients lost their lives to either colon or rectal cancer.

There may be good news in the near future, however, for those who are at high risk for developing the disease. The National Cancer Institute and The Nathan S. Arenson Fund for Pancreatic Research have sponsored research towards the development of a vaccine that will prevent colon cancer – the Pitt Colon Cancer Vaccine. As of last week, researchers from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine have begun testing the vaccine on a dozen patients with late-stage colon cancer and pancreatic cancer.

The Pitt vaccine uses a slightly different mechanism from that of other existing anti-cancer vaccines, which mainly work by protecting the body from infection by viruses linked to cancer. While Gardasil protects against the human papilloma virus which causes cervical cancer and the hepaptitis B vaccine protects against liver cancer, the Pitt vaccine triggers an immune response against the MUC1 protein. This self-made protein is modified and produced in larger amounts in advanced adenomas and cancer.

The action is meant to enable the immune system to attack abnormal cells. Hopefully, this will not only prevent a polyp’s progression to cancer, but prevent its recurrence altogether.

If proven, the vaccine will not only be able to save high-risk patients from undergoing colonoscopy but will also be able to offer them long-time protection from the disease.

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Babies, Bathtime, and Cancer?

An alarming new report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics claims bath products for babies contain carcinogens, but by the standards it used to measure risk from formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane shouldn't we be even more worried about bathwater, tomatoes and fried chicken? And did the activist group actually measure exposure?

The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics (CSC), a coalition of activist groups that have been campaigning for years about chemical exposure in personal care products has released a new report — No More Toxic Tub — on the apparent cancer risks from baby bath products. The study was dutifully transcribed by news media outlets, including ConsumerAffairs.com and USA Today, which headlined the piece “Group finds carcinogens in kids bath products.”

“Many children's bath products contain chemicals that may cause cancer and skin allergies

, according to a report released Thursday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics,” wrote Liz Szabo in USA Today. “Twenty-three of 28 products tested contained formaldehyde, the report says. Formaldehyde — considered a probable carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency — is released as preservatives break down over time in a container.”

There followed a description of the study, comments from a scientist who worked with the cosmetics manufacturer saying there was no cause for concern and an environmental health pediatrician.

The story perhaps explains why only one percent of health journalists said health reporting in the U.S. was “excellent.”

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Daily Red Meat Raises Chances Of Dying Early

Eating red meat increases the chances of dying prematurely, according to the first large study to examine whether regularly eating beef or pork increases mortality.

The study of more than 500,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans found that those who consumed about four ounces of red meat a day (the equivalent of about a small hamburger) were more than 30 percent more likely to die during the 10 years they were followed, mostly from heart disease and cancer. Sausage, cold cuts and other processed meats also increased the risk.

Previous research had found a link between red meat and an increased risk of heart disease and cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, but the new study is the first large examination of the relationship between eating meat and overall risk of death, and is by far the most detailed.

"The bottom line is we found an association between red meat and processed meat and an increased risk of mortality," said Rashmi Sinha of the National Cancer Institute, who led the study published yesterday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In contrast, routine consumption of fish, chicken, turkey and other poultry decreased the risk of death by a small amount.

"The uniqueness of this study is its size and length of follow-up," said Barry M. Popkin, a professor of global nutrition at the University of North Carolina, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. "This is a slam-dunk to say that, 'Yes, indeed, if people want to be healthy and live longer, consume less red and processed meat.' "

There are many explanations for how red meat might be unhealthy: Cooking red meat generates cancer-causing compounds; red meat is also high in saturated fat, which has been associated with breast and colorectal cancer; and meat is high in iron, also believed to promote cancer. People who eat red meat are more likely to have high blood pressure and cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. Processed meats contain substances known as nitrosamines, which have been linked to cancer.

Although pork is often promoted as "white meat," it is believed to increase the risk of cancer because of its iron content, Sinha said.

Regardless of the mechanism, the research provides new evidence that people should follow long-standing recommendations to minimize consumption of red meat, several experts said.

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Green Tea, Mushrooms Decrease Breast Cancer, Study Says

According to a study published in the March issue of the International Journal of Cancer, Chinese women who consumed mushrooms and green tea had a lower risk of breast cancer than those who did not.

The results were based on face-to-face interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 with 1,009 female patients age 20 to 87 with histologically confirmed breast cancer, as well as with an equal number of healthy women in the same age group. Researchers asked the women questions about mushroom and tea consumption, diet and lifestyle.

They found a statistically significant trend of inverse relationship between mushroom eating and breast cancer. It was even more remarkable when tea drinking was added.

"We conclude that higher dietary intake of mushrooms decreased breast cancer risk in pre- and post-menopausal Chinese women and an additional decreased risk of breast cancer from joint effect of mushrooms and green tea was observed," the abstract stated.

The conclusion added that further research exploring the relationship between mushrooms, tea and breast cancer was warranted.

Leukemia patient Sarah Ruiz receives half-matched marrow in the procedure

Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children is participating in a clinical trial that offers potentially lifesaving bone marrow transplants to cancer patients who do not have matching donors.

Eighteen-year-old Sarah Ruiz, a Mililani High School senior, was the first Hawaii patient for a half-match transplant March 5. Her sister Jessica, 20, a University of Hawaii-Hilo sophomore, was the donor.

Whereas usual transplants are accompanied by chemotherapy to target cancerous cells, the new approach uses a weaker dose of chemo timed to discourage the donor's immune cells from attacking healthy recipient cells. The new immune system then recognizes and attacks the cancer cells and destroys them.

Dr. Randy Wada, head of Kapiolani's transplant program and the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank, applied to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network to let Kapiolani join the clinical trial because of a lack of bone marrow matches for many multiethnic Hawaii patients and the difficulty of going to the mainland for the procedure.

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Bone marrow donations could save local lives

Volunteers are needed to join the National Marrow Donor Program's registry, and one local life is at stake. 25-year-old Marc Gold of Olney was recently diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Gold's family is hoping for people to help, and says it's easy to see if you can become a candidate.

There are two bone marrow donor drives being held for Marc on Sunday, March 22nd at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in Rockville and Precision Health & Fitness in Bethesda.

Another donor drive on March 29th will honor 11-year-old leukemia patient Daniel Eisig of Damascus. Eisig is recovering after a newborn's family donated umbilical cord blood.

Diane Heyde of Alexandria, already in the bone marrow registry, says she looks forward to the next call she receives to determine whether she is someone's match.

She says, "If I could save one life, I feel like I've served my purpose on earth. I hope other people will become bone marrow donors and save someone, too."

Heyde initially got involved to help a friend's husband. No match for him was found however, and he died.

Debbie Gold says her son is "an absolutely amazing kid." He graduated from Columbia University in 2006. Before being diagnosed he was working for ETS, the company that writes questions for SAT tests. This while also pursuing graduate school.

"His ambition is to be an english professor," Debbie says.

Right now, Gold's immune system is so compromised, he's in virtual isolation. His mom says, "We're looking to have as many people tested as humanly possible to get in the bone marrow registry. We pray that someone ends up being a match for Marc."

The National Institute of Health's Marrow Donor Program has information on what's involved in being a potential donor here.

Pregnant women also may be able to help Leukemia victims by donating cord blood; blood that remains in a baby's umbilical cord after the cord has been cut. You can find more information here and here.

Reliable Prostate Cancer Test May Be Decade Away, Doctors Say

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- It may take a decade to replace the prostate cancer test that doctors say is inadequate and risky, yet is used on 75 percent of American men 50 or older.

The PSA cancer-detection test may only prevent deaths in about 7 in 10,000 males with the disease, according to research reported March 16. The exam often leads men without lethal cancer to undergo unneeded treatment that can result in sexual impotence or incontinence, said Gerald Andriole, chief of urologic surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

At least four new tests are being studied in people, said Sudhir Srivastava, chief of the biomarkers research group at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. The research, aimed at distinguishing slow-growing cancers that rarely cause death from malignancies that can spread and kill, will take “at least 10 years” before they’re in common use, said Christine Berg, also at the NCI. In the meantime, scientists are tweaking the current test to make the results more precise.

“The challenge we have right now is, when we find cancer we don’t know if it is a killer cancer or a toothless lion,” said Andriole, who led one of the two March 16 studies on the test, in a telephone interview.

In the U.S., 28,660 men die from prostate cancer each year, and 186,320 men are diagnosed with it, according to the American Cancer Society.

PSA Increases

The existing test measures prostate specific antigen, or PSA, a blood protein that reflects damage to the prostate. PSA levels rise when prostate cancer develops. They also increase with age and when men develop benign conditions, including enlarged prostate glands or a urinary tract infection.

When men get an elevated PSA result, ruling out cancer requires extracting a piece of the prostate, a gland that weighs less than an ounce and is located below the bladder and in front of the rectum. It secretes fluid that helps semen travel during ejaculation.

The biopsy, a procedure most often done using a needle pushed through the wall of the rectum, costs about $2,400, according to Elizabeth Streich, a spokeswoman for Columbia University Medical Center in New York. In a biopsy, a surgeon removes a tiny piece of prostate tissue so that doctors can examine cells under a microscope for the presence, type and aggressiveness of cancer.

A biopsy’s reliability can also be questionable because it “is prone to being subjective, according to who reads the slide,” Srivastava said.

Genetic Markers

Three of the tests now being studied in humans use genetic markers to differentiate between slow-growing and potentially lethal cancer, the NCI’s Srivastava said. Two would be used to screen urine, another is a blood test, and the fourth would be used in a biopsy to offer a more precise measurement of genetic activity leading to metastasis, the process that spreads cancer throughout the body.

Arul Chinnaiyan, a researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is working with privately held Metabolon Inc., a diagnostic screening company based in Durham, North Carolina, on a test for an amino acid called sarcocine that rises when prostate cancer is active, according to the company.

Metabolon’s test would screen urine to check the severity of a prostate tumor, said John Ryals, Chief Executive Officer of Metabolon, in a telephone interview today.

“One of the problems with PSA is that it doesn’t really tell you much about whether you really have cancer or not and how aggressive a tumor is,” Ryals said. “Sarcosine is involved in the transition of a tumor going from a non-invasive state to a more invasive state.”

Urine, Blood Tests

The National Cancer Institute is working with University of Michigan researcher John Wei on a study analyzing urine samples from patients in Ann Arbor, Boston and Baltimore, seeking a biomarker called PCA3, the NCI’s Srivastava said. PCA3 is a snippet of genetic material that is overproduced in prostate cancer cells.

The blood test being assessed in humans is looking for two genes that fuse together once cancer becomes present. The genes are a marker that the cancer is spreading, according to Srivastava at the NCI, which is collaborating on the research. About 200 volunteers are involved in the research being undertaken at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Diego, Srivastava said.

A fourth method would examine prostate tissue sample taken during biopsy for a gene called GSTPi1 that can act as a switch, turning on the growth process linked with cancer. Quest Diagnostics Inc., based in Madison, New Jersey, is working with Epigenomics AG in Berlin to develop genetic tests for GSTP1 that would help detect disease activity, the companies said in a statement.

Predicting Behavior

“I am hopeful, although I don’t know when it will come, that if we understand the genetics of cancer we’ll be able to predict its behavior,” said Philip Kantoff, chief clinical research officer and chief of solid tumor oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

While testing on new genetic models continues, researchers are working on ways to make the present PSA test more effective. One way may be to weigh a man’s basic PSA score against how fast the number rises over time, according to the NCI’s Berg.

Combining that information with a patient’s age, the size of his gland, and whether the PSA the protein is floating free in blood or bound to other proteins may improve the accuracy of the test over time, Berg said. Elevated PSA in men in their 40s, before age-related damage is inflicted on the prostate, can also predict cancer rates a quarter century later, Andrew Vickers, a specialist in molecular markers and surgical research results at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said.

Really Tell Risk

“With a single PSA test at an early age,” weighed in relation to other factors, “you can really tell who is at risk for cancer,” Vickers said in a telephone interview.

Beckman Coulter Inc., a Fullerton, California-based diagnostics company, is working with the Cancer Institute and several universities in developing a second blood test to detect another form of PSA, called ProPSA, which reacts differently to the presence of cancer, Srivastava said.

Berg, chief of the National Cancer Institute’s early detection research group, said these adjustments to the standard PSA test could be available in the next few years yet are likely to produce only incremental improvements to accuracy.

“A truly new test will take much longer,” she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle Fay Cortez in Minneapolis at mcortez@bloomberg.net

Blushing Drinkers at Risk for Esophageal Cancer

People whose faces turn red when they drink alcohol may be facing more than embarrassment. The flushing may indicate an increased risk for a deadly throat cancer, researchers report.

The flushing response, which may be accompanied by nausea and a rapid heartbeat, is caused mainly by an inherited deficiency in an enzyme called ALDH2, a trait shared by more than a third of people of East Asian ancestry — Japanese, Chinese or Koreans. As little as half a bottle of beer can trigger the reaction.

The deficiency results in problems in metabolizing alcohol, leading to an accumulation in the body of a toxin called acetaldehyde. People with two copies of the gene responsible have such unpleasant reactions that they are unable to consume large amounts of alcohol. This aversion actually protects them against the increased risk for cancer.

But those with only one copy can develop a tolerance to acetaldehyde and become heavy drinkers.

“What we’re trying to do here is raise awareness of this risk factor among doctors and their ALDH2-deficient patients," said Dr. Philip J. Brooks, an investigator with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and an author of the report published on Thursday in the journal PLoS Medicine. “It’s a pretty serious risk."

The malignancy, called squamous cell esophageal cancer, is also caused by smoking and can be treated with surgery, but survival rates are very low. Even moderate drinking increases the risk, but it rises sharply with heavier consumption. An ALDH2-deficient person who has two beers a day has six to 10 times the risk of developing esophageal cancer as a person not deficient in the enzyme.

Reducing drinking can significantly reduce the incidence of this cancer among Asian adults. The researchers calculate that if moderate- or heavy-drinking ALDH2-deficient Japanese men reduced their consumption to under nine drinks a week, 53 percent of esophageal squamous cell cancers in that group could be prevented.

There is some anecdotal evidence that young people treat the flushing as a cosmetic response to be countered with antihistamines while continuing to drink. Ignoring the symptom and continuing to drink is likely to increase the incidence of esophageal cancer, researchers said.

To determine risk, doctors can ask their patients two simple questions. First, do you flush after drinking a glass of beer? Second, in the first one or two years after you began drinking, did you flush after having a beer?

The second question covers the possibility that a person has become tolerant to the effect.

Dr. Brooks said that the two questions give doctors an easy way to find out if the patient is ALDH2-deficient. There is also a patch test in which an ethanol-soaked pad is applied to the skin. If it causes reddening after 10 or 15 minutes, there is a high likelihood that the person is ALDH2-deficient.

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When early screening carries risks

Radio talk show host Don Imus has plenty of company in his recent prostate cancer diagnosis: The disease strikes 1 in 6 American men.

You'd think early screening would be a key preventive tool, but two large studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, found that screening had little to no effect on how many men die from prostate cancer. Instead, the studies found, more men are getting tests and treatments they don't need, risking side effects such as incontinence and impotence.

Growth of cancerous tumors in the prostate, the gland that produces seminal fluid in men, is often so gradual as to not affect a person's overall health. But it also can be aggressive, breaking free and invading other parts of the body. "Prostate cancer is like the cat family. You have house cats and you have tigers," says Dr. David Penson, a urologist at USC's Keck School of Medicine.

Survival rates for cancer localized to the gland are nearly 100% but drop to 33% when the cancer has metastasized to other parts of the body, according to National Cancer Institute data. In the U.S., 220,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed and about 27,000 men die of it each year.

It was hoped that early detection would lead to better prognosis because of earlier treatment. But with the simplest screen, a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), Penson says "there's a high false positive rate" -- a worrisome PSA level but no cancer. "If we find prostate cancer, probably 20% to 30% are what we call overdiagnosed cases. They're not going to affect you in your lifetime."

There is not yet a reliable way to predict which will remain slow-growing and mostly harmless and which will become life-threatening.

Men should consult with their doctors to decide whether testing is appropriate, experts say. (The American Cancer Society does not recommend routine prostate cancer screening.) Factors such as age, race, family history and health conditions should be taken into account.

Test scores

Should you opt for a test, here are what the results may mean:

A PSA level of 4 ng/ml means you have a 1 in 4 chance of having prostate cancer. If it's higher than 10 ng/ml, your chances increase to 50-50. Further diagnostic tests are needed to determine whether cancer is present: a transrectal ultrasound to visualize any abnormalities in the prostate gland and a biopsy, where bits of gland are extracted with a needle to see cellular changes indicative of cancer.

It's important to watch whether PSA levels are increasing over time, says Howard Soule, chief scientific officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation in Santa Monica. Even if PSA levels are less than 4, "values that are creeping up are a bad thing."

Biopsies are scored on a 10-point scale called the Gleason score, which represents how much cell growth deviates from normal. Most biopsied prostates received a Gleason score of 5 to 6 (64% of patients), which may represent a slow-growing cancer.

A Gleason score of 8 to 10 represents the greatest risk of aggressive prostate cancer (10% of patients).

But "a high percentage of guys are diagnosed with a 7," says Dr. Mark Litwin, a professor of urology and public health at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine (25% of patients). "Those are really the ones that we don't know what to do with." These cases are the most difficult for doctors to predict how rapidly the cancer will progress.

Clinical descriptions of prostate cancer are based on the size of a tumor and whether it has spread outside the prostate, Litwin says.

Lymph nodes and other tissues are also assessed to monitor whether the cancer is spreading. Litwin says the state-of-the-art staging scale is called TNM for tumor (on a 4-point scale, with 1 indicating the tumor is contained within the prostate and 4 indicating that it has invaded local structures around the gland), lymph node (absent or present) and metastasis (absent or present).

Therapies

Treatment choices include surgery to remove the prostate, radiation therapy to destroy growing tumors, and watchful waiting. Treatment is usually undertaken for a Gleason score of 7 and higher or if the clinical stage is T3 to T4, which means the tumor may be escaping the prostate.

In watchful waiting, also called active surveillance, no surgery is performed. Screening tests are done every three months rather than yearly, and biopsies might be taken every six months. If there's no change, the intervals gradually lengthen. Active surveillance may be appropriate for men with PSA levels less than 10 and Gleason scores no more than 6 and having no evidence of the cancer's spread.

"Our tendency, at least in the U.S., is to err on the side of treatment, because we don't want to see anyone die from prostate cancer," Litwin says. But as the new studies show, that comes at the cost of complications from treating cancers that wouldn't kill a person anyway.

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Early Detection Of Second Breast Cancers Halves Women’s Risk Of Death

international researchers has found the first reliable evidence that early detection of subsequent breast tumours in women who have already had the disease can halve the women’s chances of death from breast cancer.

According to the research published online in the cancer journal Annals of Oncology, if the second breast cancer was picked up at its early, asymptomatic stage, then the women’s chances of survival were improved by between 27-47% compared to women whose second breast cancer was detected at a later stage when symptoms had started to appear.

Until now, the impact of early detection of second breast cancers was unclear. Attempts to investigate it have been complicated by the fact that it is not possible to run randomised controlled trials because women who have already had one breast cancer are at higher risk of a relapse or a second breast cancer and, therefore, are generally advised to have regular breast checks as part of their follow-up care. What studies there have been have not made adjustments for the main factors that could bias the findings from a non-randomised study and often have looked at breast cancers occurring in either the same breast (ipsilateral relapse) or the other breast (contralateral) but not either breast.

The current study looked at 1,044 women who had attended one clinical centre in Florence (Italy) between 1980-2005 and who had developed a second breast cancer. In that time 455 women had ipsilateral breast cancers (IBC) diagnosed and 589 women had contralateral breast cancers (CBC) diagnosed. Of these second cancers, 699 (67%) were asymptomatic and 345 (33%) were symptomatic.

The researchers found that mammography was more sensitive than clinical examination for detecting second cancers (86% versus 57%). However, 13.8% of cases were only detected by clinical examination. Asymptomatic cancers were smaller than symptomatic for both IBC and CBC; early stage cancers were more frequent in asymptomatic (58.1%) than in symptomatic (22.6%) women; and fewer women with asymptomatic than symptomatic CBC had node metastases (an indicator that the cancer may have spread).

In the analysis of the results, the researchers (from Italy, Australia and the UK) adjusted to allow for lead-time bias (bias caused by an earlier detection of the cancer) and length-time bias (bias caused by the fact that some breast cancers develop more slowly than others and, therefore, are more likely to be detected at the asymptomatic stage and are less likely to cause death).

Associate Professor Nehmat Houssami, a breast physician and principle research fellow at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health, Australia, who led the study, said: “Intuitively, it makes sense to consider that early detection of second breast cancers will improve prognosis, since breast cancer survivors have a long-term risk of developing further disease or relapse in either breast. However, due to a paucity of evidence about this until now, current recommendations on surveillance of breast cancer survivors vary substantially between countries and organisations.

“Our study provides new evidence on several aspects of early detection of second breast cancers. We set out to estimate the effect of early, asymptomatic detection while adjusting for the two main biases known to be associated with non-randomised studies of the impact of early detection – lead time and length bias – so we believe that the estimates we report are more valid than previously reported estimates, while acknowledging the limitation that the evidence is not from a randomised controlled trial.

“In addition, we have estimated this for early detection of either ipsilateral or contralateral breast cancer, while other studies have focused on one or the other. So our estimates may be more useful for clinicians discussing this aspect of breast cancer follow-up with their patients.”

She continued: “To our knowledge, this is the only study to have taken length-time bias into account when quantifying the impact of early, asymptomatic detection of breast cancer. This is important because slow-growing or indolent cancers have a much smaller probability of proving fatal, and this group of women will tend to be over-represented in the early-detected cancers, biasing the effect of screening to make it appear more beneficial.”

In their paper, the researchers write: “Recommendations on follow-up after treatment of early breast cancer should consider our findings, which suggest that early detection of second breast cancer events improves prognosis in this ever-increasing group of women.”

Prof Houssami said: “Periodic surveillance of women with BC is currently under scrutiny in some countries and questions have been raised as to the value of sustained follow-up of breast cancer survivors in some health settings. So I think this work provides a timely reminder of the potential benefit of early detection of second breast cancers and supports ongoing surveillance in this group of women.”

She said that their finding that nearly 14% of second breast cancers were only detected by clinical examination and that mammograms had a sensitivity of 86% was also important. “There are health settings where new imaging (ultrasound or MRI) is advocated for screening because of the belief that mammography is not sufficient and misses too many cancers in breast cancer survivors. Our data suggest that mammography, with clinical examination, is sensitive and effective (with the caveat that the Florence centre where the study originated has established experience in mammography of at least 40 years). We feel that additional screening imaging should only be used selectively, for example, in women with extremely dense breasts, or when investigating questionable findings from the mammogram or clinical examination.”

Prof Houssami concluded: “The next step is to determine how to maximise early detection in this specific setting while ensuring feasibility and efficiency. One possibility currently under exploration would be to estimate the risk of a symptomatic tumour and the stage of the symptomatic tumour by time since the last mammogram. There are many questions about the optimal process and model of surveillance, such as frequency for surveillance and who should be performing longer-term surveillance in breast cancer patients, that we have not addressed in this study. These issues require further research.”

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Interesting Facts About Acute Leukemia

Leukemia is also known as blood cancer. However, this term is a misnomer because rather than causing cancer in the blood, the cancer is caused in the bone marrow and it affects the white blood cells. These cells are responsible for fighting infections, bacteria and viruses that enter our body. Once the white blood cells are affected, our body gets weakened and is exposed to infections.

There are several types of leukemia and the treatment varies depending on the type. However, the two main types of leukemia are acute leukemia and chronic leukemia. Chronic leukemia is considered to be milder; in other words not all the white blood cells are defective and the progress of the disease is much slower than acute leukemia.

Acute leukemia advances rapidly and all the white blood cells are not normal. However, in some cases it is easier to treat than chronic leukemia.

In the United States, each year thousands of people are diagnosed with acute leukemia. However, it has been seen that a large number of children, mostly around 4 years old, are afflicted more frequently by acute leukemia. The good news is that more and more cases are being cured and there is constant research for new medication and treatment methods.

The cause of acute leukemia is unknown. The only thing that one can say for certain is that some people are at a higher risk of getting the disease than others. People who are exposed to radiations or certain chemicals have the highest chance of contracting the disease. In addition, there is the hereditary factor. It has been seen that children receive the defective gene from their mother and this gene may lead to acute leukemia.

People who have leukemia tend to bruise easily or bleed easily from the nose and gums. In addition to weak immune system, there is a general feeling of fatigue and unexplained weight loss. The disease by itself does not have any specific symptoms.

Colon Cancer Survival Rates in the USA

Colon cancer is a disease caused by the development of malignant cells in the large intestine. When the cells become cancerous, they invade surrounding organs and the bowels. When it has advanced enough to be detected, the tumor is already 1 cm in diameter and contains over a million cells.

Over 100,000 cases of colon cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States. Rates of colon cancer are higher in industrialized nations due to the high fat diet, alcohol use and red meat consumption. High fiber diets can help prevent these problems because the foods containing fiber spend less time in the digestive system than low fiber foods.

The odds of survival of colon cancer is about 50%. The actual rate of survival depends on the stage at which the cancer has progressed at the time of detection. If the tumor is diagnosed early and removed while in stage 1, recovery and remission are 70 to 90% successful.

Prevention of colon cancer is not guaranteed but a person can help to avoid this disease. Eating a high fiber diet and taking a vitamin daily are shown to reduce the risk of the disease. Controlling weight and avoiding obesity also contribute greatly to avoiding cancer. Stopping smoking and avoiding alcohol are also helpful.

Colon cleansing may also prevent cancer by ridding the digestive system of toxins and buildup. A colon cleanser supplement can be helpful, but it's difficult to know just which products are the best colon cleansers. Sometimes it's embarrassing to discuss, so it's popular to search out the information on the Internet.

Part of an effective colon cleanse is participating in a high fiber diet to rid the body of materials as quickly as possible. To do your share in preventing cancer, get regular checkups after the age of 50 or before if you have a family history.

Cancer in Your Family - How to Talk to a Family Member Who Has Been Diagnosed With Leukemia

Having cancer is a life changing event that is extremely difficult to overcome. When one of your children is diagnosed with cancer, it can almost kill you to know that there is not much you can do.

I am a cancer survivor, and I know that is was very hard for my family to see how sick I was. Now my stepdaughter has been diagnosed with leukemia, and it was like being kicked in the stomach when I heard the news. It has just been a few days since we found out, so I am still in shock from it all.

When you are dealing with someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer or any other life-threatening disease, be careful what you say to them. It is so hard to find just the right words, so sometimes it is best not to say too much right away. I was tempted to say something to her about not having to worry, because we would find a way to make it all go away, but I know that is not true. I wanted to tell her that we would go to every hospital and spend as much money as it would take to get her well, but that is not the reality of the situation.

So for now she knows that her family loves and supports her, and that she will have the choice of what kind of treatment she gets, and which doctors and hospitals she will go to. This gives her the respect that she deserves and the ability to have control over something that she really has no control over at all. That is the least we can do.

Also, we will not start treating her any differently. There will be no meals delivered, laundry done, or offers to baby sit with the children. That would be insulting and insinuate that she is no longer able to care for her own family. She is still working and wants to be independent. That is the word she used when she told us.

My stepdaughter is a nurse, so she knows what to expect. The rest of us will wait to see what she wants to share with us and wait until she asks before offering any help, whether that be emotional or financial in nature. Just knowing that we are there for her, respecting her decisions in all of this, is the most loving way that we can be there for her during this difficult time in her young life.

Strategies to Counter Acute Leukemia

There are several common treatments for leukemia patients.

Essentially, leukemia begins in the bone marrow where blood cells are made. Because of that, this cancer can spread quickly throughout the body, eventually affecting other organs like lymph nodes, the spinal cord, the brain or spleen. When leukemia is diagnosed as acute, that means the disease is spreading rapidly.

To learn more about the different types of treatments used to treat acute leukemia, read on.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is used for two purposes. The first is to actively treat and kill leukemia cancer cells in the spinal fluid and the brain. The second way in which radiation therapy is used is as a prevention method - essentially to prevent the cancer from returning to different parts of the body after chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy

The main treatments for leukemia are chemotherapies. Phases of chemotherapy include induction - where the treatment is directed at killing most of the leukemia cells; consolidation - the stage when a different type of chemotherapy is given to kill off any remaining leukemia cells; and maintenance -the phase where low doses are administered to acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients to prevent recurrence.

Remission Induction

Patients who are diagnosed with AML (acute myelogenous leukemia) will typically undergo remission induction treatments which involve cytrabine and an anthracycline. Because remission induction is so intensive, it's often undergone on an in-patient basis.

Typically, a course of remission induction will only last between 5 and 7 days. However, because most of the body's healthy bone marrow cells have been destroyed over the course of the treatment, the patient must endure a lengthy hospital stay following treatment.

For acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the treatment involves a combination of anthracycline and vincristine and prednisone. This combination reduces the amount of bone marrow damage, and patients can generally expect shorter hospital stays.

Consolidation Therapy

After the initial remission induction, the patient will undergo what is called consolidation therapy. This is designed to destroy any remaining cancer cells and therefore prevent a recurrence.

Maintenance Chemotherapy

Maintenance therapy is only used on patients with ALL. The therapy is a combination of oral methotrexate and mercaptopurine along with any other necessary drugs.

Central Nervous System Treatment

Because ALL can come back in the spinal fluid or brain, some patients are treated with methotrexate, which is administered through a spinal tap or, in some cases, radiation therapy to the brain.

Transplantation of Stem Cells

Stem cell transplantation is a serious procedure, but one that is often used in younger patients with a poor prognosis. Adult patients, under the age of 50, typically undergo stem cell transplantation treatments for leukemia if their leukemia relapses.

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Colon Cancer Symptoms and Help

Colon cancer is a preventable disease. Although this is the most common type of cancer suffered by people above 50 years old, there are numerous ways how to effective prevent it.

Most doctors will tell you that prevention is the best cure for all types of diseases. This dictum is particularly true for colon cancer. Here are the most effective steps you can take to prevent cancer.

Always Look for Symptoms

Detecting early symptoms of colon cancer is probably the most difficult part in preventing the development of the disease. That is because this kind of cancer rarely manifests until it has taken hold of your system.

However, there are small things that can be considered as symptoms of colon cancer. You have to take note of these small manifestations. The following are the most common symptoms of colon cancer:

1. Blood in your stool.
2. Painful stomach and lower back cramps.
3. Thin stools and painful defecation.
4. Severe weight loss.

If you have one or more of these symptoms, then you better consult your physician and schedule a general check-up.

Schedule Regular Screening

When you undergo colon cancer screening, doctors try to detect the presence of polyps in your colon. These polyps trigger the development of cancer. If doctors can detect these at the early stages, then you can effectively avoid cancer of the colon.
If you are in the 50 years old and above demographic, then a regular colon cancer screening is very important. Most cancer patients belong to this demographic.

Eat a High Fiber Diet

Unhealthy foods are one of the primary causes of most cancers. This is especially true for cancer of the colon. You need to have a high fiber diet in order to promote proper digestion and prevent the accumulation of toxins in your colon canal.

You must also avoid high cholesterol and fatty foods because these food groups can promote cancer. Fast foods and unsaturated fats can put significant stress on your digestive and excretory systems. If more fats are accumulated in your body, then your system's resistance to diseases will be weaker. This will lead to the development of degenerative diseases like colon cancer. So always have a well balanced and high fiber diet in order to prevent this disease.

Consider Colon Cleansing

Colon cleansing is an effective way to flush out accumulated toxins and fecal plaque from your stomach and colon canal. There are many methods of colon cleansing. You need to consult a physician before you decide to undergo regular colon cleansing.

You must also choose which type of colon cleansing will be appropriate for you. There are herbal solutions that can promote colon cleansing. Still you need to consult a professional health care provider before taking any herbal medication.

Living a healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent colon cancer. You should avoid bad habits such as smoking and excessive alcohol drinking in order to keep yourself away from cancer. You must also maintain an optimum weight and schedule regular check up to prevent this disease.